Article Forgery
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De Situ Brittaniae
Type: Historical Forgery. Summary: A fake map of Roman Britain fooled historians for over one hundred years. De Situ Brittaniae (click for larger version.) In 1747 word of a major new historical discovery reached England. Charles Bertram (1723-65), a 24-year-old English teacher in Denmark, had found an ancient manuscript and…
Donation of Constantine
Pope Sylvester receiving the donation from Emperor ConstantineThe Donation of Constantine was a document supposedly written by emperor Constantine (285-337 A.D.) granting the Catholic Church ownership of vast territories within the western Roman Empire. The document stated that he made this generous gift out of gratitude to Pope Sylvester I…
Eighteenth-Century Literary Hoaxes
Type: Literary Hoaxes. Summary: The eighteenth century is regarded as the great age of literary forgery. During the eighteenth century literary fakes poured forth from the pens of writers. A number of factors contributed to this. First, this was the period during which print culture became ascendant over oral culture.…
Forgeries of the Medieval Church
Taken as a whole, medieval monks and clerics were probably the most prolific forgers of all time. For centuries they controlled access to official documents, placing them in a perfect position to alter or forge those documents, should they so desire. And judging by the volume of their output, they…
History of Crowland
Crowland AbbeyCrowland Abbey, located deep in the Lincolnshire fens of England, was once a center for medieval religious life. Today, however, it lies mostly in ruins. A few quatrefoil window carvings and undamaged statues provide a sense of the building’s former glory, but the abbey itself is less well known…
Hitler Diaries
Type: Forgery. Summary: A fake set of diaries, supposedly written by Adolf Hitler, became one of the most costly forgeries in history. Gerd Heidemann (right) and Wolf Hess (left), son of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess, pose with a volume of the Hitler diaries. April, 1983. Table of Contents The Beginning:…
James Macpherson and the Ossianic Controversy
Type: Literary hoax. Summary: An eighteenth-century schoolmaster claimed to have found poems written by a third-century Scottish bard. The poems were actually written by the schoolmaster himself. James MacphersonIn 1760 a young Edinburgh schoolmaster named James Macpherson (1736-1796) published a translation of ancient Scottish verse titled Fragments of Ancient Poetry,…
Letter of Prester John
The year was 1144. Christian crusaders were getting beaten up by Muslim armies in Edessa. European rulers were wondering how they could ever recover from these losses. But just then, in this moment of defeat for the Europeans, there came a glimmer of hope. The Europeans heard a rumor about…
Medieval Relic Trade
Medieval Europe hosted a thriving trade in holy relics. But many of the relics, if not almost all of them, were fake. The relics collected and worshipped by medieval Europeans ranged from the mundane to the truly bizarre. Bones or body parts of saints and martyrs were always in high…
Renaissance Forgeries
A sketch of Cupid by Michelangelo. It’s believed he based his phony antique sculpture of Cupid on this drawing. Collecting classical artifacts became all the rage during the Renaissance. Wealthy merchants and princes scrambled to build magnificent collections of Greek and Roman statues and sculptures. Scholars pored over ancient manuscripts…
Shroud of Turin
Type: Forgery. Summary: An ancient piece of fabric is alleged to be the burial shroud of Christ. HOAX HAIKUThree-dimensional Image burnt onto old cloth. Jesus, is that you? (by AB) Submit a haiku The Shroud of Turin first came to the attention of the public in 1355 when it was…
Thomas Chatterton
Type: Literary forgery. Summary: A young man in eighteenth-century England claimed to have found poetry by a fifteenth-century priest. The Death of Chatterton, Oil Painting by Henry Wallis, 1856As a young boy growing up in Bristol, Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770) spent a great deal of time with his uncle, the sexton…
William Henry Ireland - Shakespeare Forgeries
Type: Literary Forgery. Summary: During the 1790s, a young man claimed to have found a new play written by Shakespeare. A letter supposedly written by Shakespeare (forged by Ireland) expressing gratitude towards the Earl of Southampton. (click for larger version)As literacy rates rose during the eighteenth century, a kind of…
