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.

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.

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 promise of land by the Lombard king Liutprand to the pope, but the actual legal establishment of the Papal States is traditionally dated to the Donation of Pepin in 756.
• Pope Gregory II excommunicated Emperor Leo III during the Iconoclastic Controversy.
• The Lateran Palace was gifted to the patrimony of the Roman Church, but the attribution to Constantine is based on the 8th-century forgery known as the Donation of Constantine, not a historical event.