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Papal States

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Location

The Resume

    (circa 754-September 20, 1870)
    More correctly called The Papal State
    AKA State(s) of the Church, Pontifical State(s), Ecclesiastical State(s), or The Roman State(s)
    Area of central to northeastern Italy ruled by the Pope/Catholic Church from the Middle Ages to the late 19th Century and included geographically disconnected areas in France and Italy
    Now reduced in size to the Vatican
    In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and the loss of power of the Byzantine Empire, the Catholic Church acquired huge amounts of land in central and northeastern Italy. And after the Donation of Pepin in the 8th Century took its most well known historical form and was dissolved in 1870 when Italy was united as one country

Why Papal States might be annoying:

    It involved the Papacy and the Catholic Church into secular matters such as wars and civil law enforcement that often brought it discredit.
    It lost its independence and chunks of its territory several times during its history and was dissolved permanently in 1870.
    Although it was technically founded in 754 AD it did not assume real control of its lands until 1300 AD and total papal control until 1600 AD.
    Its existence seems to have disappeared down the memory hole and it is largely ignored in the history books especially in the United States.
    it was involved in many armed conflicts during its history, particularly with France and the Holy Roman Empire.
    When it lost its independence to a united Italy, the popes got into a snit and refused to leave Saint Peter's Cathedral and the surrounding buildings until Mussolini gave them the Vatican in 1929.
    It was kind of funny shaped.

Why Papal States might not be annoying:

    If the Papacy and Catholic Church hadn't formed it, its territories would have lapsed into barbarism and feudalism like the rest of Italy and Europe did during the Middle Ages.
    It was for the most part ruled justly.
    It was formed and dissolved relatively peacefully.
    It gave birth to the Renaissance.
    It maintained a tremendous intellectual and artistic life during its history and is responsible for maintaining learning from Roman to modern times.
    Its forces led the Crusades and the fight against Muslim expansion into the western Mediterranean including critically at the Battle of Lepanto.
    If you consider the Vatican to be a continuous part of it (a reasonable opinion) then it is one of the oldest countries in existence.
    They had a really cool looking flag!

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 35 Votes: 37.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying