Patrimony of Saint Peter
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The Patrimony of Saint Peter (
Patrimonial possessions of the Church of Rome
In AD 321
Wealthy families of the Roman nobility followed Constantine's example. Their memory frequently survived, after the families themselves became extinct, in the names of the properties they once presented to the Roman See. During his reign, Pope Sylvester became the owner of properties in Italy, Sicily, Antiochia, Asia Minor, in the area of Hippo in North Africa, Armenia, and Mesopotamia.[2] The donation of large estates ceased about 600 AD. The Byzantine emperors preferred the patriarchate of Constantinople, and were less liberal in their gifts. The wars with the Lombards likewise had an unfavourable effect, and few families were still in a position to bequeath large estates.[1]
Apart from a number of scattered possessions in
But the patrimonies in the vicinity of Rome (the successors to the classical
Revenues from the patrimonies were used for administration, to maintain and build churches, to equip convents, run the papal household and support the clergy, but also to a great extent to relieve public and private want. In administering the Patrimony of St. Peter, Pope Gregory (540-604) showed a considerable grasp of detail and administrative capacity. In anticipation of a threatened corn shortage, Gregory filled the granaries of Rome with the harvests of Egypt and Sicily. Numerous poorhouses, hospitals, orphanages and hospices for pilgrims were maintained out of the revenues of the patrimonies. Gregory also spent large sums ransoming captives from the Lombards, and commended one of the bishops for breaking up and selling church plate for that purpose.[3]
Political role of the Papacy
The political aspect of the papacy became in time very prominent, as Rome, after the removal of the imperial residence to the East, was no longer the seat of any of the higher political officials. Since the partition of the empire, the Western emperors had preferred to make the better-protected Ravenna their residence. Here was the centre of Odoacer's power and of the Ostrogothic rule; here also, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the 'viceroy' of the Byzantine emperor in Italy, the exarch, resided.
In Rome, the pope appeared with increasing frequency in political negotiations;
When
When Emperor
Collapse of Byzantine power in central Italy
The strange shape which the States of the Church assumed from the beginning is explained by the fact that these were the districts in which the population of central Italy had defended itself to the very last against the Lombards.
In 751 Aistulf conquered Ravenna, and thereby decided the long delayed fate of the exarchate and the Pentapolis. And when Aistulf, who held Spoleto also under his immediate sway, directed all his might against the Duchy of Rome, it seemed that this too could no longer be held. Byzantium could send no troops, and Emperor Constantine V, in answer to the repeated requests for help of the new pope, Stephen II, could only offer him the advice to act in accordance with the ancient policy of Byzantium, to pit some other Germanic tribe against the Lombards. The Franks alone were powerful enough to compel the Lombards to maintain peace, and they alone stood in close relationship with the pope. Charles Martel had on a former occasion failed to respond to the entreaties of Gregory III, but meanwhile the relations between the Frankish rulers and the popes had become more intimate. Pope Zachary had only recently (751), at Pepin's accession to the Merovingian throne, spoken the word that removed all doubts in favour of the Carolingian mayor of the palace. It was not unreasonable, therefore, to expect an active show of gratitude in return, when Rome was most grievously pressed by Aistulf.
Accordingly, Stephen II secretly sent a letter to king Pepin by pilgrims, soliciting his aid against Aistulf and asking for a conference. Pepin in turn sent Abbot Droctegang of Jumièges to confer with the pope, and a little later dispatched Duke Autchar and Bishop Chrodegang of Metz to conduct the pope to the Frankish realm.[5]
Never before had a pope crossed the Alps. While Pope Stephen was preparing for the journey, a messenger arrived from Constantinople, bringing to the pope the imperial mandate to treat once more with Aistulf for the purpose of persuading him to surrender his conquests. Stephen took with him the imperial messenger and several dignitaries of the Roman Church, as well, as members of the aristocracy belonging to the Roman militia, and proceeded first of all to Aistulf. In 753 the pope left Rome. Aistulf, when the pope met him at Pavia, refused to enter into negotiations or to hear of a restoration of his conquests. Only with difficulty did Stephen finally prevail upon the Lombard king not to hinder him in his journey to the Frankish kingdom.
