Papal State: Difference between revisions

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===Early emergence===

During the period of the [[Great_Levantia#Potentate_–_the_Principate|Great Levantine Potentate]], the office of Pontifex Maximus wielded supreme political and religious authority in the state. As the state transitioned to [[Great_Levantia#Potentate_–_the_Dominate|the Dominate]], the office of Pontifex Maximus was diverged from that of Emperor and became an Imperial appointee, retaining some official standing and religious leadership but losing the position of preeminent political office. In [[314]], the first Christian Emperor, [[Amadeus Agrippa]] permanently gave the office of Pontifex Maximus to the [[Pope|Bishop of Urceopolis]], greatly enhancing the political prestige of the Pope and also giving it nominal responsibilities within the Great Levantine state. The [[Great_Levantia#End_of_the_Empire|collapse of the Empire in 502]] resulted in the Urceopolitan Bishop having not only significant religious authority but also political authority as the primary arbiter of disputes between the statelets and manors in the Urce river valley. The collapse also led to the Pope solidifying control over the parts of [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] immediately surrounding [[St. Peter's Archbasilica]], those parts which were south of the Esquiline River. This control was allegedly confirmed by an act of the [[Duchy of Urceopolis]] in [[520]] called the Esquiline Decree, though historians - both then and now - have questioned the legitimacy or existence of such an act. In any case, the Pope began to wield significant hard and soft political authority in the 6th century. The Pope would, in time, also come to influence the election of the Duke of Urceopolis by the end of the 8th century.

The establishment of the [[Holy Levantine Empire|Levantine Empire]] by [[Conchobar I, Emperor of the Levantines|Emperor Conchobar I]] in the 750s and 760s transformed Papal political authority in the span of just a few years. Conchobar consolidated most of [[The Valley (Urcea)|the Urce Valley]] into the [[Archduchy of Urceopolis]]; as part of this, he created the [[Duchy of Transurciana]] out of a large portion of lands east of the Urce and south of the Esquiline River (with the exception of [[Urceopolis_(City)#Kingswood|Kingswood]]). This Duchy, though part of the Archduchy and subordinated to the Archduke of Urceopolis, had the right of final appeal to the Pope. The Duchy became, de facto, part of the Pope's direct domain. This distinction, however, was never formalized into law, leading to centuries of debates between the Pope and the future Urcean Crown about the exact extent of the Pope's earthly political authority. By the 11th century, through both his direct domains, the Duchy, and other areas obtained, the Pope had accrued large amounts of political power and influence within the southern Holy Levantine Empire, rivaled only by the [[Julian dynasty|Julian]] Urceopolis-Harren realm. This period saw the conferral of formal rights to the Pope on an individual diplomatic basis just Transurciana, usually in the form of perpetual tribute of taxes by various small cities and feudal entities; these were usually obtained either as pious acts of charity or in exchange for Papal support for political aims. Many of these tax agreements would persist through the 19th century.

===Esquiline Commune===

The conflict between King Seán I and the Papacy resulted in [[History_of_Urcea_(1098-1214)#The_Crown_and_the_Papacy|rumors of war]]. These rumors led to a popular uprising in the parts of the city south of the Esquiline which, on 1 November [[1157]], formed the Esquiline Commune. The Commune recognized the spiritual authority of the Pope as well as his ownership of the lands, but created a new form of government primarily run by the burghers who formed a senate and elected the First Patrician, modeling their administration after {{wp|mercantile republic}}s. The Commune would begin to receive funds and support from the King in [[1158]], and critically recognized that the King, rather than Pope, as final court of appeal for political and administrative matters. For a time, the Pope and First Patrician coexisted peacefully, but the Pope eventually fled to the [[Duchy of Transurciana]] in [[1161]] and raised an army to unseat the Communal government. The Communal government raised both locals and hired Urcean mercenaries and defeated the Papal army in [[1162]]. The Commune received official royal support in [[1174]]. Between 1174 and 1176, an antipope - Urban III - reigned over the city as installed by King Seán I as the legitimate Pope fled to [[Carolina]]. A number of bad omens and illnesses induced Seán to repent, ultimately destroying the Commune and restoring the legitimate Pope to the city.

