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Pontifical domain

State of the Church
Stato della Chiesa
Status Ecclesiae
754–1870
Interregna (1798–1799, 1809–1814 and 1849)
Flag
Flag in 1870
Coat of arms until 19th century
Coat of arms until 19th century
Anthem
The Papal States in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars
Map of the Papal States (green) in 1700, including its exclaves of Benevento and Pontecorvo in Southern Italy, and the Comtat Venaissin and Avignon in Southern France.
Capital Rome
Languages Latin, Italian, Occitan
Religion Roman Catholic
Government Theocratic absolute elective monarchy
Pope
 •  754–757 Stephen II (first)
 •  1846–1870 Pius IX (last)
Cardinal Secretary of State
 •  1551–1555 Girolamo Dandini (first)
 •  1848–1870 Giacomo Antonelli (last)
Prime Minister
 •  1848 Gabriele Ferretti (first)
 •  1848 Giuseppe Galletti (last)
History
 •  Establishment 754
 •  Codification 781
 •  Treaty of Venice (Independence from the Holy Roman Empire) 1177
 •  1st Disestablishment February 15, 1798
 •  Schönbrunn Palace Declarations May 17, 1809
 •  2nd Disestablishment September 20, 1870
 •  Vatican City February 11, 1929
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire
Kingdom of Italy (medieval)
Roman Republic (18th century)
First French Empire
Roman Republic (19th century)
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
Roman Republic (18th century)
First French Empire
Roman Republic (19th century)
Kingdom of Italy
Prisoner in the Vatican
Today part of

The Papal States, officially the State of the Church (Italian: Stato della Chiesa, Italian pronunciation: ['stato 'della ki.'ɛza]; Latin: Status Ecclesiae), were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio (which includes Rome), Marche, Umbria and Romagna, and portions of Emilia. These holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy.

By 1861, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy. Only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Pope's temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, not even the Vatican. Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Holy See by signing the Lateran Treaty in 1929, thus granting the Vatican City State sovereignty.

The Papal States were also known as the Papal State (although the plural is usually preferred, the singular is equally correct as the polity was more than a mere personal union). The territories were also referred to variously as the State(s) of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States (Italian: Stato Pontificio, also Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa, Stati Pontifici, and Stato Ecclesiastico; Latin: Status Pontificius, also Dicio Pontificia).


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