Papal States

Not to be confused with the Papacy, the institution that ruled over the Papal States.

State of the Church Stato Pontificio (Italian) Status Ecclesiasticus (Latin)
756–1870 Interregna (1798–1799, 1809–1814 and 1849–1850)
Top: Flag until 1808 (longest use) Bottom: Flag in use in 1870 (last) Coat of arms (15th–19th cent.) Coat of arms (Sede vacante)
Anthem: Marcia trionfale (1857–1870) "Triumphal March"
Map of the Papal States (green) at their greatest extent in 1789, including its exclaves of Benevento and Pontecorvo in southern Italy, and the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon in southern France
The legations of the Papal States in 1850: Rome, I. Romagna, II. Marche, III. Umbria, IV. Marittima e Campagna
Capital	Rome (756–1308; 1376–1870) Avignon (1309–1376)
Official languages	Latin
Common languages	Italian Romagnol Emilian (Bolognese and Ferrarese) Central Italian languages Southern Italian languages (Beneventan)
Religion	Catholicism (state religion)
Demonym	Papalini
Government	Feudal theocratic elective absolute monarchy (756–1798; 1800–1809) Unitary theocratic elective absolute monarchy (1814–1847; 1850–1870) Unitary theocratic elective semi-constitutional monarchy (1847–1849)
Pope
• 756–757 (first)	Stephen II
• 1846–1870 (last)	Pius IX
Cardinal Secretary of State
• 1551–1555 (first)	Girolamo Dandini
• 1848–1870 (last)	Giacomo Antonelli
Prime Minister
• 1847–1848 (first)	Gabriele Ferretti
• 1848–1849 (last)	Carlo E. Muzzarelli
Legislature	Parliament (1848)
History
• Donation of Pepin	756
• Codification	781
• Treaty of Venice (sovereignty reaffirmed)	1177
• Publication of the Constitutiones Aegidianae	1357
• Roman Republic (1798–1799)	15 February 1798
• Schönbrunn Palace Declarations	17 May 1809
• Capture of Rome	20 September 1870
• Annexation to the Kingdom of Italy	9 October 1870
• Vatican City	11 February 1929
Area
Before 1859	44,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1853	3,124,668
Currency	Roman scudo (until 1866) Papal lira (1866–1870)
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Rome 1440: Republic of Cospaia 1545: Duchy of Parma and Piacenza 1798: Tiberina Republic 1798: Roman Republic 1806: Principality of Pontecorvo 1809: First French Empire 1820: Republic of Benevento 1820: Republic of Pontecorvo 1849: Roman Republic 1870: Kingdom of Italy
Today part of	France Italy Vatican City

The Papal States (/ˈpeɪpəl/ PAY-pəl), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major Italian states from the 8th century until the unification of Italy, which took place between 1859 and 1870, culminating in their incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy.

The state was legally established in the 8th century when Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, gave Pope Stephen II, as a temporal sovereign, lands formerly held by Arian Christian Lombards, adding them to lands and other real estate formerly acquired and held by the bishops of Rome as landlords from the time of Constantine onward. This donation came about as part of a process whereby the popes began to turn away from the Byzantine emperors as their foremost temporal guardians for reasons such as increased imperial taxes, disagreement with respect to iconoclasm, and failure of the emperors (or their exarchs in Italy) to protect Rome and the rest of the peninsula from barbarian invasion and pillage.

During the early modern period, the papal territory expanded greatly, and the pope became one of Italy's most important rulers as well as the head of Western Christianity. At their zenith, the Papal States covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio (which includes Rome), Marche, Umbria, Romagna, and portions of Emilia. The popes' reign over these lands was an exemplification of their temporal powers as secular rulers, as opposed to their ecclesiastical primacy.

By 1860, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Sardinia and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, except Lazio, which remained under the pope's control. In 1870, all of Lazio, including Rome, was annexed by the Italian kingdom, which refrained from occupying the Leonine City militarily. In 1929, the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the head of the Italian government, ended the "Prisoner in the Vatican" period by negotiating the Lateran Treaty, signed by the two parties. This treaty acknowledged the sovereignty of the Holy See over the Vatican City, a newly created city-state within Rome.