Papal States

Lore & Background

The state was legally established in the 8th century when Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, gave Pope Stephen II lands formerly held by Arian Christian Lombards, adding them to lands acquired by the bishops of Rome from the time of Constantine onward. During the early modern period, the papal territory expanded greatly, and at its zenith covered most of modern Lazio, Marche, Umbria, Romagna, and portions of Emilia. By 1860, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Sardinia and incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, except Lazio. In 1870, all of Lazio, including Rome, was annexed by the Italian kingdom, which refrained from occupying the Leonine City militarily. In 1929, the Lateran Treaty acknowledged the sovereignty of the Holy See over Vatican City.

In Their Own Story

The morning light catches the gold leaf on the papal tiara as it rests on the velvet cushion before the throne. Outside the windows of the Vatican, the bells of Rome ring in unison, their bronze voices rolling over the Tiber and into the narrow streets where merchants are already calling their wares. The Pope rises from the chair of state, his white robes catching the candlelight, and turns to face the assembled Cardinals in the conclave chamber. "Brothers," he says, and the word carries the weight of every Pope who has spoken it before him, "the faith is wounded. The heretics in the north multiply. The faithful look to us and find only silence." He pauses, letting the silence fill the room like incense smoke. "We will not be silent. We will call the war. We will name the target. And every Catholic sword in Christendom will answer." The Cardinals murmur among themselves, the rustle of their robes the only sound in the vast chamber. The Pope watches them, patient as the city outside, eternal as the stone walls of Rome itself.

Reader's Guide

The Papal States were a temporal sovereign territory, not merely a religious entity. The pope's reign over these lands exemplified his temporal powers as a secular ruler. The state's history includes periods of alliance and conflict with the Franks, the Byzantine Empire, and the Lombards. The precise nature of the relationship between the popes and the Holy Roman Empire from the 9th to the 12th century is disputed in the source.

Did You Know?

• The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the State(s) of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, the Patrimony of St Peter, or the Roman States.
• The Donation of Sutri (728) was a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States, establishing boundaries with the Lombardic King Liutprand.
• Pope Gregory II excommunicated Emperor Leo III during the Iconoclastic Controversy.
• The Lateran Palace was gifted to the patrimony of the Roman Church, most probably from Constantine himself.