Intervention of the Franks and Formation of the States of the Church
The pope thereupon crossed the
At
In the summer of 754 Pepin and the pope began their march into Italy, and forced King Aistulf, who had shut himself up in his capital, to sue for peace. The Lombard promised to give up the cities of the exarchate and of the Pentapolis, which had been last conquered, to make no further attacks upon or to evacuate the
For the cities in the exarchate and in the Pentapolis, which Aistulf promised to return, Pepin executed a separate deed for the pope. This is the first "Donation of 754".But Pepin had hardly recrossed the Alps on his way home, when Aistulf again advanced against Rome, and lay siege. The pope summoned Pepin to fulfill anew his pledge of loyalty. In 756 Pepin set out with an army against Aistulf and again hemmed him in at
The Byzantine Government naturally did not approve of this result of Frankish intervention. It had hoped to regain possession of the districts that had been wrested from it by the Lombards. But Pepin took up arms, not for the Byzantine emperor, but for the sake of the pope. Kings at that time founded monasteries and endowed them with landed properties, so that prayers might be offered for them there; Pepin wished to provide the pope with temporal territories, so he might be certain of the prayers of the pope. Therefore, when the Byzantine ambassadors came to him before the second expedition of 756 and asked him to return to the emperor the cities taken from the Lombards, he said that to Rome alone would he restore the cities. Thus did Pepin found the States of the Church.
The States of the Church were in a certain sense the only remnant of the Roman Empire in the West which escaped foreign conquerors. Gratefully the Roman population acknowledged that they had escaped subjection to the Lombards. Also, temporal sovereignty guaranteed to the pope some level of independence. Under Pepin's son,
Soon after this Desiderius was forced to capitulate, and Charlemagne had himself proclaimed King of the Lombards in his place. Charlemagne's attitude toward the States of the Church now underwent a change. With the title of King of the Lombards he also assumed the title as "Patricius Romanorum", which his father had never used, and read into this title rights which under Pepin had never been associated with it. Moreover, differences of opinion arose between Adrian and Charlemagne concerning the obligations which had been assumed by Pepin and Charlemagne in the document of Quiercy. Adrian construed it to mean that Charlemagne should take an elastic concept of the "res publica Romana" to the extent of giving up not only the conquests of Aistulf in the exarchate and in the Pentapolis, but also earlier conquests of the Lombards in Central Italy, Spoleto and Benevento.
But Charles would not listen to any such interpretation of the document. As both parties were anxious to come to an understanding, an agreement was reached in 781. Charlemagne acknowledged the sovereignty of Adrian in the Duchy of Rome and in the States of the Church founded by
The agreement between Charlemagne and Adrian remained undisturbed. In 787 Charlemagne further enlarged the States of the Church by new donations:
In the later 9th century, such as during the papacy of Pope John VIII, the papal patrimony was severely threatened.[7]
Pontifical province
From the early 13th century, the Patrimony of Saint Peter was one of the four provinces established by
It was governed by a papal appointed official, the Rector. Subsequently, the presence of a Rector General, coordinator of the activities of the provincial rectors and direct referent of the pontiff is also documented.[9]
The province of Patrimonio was confirmed in the
The seat cities of the rectors were Montefiascone and Viterbo.[9]
List of papal patrimonia
Each patrimonium was not necessarily a single unit, but could consist of other lands not joined to the central nucleus (ex corpore patrimoniae).
- Patrimonium Tusciae (bounded by the Agro Romano);
- Patrimonium Tuscie Suburbanum (around Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano);
- Patrimonium Sabinense or Carseolanum (on the Via Salaria, ending at Farfa Abbey);
- Patrimonium Tiburtinum (bounded by the Via Nomentana and the Via Tiburtina);
- Patrimonium Labicanum (on the Via Labicana, ending at the valley of Aniene);
- Patrimonium Appiae (on the Via Appia, ending at Albano);
- Patrimonium Appiae Suburbanum (around the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano);
- Patrimonium Caietanum (around Gaeta);
- Patrimonium Traiectum (on the River Garigliano).
Notes
- ^ a b c Schnürer, Gustav. "States of the Church." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 16 Jul. 2014
- ^ "Papal possessions in the Eastern Adriatic", Arheoloski vestnik, 55, str. 429-438, 2004
- ^ "Saint Gregory the Great", Lives of the Saints, John J. Crowley & Co., Inc.
- ISBN 978-1-57958041-4), vol. 2, pp. 823–825
- ^ Noble, Thomas F. X., The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680–825. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1984, p. 78
- ^ Brown, T.S., "Byzantine Italy", The New Cambridge Medieval History, c.700-c.900. Vol. II. (Rosamond McKitterick,ed.). Cambridge University Press. 1995, p. 328
- ISBN 9780812205435.
- ^ "Papal States | Italian History, Papacy & Politics | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ^ a b c "Patrimonio di San Pietro in "Dizionario di Storia"". www.treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-08-31.
Sources
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "States of the Church". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- (in Italian) AA.VV., Atlante storico-politico del Lazio, Regione Lazio, Editori Laterza, Bari 1996