While the Commune was primarily an issue of the relationship between the authority of the King and the authority of the Pope, its existence had longterm ramifications for the temporal authority of the Pope. After nearly four centuries of ruling lands from Urceopolis to the border of [[Harren]] undisturbed, the broader Papal domains were significantly interrupted during the time of the Commune's existence. The Pope's Esquiline domains formed not only the administrative and diplomatic center of his realm, but it also served as the main source of income and manpower. Having lost it, the Pope was functionally unable to impose his temporal will on the constellation of lords previously under his authority. Consequently, throughout the 1160s and 1170s, Papal authority waned in Transurciana and elsewhere as the local nobility had to rely on themselves for support, inaugurating a period of feuding and lawlessness. Dozens of barons and counts, accordingly, declared their allegiance to the King in order to prevent their domains from being attacked and taken. As part of the effort to rehabilitate Royal-Papal relations, many of these allegiance changes were subsequently recognized by the Pope and later ratified by the [[Imperial Diet]] in [[1192]], significantly weakening the Pope's overall position while somewhat shrinking his domains.

===Decline===

The general loss of cachet and prestige of the Pope continued after the Esquiline Commune affair. His position was weakened greatly by it, not only by the gradual loss of vassals but also as a result of the office's declining standing as a temporal ruler. Various financial shortfalls during the 14th century - generated by economic devestation wrought in the lands of the former Commune - required the Pope to sell off some of his vassalage rights in the [[Duchy of Transurciana]] to either the Urcean crown or its vassals, decreasing the territorial domains of the Pope. Additionally, in [[1207]], the King-Emperor Niall I [[History_of_Urcea_(1098-1214)#End_of_the_House_of_Harren|issued the Golden Bull of 1207]], which added nine Bishop-electors to the [[Collegial Electorate]] while dramatically reducing the autonomy of Transurciana and also truncating its lands. Though protesting privately, {{Wp|Pope Innocent III}} accepted this exchange due to the new significant influence in Imperial politics it gave the Church. Throughout the remainder of the 13th century and the first decades of the 14th century, Papal lands continued to diminish through similar diplomatic deals as well as military engagements with Urcean vassals. A sudden change of fortune took place in [[1339]], however, as the [[Saint's War]] produced a [[History_of_Urcea_(1214-1402)#Great_Interregnum|Great Interregnum]] in which no member of the [[Julian dynasty]] conclusively established themselves as [[Apostolic King of Urcea]]. During this period, the local nobles of Urceopolis revolted and installed {{wp|Pope Benedict XII}} as protector of the city, effectively giving the Papacy control over all of Urceopolis. From this position, the Pope temporarily revitalized his position in Transurciana by establishing overlordship of Urcean vassals rather than his own. This last zenith of power would reach an end in [[1402]] as the Saint's War came to an end and the Pope was forced to cede back Urceopolis to the new King, Lucás II. The slight revitalization allowed the Pope to retain some power throughout the remainder of the 15th century.

The 16th century would prove disastrous for both the temporal and spiritual authority of the Pope. The outbreak of the {{wp|Protestant Reformation}} inaugurated a period of religious turmoil which undermined Papal authority in religious matters significantly as portions of Levantine society became Protestant. In [[1546]], the first of the Protestant [[History_of_Urcea_(1402-1575)#Ronanid_reign|Ronanids]] took control of Urcea. Though initially pledging toleration, the Pope was induced to flee [[Urceopolis (City)|Urceopolis]] in [[1548]], thereby abandoning his domains which were seized by the crown as were most monastic lands and other ecclesiastical properties. The [[Emperor of the Levantines]] responded by giving all territories {{wp|Imperial immediacy}}, functionally destroying the constitutional order established by the first Emperor in the 8th century. This act also functionally dissolved the Duchy of Transurciana, though the ensuing [[Catholic League]] promised to restore those lands held directly by the Pope. The [[Great Confessional War]] would culminate with the Pope's restoration in Urceopolis in [[1565]]. Per an agreement between the Pope and new King, [[Leo III, Emperor of the Levantines|Leo II]], all direct Papal territories were restored as were many negotiated taxing agreements between the Pope and various cities, but the Duchy of Transurciana was not restored, effectively ending the Pope's political authority within Urcea. Most, but not all, Church lands were restored as well; some were retained by the Crown for use in reestablishing a Catholic nobility but many were repurposed as [[Housing_in_Urcea#Religious_war_period|productive lands to be used for the first Ómestaderoi]]. The Papacy in 1600 was restored in Urceopolis and religious authority largely reasserted, but it would never again have the direct temporal authority it had enjoyed in the high medieval period.