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There are 5 subcategories for this categoryArticles in category "Forgery":
There are 13 articles for this category
De Situ Brittaniae
Type: Historical Forgery. Summary: A fake map of Roman Britain fooled historians for over one hundred years. De Situ Brittaniae (click for larger version.) In 1747 word of a major new historical discovery reached England. Charles Bertram (1723-65), a 24-year-old English teacher in Denmark, had found an ancient manuscript and…
Donation of Constantine
Pope Sylvester receiving the donation from Emperor ConstantineThe Donation of Constantine was a document supposedly written by emperor Constantine (285-337 A.D.) granting the Catholic Church ownership of vast territories within the western Roman Empire. The document stated that he made this generous gift out of gratitude to Pope Sylvester I…
Eighteenth-Century Literary Hoaxes
Type: Literary Hoaxes. Summary: The eighteenth century is regarded as the great age of literary forgery. During the eighteenth century literary fakes poured forth from the pens of writers. A number of factors contributed to this. First, this was the period during which print culture became ascendant over oral culture.…
Forgeries of the Medieval Church
Taken as a whole, medieval monks and clerics were probably the most prolific forgers of all time. For centuries they controlled access to official documents, placing them in a perfect position to alter or forge those documents, should they so desire. And judging by the volume of their output, they…
History of Crowland
Crowland AbbeyCrowland Abbey, located deep in the Lincolnshire fens of England, was once a center for medieval religious life. Today, however, it lies mostly in ruins. A few quatrefoil window carvings and undamaged statues provide a sense of the building’s former glory, but the abbey itself is less well known…
Hitler Diaries
Type: Forgery. Summary: A fake set of diaries, supposedly written by Adolf Hitler, became one of the most costly forgeries in history. Gerd Heidemann (right) and Wolf Hess (left), son of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess, pose with a volume of the Hitler diaries. April, 1983. Table of Contents The Beginning:…
James Macpherson and the Ossianic Controversy
Type: Literary hoax. Summary: An eighteenth-century schoolmaster claimed to have found poems written by a third-century Scottish bard. The poems were actually written by the schoolmaster himself. James MacphersonIn 1760 a young Edinburgh schoolmaster named James Macpherson (1736-1796) published a translation of ancient Scottish verse titled Fragments of Ancient Poetry,…
Letter of Prester John
The year was 1144. Christian crusaders were getting beaten up by Muslim armies in Edessa. European rulers were wondering how they could ever recover from these losses. But just then, in this moment of defeat for the Europeans, there came a glimmer of hope. The Europeans heard a rumor about…
Medieval Relic Trade
Medieval Europe hosted a thriving trade in holy relics. But many of the relics, if not almost all of them, were fake. The relics collected and worshipped by medieval Europeans ranged from the mundane to the truly bizarre. Bones or body parts of saints and martyrs were always in high…
Renaissance Forgeries
A sketch of Cupid by Michelangelo. It’s believed he based his phony antique sculpture of Cupid on this drawing. Collecting classical artifacts became all the rage during the Renaissance. Wealthy merchants and princes scrambled to build magnificent collections of Greek and Roman statues and sculptures. Scholars pored over ancient manuscripts…
Shroud of Turin
Type: Forgery. Summary: An ancient piece of fabric is alleged to be the burial shroud of Christ. HOAX HAIKUThree-dimensional Image burnt onto old cloth. Jesus, is that you? (by AB) Submit a haiku The Shroud of Turin first came to the attention of the public in 1355 when it was…
Thomas Chatterton
Type: Literary forgery. Summary: A young man in eighteenth-century England claimed to have found poetry by a fifteenth-century priest. The Death of Chatterton, Oil Painting by Henry Wallis, 1856As a young boy growing up in Bristol, Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770) spent a great deal of time with his uncle, the sexton…
William Henry Ireland - Shakespeare Forgeries
Type: Literary Forgery. Summary: During the 1790s, a young man claimed to have found a new play written by Shakespeare. A letter supposedly written by Shakespeare (forged by Ireland) expressing gratitude towards the Earl of Southampton. (click for larger version)As literacy rates rose during the eighteenth century, a kind of…