Papal States

• 1. Origins And Early Sovereignty

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  In 754, Pepin the Short led a Frankish army into Italy to defeat the Lombards. This military campaign marked the beginning of papal temporal power. Pope Stephen II received lands formerly held by Arian Christian Lombards as a gift from the Frankish king. These territories included areas that had been part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Before this event, popes were Roman subjects under Byzantine authority. The Byzantine Empire failed to protect Rome from barbarian invasions and imposed heavy taxes on its Italian territories. By 751, the Duchy of Rome was completely cut off from the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Ravenna. Popular support for the popes in Italy enabled several to defy the will of the Byzantine emperor. Pope Gregory II excommunicated Emperor Leo III during the Iconoclastic Controversy. In 728, King Liutprand made the Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II, establishing boundaries between their realms. This agreement became a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States.

• 2. Medieval Power Struggles

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  From the 9th century to the 12th century, the relationship between popes and emperors remained disputed. Imperial power in Italy waned when Charlemagne's grandchildren subdivided the Holy Roman Empire. Local Roman nobility rose to power during this period. The Theophylacti family controlled the Papal States during the early 10th century. This era later received the nickname "dark age" or "rule by harlots." German ruler Otto I conquered northern Italy in the mid-10th century. Pope John XII crowned him emperor in more than forty years. They ratified the Diploma Ottonianum, making the emperor guarantor of papal independence. Over the next two centuries, popes and emperors squabbled over various issues. The Treaty of Venice was signed in 1177, leaving rights vague while recognizing papal possession. By 1300, the Papal States were effectively independent from imperial control. During the Avignon Papacy from 1305 to 1378, local despots established themselves in nominally papal cities. The Pepoli ruled Bologna, the Ordelaffi controlled Forlì, and the Malatesta held Rimini. In Rome itself, the Orsini and Colonna families struggled for supremacy, dividing the city between them.

• 3. Renaissance Expansion And Control

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  During the Renaissance, Papal territory expanded greatly under Popes Alexander VI and Julius II. Julius II, known as the Warrior Pope, fought wars on behalf of the Church. The Papal States were involved in at least three wars during the first two decades of the 16th century. In 1527, troops loyal to Emperor Charles V brutally sacked Rome and imprisoned Pope Clement VII. This event forced Clement VII to give up Parma, Modena, and several smaller territories. A generation later, armies of King Philip II of Spain defeated those of Pope Paul IV in the Italian War of 1551, 1559. Throughout the 16th century, virtually independent fiefs such as Rimini were brought back under Papal control. In 1512, the state annexed Parma and Piacenza, which became an independent duchy in 1545. The process culminated in reclaiming the Duchy of Ferrara in 1598 and the Duchy of Urbino in 1631. By 1649, after annexing the Duchy of Castro, the Papal States reached their greatest extent. They included most of central Italy plus small enclaves like Benevento and Pontecorvo. Administrative centralization efforts began in the 16th century but genuine control over all territories took until that century's end.

• 4. Napoleonic Disruption And Restoration

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  In 1791, a referendum in Comtat Venaissin and Avignon was followed by occupation by Revolutionary France. Later, with the French invasion of Italy in 1796, the Legations became part of the Cispadane Republic. Two years later, General Louis-Alexandre Berthier declared a Roman Republic in February 1798. Pope Pius VI fled from Rome to Siena and died in exile in Valence in 1799. Neapolitan troops under King Ferdinand invaded the republic in October 1799 and restored Papal States. In June 1800, the French Consulate formally concluded the occupation and restored the Papal States. Yet, in 1808, Napoleon decreed that papal territories were to be annexed to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Approximately 13 months later on the 17th of May 1809, the remainder of the Papal States was annexed to the First French Empire. Following the fall of the First French Empire in 1814, the Congress of Vienna formally restored Italian territories to Vatican control. Upon restitution of sovereignty, Pius VII decided to abolish feudalism. He transformed all noble titles into honorifics disconnected from territorial privileges. In 1853, Pope Pius IX equated civic patriciate of Rome with nobility created by the Pope.

• 5. Military History And Decline

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  Historically, the Papal States maintained military forces composed of volunteers, mercenaries, and Catholic military orders. It was a notable regional military power from the High Middle Ages to the mid-17th century Wars of Castro. After 1600, especially after 1644, the Papal military fell into disrepair. By 1792, the Papal army had a mere 5,000 regular soldiers for a state controlling most of Central Italy. Control over the military was divided among multiple commanders who jealously guarded their powers. The navy consisted of only three galleys, two coastal corvettes, and lighter vessels. When Napoleon's Army of Italy launched its first invasion in 1796, units surrendered or deserted at the first appearance of the French. Between 1860 and 1870, the Papal Army comprised two regiments of locally recruited Italian infantry, two Swiss regiments, and an Irish volunteer battalion. An international Catholic volunteer corps called Papal Zouaves was created in 1861. Predominantly made up of Belgian, French, and Dutch volunteers, this corps saw service against Garibaldi's Redshirts. The ossified Papal army provided very little resistance when Piedmontese-Sardinians invaded during the Unification of Italy.

• 6. Italian Unification And Fall

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  The opportunity for the Kingdom of Italy to eliminate the Papal States came in 1870. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July prompted Napoleon III to recall his garrison from Rome. King Victor Emmanuel II proposed sending troops into Rome under the guise of offering protection to the Pope. When the Pope refused, Italy declared war on the 10th of September 1870. The Royal Italian Army, commanded by General Raffaele Cadorna, crossed the frontier on September 11. The Italian Army reached the Aurelian Walls on September 19 and placed Rome under siege. Although the Pope's tiny army was incapable of defending the city, Pius IX ordered token resistance. The city was captured on the 20th of September 1870. Rome and what remained of the Papal States were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy following a plebiscite in October. This marked the definitive end of the Papal States. Despite traditional Catholic powers not aiding the Pope, the papacy rejected the 1871 Law of Guarantees. Instead, the papacy confined itself to the Apostolic Palace within the Leonine City on Vatican Hill.

• 7. The Roman Question Resolution

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  In the 1920s, the papacy renounced the bulk of the former Papal States. The Lateran Treaty with Italy was signed on the 11th of February 1929. Benito Mussolini, head of the Italian government, negotiated this agreement. The treaty created the State of Vatican City as a sovereign territory within Rome. It formed the sovereign territory of the Holy See, which was indemnified for loss of territory. This ended the "Prisoner in the Vatican" period that had lasted since 1870. The treaty acknowledged sovereignty over a newly created territorial entity limited to Vatican City. The pope became its sovereign ruler. From 1305 to 1378, Avignon and Comtat Venaissin had been added to Papal States but remained under French control after the Revolution. These territories were eventually seized during the French Revolution and incorporated into France. The Lateran Treaty resolved diplomatic negotiations leading to the creation of modern Vatican City state.