The Rise of the Papal State

Ever wonder how Vatican City came to be? It began innocent enough the law of Constantine the Great (321). The law stated the Christian Church was qualified to possess and convey property. It gave a legal basis to the possessions of the Church of Rome. Afterward the properties were rapidly increased by donations. Constantine Is said to have donated the Lateran Palace beginning the process himself. The property was one of many once owned by the Lateranus family of the former Roman Empire. The family lost their properties to Emperor Constantine who in turn gave it to the Christian Church. Constantine's contributions formed the historical foundation. Saint Sylvester I pope (314-35) was pope under the reign of Emperor Constantine I. The example of Constantine was continued by wealthy families of the Roman nobility. The properties they donated to the Church still carry their name today. The Papal State consists of the region which for over 1000 years (754-1870) acknowledged the pope as secular ruler.

Because of wars and other circumstances, large private donations of land to the Church dwindled around 600. There were few families left in a position to donate large estates. Most of the land owned by the Church was located in Italy and on the adjacent islands. The most valuable and most extensive possessions were those in Sicily, about Syracuse and Palermo. There were scattered assets in the Orient, Dalmatia, Gaul, and Africa. The revenues from the properties in Sicily and Lower Italy in the eighth century, when Leo III, Byzantine emperor (Leo the Isaurian or Leo the Syrian), c.680-741, Byzantine emperor (717-41) seized them was worth a fortune. Patrimonium Sancti Petri (Patrimony of Saint Peter) in the locality of Rome was the most numerous. Other patrimonies to state are the Neapolitan with the Island of Capri, that of Gaeta, the Tuscan, the Patrimonium Tiburtinum ( via Nomentana connecting Rome to Nomentana e la via Tiburtina )in the area of Tivoli, estates about Otranto, Osimo, Ancona, Umana, estates near Ravenna and Genoa, and lastly properties in Istria, Sardinia, and Corsica. These property possessions made the pope the largest landowner in Italy. The parts of Italy saved from the Lombards by the Romans were later conquered by the Franks too, and then ceded to the Pope.

The Church presented the motivation for the existence of the Papal State, to allow the pope the freedom to make decisions without obligation to any secular prince. Revenue was income intended for charity or as support for clerics engaged in religious work. Churchmen always held the principal governmental offices. They legislated, arbitrated, educated, and regulated the state in such a way as to guarantee the church would have a stable foundation from which to function.

Citations:

"Saint Sylvester I." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Sylvest1.html

Papal States. (2008, November 14). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:40, May 31, 2009 from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Papal_States?oldid=853244.

Schnürer, G. (1912). States of the Church. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved May 31, 2009 from New Advent