The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-02-07
Continued from Page ~
TEMPORAL POWER OF THE
POPES.
Its Development.

Its Development.
In the beginning Of the Italian
Renaissance Italy was overrun with
many petty tyrants. Families of
wealthy merchants and able captains
became the masters of free towns as
Florence and Milan. In the midst of
this growth of little principalities,
several cities, claimed by the Popes
as belonging by ancient privileges to
the Church, witnessed the rise of
powerful houses like Da Verano, Ma
latesta, Manfred, Ordelafi, etc.
These new princes recognized in the
DRY the sovereignty of the Pontiffs,
but in fact they made themselves the
absolute rulers of the unfortunate
peoples under their sway. In 1893
the Sacred College elected to the Pa
pacy Spanish Cardinal, Alexander
VI, who, on ascending the pontifical
throne, appointed the Duke Valentine
commander of the papal forces and
ordered him to free the territories
supposed to belong to the Church,
from the abusive domination of des-
potic usurpers. The Duke Valentine
some historians say with the secret
idea Of becoming king himself-occu-
pied, in the name of the Holy See,
Forli, Cessna, Rimini, Pesaro and
Faenza, all comparatively important
towns on or near the Adriatic coasts.
Alexander vi. was succeeded by Plus
III, who died a month after his cleo
tion, and was succeeded by julius IL.
This Pontiff, to whose zeal we owe
the Basilica of St. Peter, not only
made up his mind to conquer all the
territories considered to be prop
erty of the Church, but conceived the
splendid idea of driving out the for
eigners from Italy and of forming his
native country into united and in
dependent nation. For this purpose
he made an alliance first with France,
and afterwards, when France became
too powerful and overbearing in
Italy, with Spain against France. AS
a result of his efforts, he only &C.
quired Perugia and Bologna, the lat
ter a city venerated throughout Eu-
rope for her old University and her
great teachers both of Canon and
centuries the Popes continued to
strengthen and enlarge the Pontifical
States. Sixtus ", in 1885 built and
added to the papal kingdom the city
of Loreto; Clement VIII, in 1898, add
ed Ferrara; Urban VIII, in 1881, add
ed the Duchy of Urbine, and few
years later Innocent X. added the
Duchy of Castro. In the early part
of the last century the papal dominion
was so extended that it contained
three large regions, the Marches, La
tium and Umbria, with about fifteen
important cities and a population of
nearly two and a half millions.
Invasion of PontificaI States.
People little familiar with history
would think perhaps that the Popes,
having once obtained and organized
their kingdom, might enjoy it peaceful
ly. Alas! In order to save it from the
rapacity of foreign princes they were
constantly forced to fight with all the
legitimate means at their disposal.
From Aistulf, king of the Longo-
bards, who, in 754, invaded Ancona
and the Duchy of Rome, to Victor
Emanuel H., king of United Italy, who
in 1870 destroyed the temporal pow
er, the civil throne of the Popes was
always threatened and assailed
Many times the entire papal prince.
dom was conquered, the Popes made
prisoners or obliged to flee, Rome
sacked and Italy robbed and ruined
More than once the Popes to defend
their territory and their sacred per.
sons asked the help of foreign rulers
and history tells us that they who
crossed the Alps as protectors of the
Holy See had been only few years
before it's bitterest foes and vice
versa. To speak merely of the most
notable events, the Papal States were
invaded in 754 by Aistulf, in TIA
by Desiderius, in 1O46 by Henry III.
in 1884 by Henry w, in 1241 by Fred
erik H., in 1901 by Nogaret, minister
of Philip the Fair, in 1927 by Charles
", in 1909 by Napoleon l., and in 1867
by Garibaldi.
Destruction of Temporal Power
The last invasion was that ordered
by the government of United Italy
On the goth of September, 1870, Gen
eral Cadorna, commanding an Italian
army of fifty thousand men, after q
short fight at Porta Pia, entered
Rome. On the End of July of the fol
lowing year, Victor Emmanuel II. tool
up his residence in Rome and pro
claimed it the capital of the new
kingdom. In the same year the Ital
ian Parliament passed a law, known
in the diplomatic world as the Law
of Guarantees" which accorded to the
Pope honorary royal prerogatives, the
free use of the Vatican and Lateran
palaces, special postal and telegraphic
service, and a large annual income
Plus TX. and Leo XIII. thought the
Law of Guarantees to be insufficient
to insure the independence of the
Holy See, and rejected all the ad
vances of the Italian statesmen. Plus
x, though very patriotic and concili.
atory towards Italy, has maintained
the same attitude. Still the relations
between the Vatican and the Italian