The Patrimony of St. Peter

This denotes the material wealth and possessions of the Chuch of Rome. Historically it refers to gifts of land given to the Holy See in 754 and 756 by Pepin* the Short. These gifts comprised what was later known as the [[Papal States]].* Pepin's gift is significant in that it launched the temporal power of the bishop of Rome, and its correlating events were the beginning of Rome's claim to papal supremacy over the crowns of France and Germany. Papal temporal power over this vast part of Italy ended in 1870, when during the Italian Risorgimento King Victor Emmanuel took possession of Rome as the capital of free and united Italy. Papal economic power was restored, however, by Mussolini when he signed the 1929 [[Lateran Treaty]].* This declared Rome a holy city, returned it to the spiritual domination of the Church of Rome, established the autonomous Vatican State, and granted the Holy See $90 million reparations for lands lost in 1870. These monies were invested in the economy of Italy