TheDonation of Pepin, orDonation of Pippin,[2] was the transfer ofFrankish territory in centralItaly toPope Stephen II made byPepin the Short,King of the Franks, in 756. Credited with "effectively establishing thetemporal authority of the papacy,"[3] the Donation took place amid theByzantine Empire's decline in Italy and marked both "an important moment in thepapal–Carolingian alliance" and an "important step" in the formation of thePapal States.[4] With the fall of the imperial capital in Italy,Ravenna, toAistulf,King of the Lombards in 751,[5] "any semblance of imperial protection forRome" had evaporated and the pope, who had technically been a Byzantine subject to this point, turned to Pepin for assistance.[4] Pepin invaded Italy and, following an initial victory in 755,[3] he decisively "defeated Aistulf and imposed a peace on him" in 756.[6]
Pepin had promised Italian lands to Stephen II at a meeting inQuierzy, France in April 754.[4] While this earlier promise is "often identified as the Donation," it may have been only verbal and "does not exist in written form."[4] Papal accounts of the 754 promise state that Pepin "granted the pope theexarchate, including Ravenna, and theRoman duchy."[2] In 756, the "Confession of St. Peter," a document listing the cities involved in the Donation, was "placed on the altar ofOld St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome"[2] along with "keys of the cities and territories in central Italy."[4] The Confession document was created "following Pippin’s second invasion of Italy to assist the pope."[2] After his initial invasion in 755, Pepin concluded the First Peace ofPavia, but Aistulf "refused to abide by" this agreement and attacked Rome.[3] Pepin then defeated Aistulf again, imposing "heavy penalties" with the Second Peace of Pavia in 756.[3]
The Donation extended thetemporal rule of thepopes beyond the duchy of Rome, establishing the "Frankish Papacy" and providing a legal basis for the creation of the Papal States. The Donation was subsequently "confirmed by Pippin’s successors,Charlemagne andLouis the Pious, in 778 and 817 respectively,"[2] as both "sought to strengthen their ties with the pope."[4] Although the Donation "involved territories that were technically not Pippin's to give," the inability of the Byzantine Empire to control these lands signalled that "the imperial presence in central Italy" was at an end.[4] Before gaining Pepin's help, the pope had in fact appealed to Byzantine EmperorConstantine V, but without results.[3] The Donation of Pepin came at a "critical time in the history of the early Middle Ages," and "had a significant impact on the history of the papal states."[4]
In 751,Aistulf, king of theLombards, conquered what remained of theexarchate of Ravenna, the last vestige of theRoman Empire in northern Italy. In 752, Aistulf demanded the submission of Rome and a tribute of one goldsolidus per capita.Pope Stephen II and a Roman envoy, thesilentiary John, tried through negotiations and bribes to convince Aistulf to back down. When this failed, Stephen led a solemn procession through the streets of Rome and nailed the treaty which Aistulf had violated to a crucifix. He then sent envoys toPepin the Short, king of theFranks, with a letter requesting his support and the provision of a Frankish escort so that Stephen could go to Pepin to confer. At the time, the Franks were on good terms with the Lombards.[7][8]
In 753, John the Silentiary returned fromConstantinople to Rome with an imperial order (iussio) that Pope Stephen accompany him to meet Aistulf in the Lombard capital ofPavia. The pope duly requested and received aletter of transit from the Lombards. With the Frankish envoys who had by then arrived, the pope and the imperial envoy set out for Pavia on 14 October 753. The Roman magnates did not accompany them past the border of the duchy of Rome. At Pavia, Aistulf denied the requests of Stephen and John to return the conquered exarchate to the empire, but he did not prevent Stephen from continuing with the Frankish envoys to the court of Pepin. They left Pavia on 15 November 753. John the Silentiary did not accompany them. This was the first time a pope had crossed the Alps.[7][8] The decision to act independently of the imperial envoy was of the immense moment. It is likely that the pope saw himself as acting on behalf of the Italian province subjugated and threatened by Aistulf.[7]
Pope Stephen met Pepin the Short at the royal estate atPonthion on 6 January 754. The king led the Pope's horse, while the pope in sackcloth and ashes bowed down and asked Pepin "that in accordance with the peace treaties [between Rome and the Lombards] he would support the suit of St Peter and of the republic of the Romans". Pepin responded by promising "to restore the exarchate of Ravenna and the rights and territories of the republic". The exact nature of this commitment cannot be known, but it is unlikely that Pepin had in mind the Roman Empire. It has been suggested that the two parties exchanged oaths on this occasion, but that is unlikely.[7]
Over the next two years, Pepin dispatched three embassies to Aistulf demanding that he honour his treaties with the Romans. In April 754, he held a general assembly atQuierzy-sur-Oise. Some noblemen left the proceedings in opposition to the policy, but Pepin restated publicly his promise to the Pope and enumerated the territories that he would restore. Afterwards, this promise was put into writing. On 28 July in theBasilica of Saint-Denis, the Pope anointed Pepin and his sonsCharles andCarloman as kings of the Franks andpatricians of the Romans. He also pronounced a blessing on QueenBertrada and the assembled nobility. The pope's right to grant the patrician title is doubtful.[7]
In the spring of 755, Pepin summoned the army to muster atBraisne-sur-Vesle. He sent envoys ahead to offer Aistulf an indemnity if he restored the Roman territories he had taken in violation of his treaties. The Frankish army crossed theMont Cénis and defeated the Lombard army nearSusa. Defeated, Aistulf submitted to some form of Frankish overlordship and promised under oath to return Ravenna and the other cities he had occupied to the Pope. The peace treaty was signed by the "Romans, Franks, and Lombards" without direct reference to the Empire.[9]
As soon as the Frankish army left Italy, Aistulf disregarded the treaty. On 1 January 756, he put Rome under siege. The Pope appealed to the Franks. After three months, Aistulf abandoned the blockade. In April, a Frankish army invaded Italy again and defeated the Lombards. Aistulf was forced to give hostages and pay annual tribute to the Franks. He also had to promise in writing to return the occupied territories to the Pope.[9]
The treaty officially conferred upon the pope the territories belonging to Ravenna, even cities such asForlì with their hinterlands, the Lombard conquests in theRomagna and in theDuchy of Spoleto andBenevento, and thePentapolis (the "five cities" ofRimini,Pesaro,Fano,Senigallia andAncona).Narni andCeccano were former papal territories.[10] The territories specified in the treaty of 756 had belonged to the Roman Empire. Envoys of the Empire met Pepin in Pavia and offered him a large sum of money to restore the lands to the Empire, but he refused, saying that they belonged to St Peter and the Roman church. The boundaries of the grant to the Pope can only be approximated, since the text of the treaty has not survived. It is possible that the boundaries were the same as those in a previous Imperial–Lombard treaty. AbbotFulrad was charged with collecting the keys of the cities to be handed over and depositing them along with the written agreement on the tomb of St Peter.[9]
The Donations made the Pope a temporal ruler for the first time. This strip of territory extended diagonally across Italy from theTyrrhenian to theAdriatic Sea. Over these extensive and mountainous territories the medieval Popes were unable to exercise effective sovereignty, given the pressures of the times.[clarification needed]
In 774 Pepin's sonCharlemagne visited Rome and again confirmed and reasserted the Donation. Some later chronicles falsely claimed that he also expanded them, grantingTuscany,Emilia,Venice andCorsica.[citation needed]
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