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{{Short description|756 transfer of Frankish territory to the papacy}}
[[File:La donacion de Pipino el Breve al Papa Esteban II.jpg|thumb|Fresco by a painter from the school of [[Giovanni Battista Ricci|Giovan Battista Ricci]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maiorino |first=Marco |title=L'esaltazione della supremazia pontificia: gli affreschi delle Sale Paoline del Novum Vaticanum Archivum |url=https://www.academia.edu/12539654 |journal=Storia della Biblioteca Vaticana, III: La Vaticana nel Seicento (1590-1700): Una biblioteca di biblioteche, a cura di Claudia Montuschi, Città del Vaticano 2014, pp. 697-708 |pages=699}}</ref> depicting the [[abbot]] St. [[Fulrad]] giving Pepin's written guarantee to Pope Stephen II. ]]
[[File:Aistulf's Italy-en.png|thumb|Map of Lombard territories in 756 before the donation]]

The '''Donation of Pepin''', or '''Donation of Pippin''',<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Donation of Pippin |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Donation-of-Pippin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210173518/https://www.britannica.com/event/Donation-of-Pippin |archive-date=February 10, 2025 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> was the transfer of [[Francia|Frankish]] territory in central [[Italy in the Middle Ages|Italy]] to [[Pope Stephen II]] made by [[Pepin the Short]], [[List of Frankish kings|King of the Franks]], in 756. Credited with "effectively establishing the [[Temporal power of the Holy See|temporal authority]] of the papacy,"<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Routledge_Revivals_Medieval_France_1995/jkArDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22DONATION%20OF%20PEPIN.%20An%208th-century%20document%22 |title=Medieval France: An Encyclopedia |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-351-66565-0 |editor-last=Kibler |editor-first=William W. |language=en |editor-last2=Zinn |editor-first2=Grover A. |editor-last3=Earp |editor-first3=Lawrence |editor-last4=Henneman, Jr. |editor-first4=John Bell}}</ref> the Donation took place amid the [[Byzantine Empire]]'s decline in Italy and marked both "an important moment in the [[History of the papacy|papal]]–[[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] alliance" and an "important step" in the formation of the [[Papal States]].<ref name=":1" /> With the fall of the imperial capital in Italy, [[Ravenna]], to [[Aistulf]], [[List of kings of the Lombards|King of the Lombards]] in 751,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Zfh20mwPuoC&q=Cambridge |title=The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume II |date=1913 |publisher=Macmillan Company |editor1-last=Gwatkin |editor1-first=Henry Melvill |location=New York |pages=215–217 |access-date=29 March 2025 |editor2-last=Whitney |editor2-first=James Pounder}}</ref> "any semblance of imperial protection for [[Rome]]" had evaporated and the pope, who had technically been a Byzantine subject to this point, turned to Pepin for assistance.<ref name=":1" /> Pepin invaded Italy and, following an initial victory in 755,<ref name=":2" /> he decisively "defeated Aistulf and imposed a peace on him" in 756.<ref name=":02"/>

Pepin had promised Italian lands to Stephen II at a meeting in [[Quierzy]], France in April 754.<ref name=":1" /> While this earlier promise is "often identified as the Donation," it may have been only verbal and "does not exist in written form."<ref name=":1" /> Papal accounts of the 754 promise state that Pepin "granted the pope the [[Exarchate of Ravenna|exarchate]], including Ravenna, and the [[Duchy of Rome|Roman duchy]]."<ref name=":02"/>  In 756, the "Confession of St. Peter," a document listing the cities involved in the Donation, was "placed on the altar of [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome"<ref name=":02"/> along with "keys of the cities and territories in central Italy."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Frassetto |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxjOEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Although+the+promise+at+Quierzy+is+often+seen+as+the+Donation%22&pg=PA233 |title=The Early Medieval World: From the Fall of Rome to the Time of Charlemagne |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing USA]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-59884-996-7 |pages=232–233 |language=en}}</ref> The Confession document was created "following Pippin's second invasion of Italy to assist the pope."<ref name=":02"/> After his initial invasion in 755, Pepin concluded the First Peace of [[Pavia]], but Aistulf "refused to abide by" this agreement and attacked Rome.<ref name=":2" /> Pepin then defeated Aistulf again, imposing "heavy penalties" with the Second Peace of Pavia in 756.<ref name=":2" />

The Donation extended the [[Temporal power of the Holy See|temporal rule]] of the [[pope]]s 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]] and [[Louis the Pious]], in 778 and 817 respectively,"<ref name=":02"/> as both "sought to strengthen their ties with the pope."<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /> Before gaining Pepin's help, the pope had in fact appealed to Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine V]], but without results.<ref name=":2" /> 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."<ref name=":1" /> The Donation prompted debate "at the time as well as in subsequent historiography" due to the "symbolic importance of the cities involved" and the "practicalities of seeing the agreement implemented," since the donation did not adhere to the Quierzy statement exactly.<ref name=":4" /> It has also sparked debate regarding the credibility of the manuscript in which it was referenced. Some scholars take issue with the terminology due to the fact the lands in question were not "donated" in the traditional sense.<ref>Noble, Thomas F. X. ''The Republic of St. Peter : The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.</ref>

== Background ==
In 751, [[Aistulf]], king of the [[Lombards]], conquered what remained of the [[exarchate of Ravenna]], the last vestige of the [[Roman Empire]] in northern Italy. In 752, Aistulf demanded the submission of Rome and a tribute of one gold {{lang|la|[[Solidus (coin)|solidus]]}} per capita. [[Pope Stephen II]] and a Roman envoy, the [[silentiary]] 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 to [[Pepin the Short]], king of the [[Franks]], 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Ullmann|1962|pp=54–55}}

In 753, John the Silentiary returned from [[Constantinople]] to Rome with an imperial order ({{lang|la|iussio}}) that Pope Stephen accompany him to meet Aistulf in the Lombard capital of [[Pavia]]. The pope duly requested and received a [[Safe conduct|letter 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Ullmann|1962|pp=54–55}} 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=18–20}}

== Original promise ==
[[File:Karolinger- Pippin der Kurze - Münzkabinett, Berlin - 5531415.jpg|thumb|[[Carolingian coinage|Carolingian coin]] of [[Pepin the Short]], dating from 754/55 to 768.]]
Due to military pressure from the Lombards, in late 753 Pope Stephen II, Pope Zacharias' successor, implored Pippin to defend Rome.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|edition=1|title=Charlemagne and Rome: Alcuin and the Epitaph of Pope Hadrian I|url=https://academic.oup.com/book/46073|publisher=Oxford University PressOxford|date=2023-06-01|isbn=978-0-19-920634-6|doi=10.1093/oso/9780199206346.001.0001|language=en|first=Joanna|last=Story}}</ref> Pope Stephen met Pepin the Short at the royal estate at [[Ponthion]] 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=18–20}}

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 at [[Quierzy|Quierzy-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.<!-- No original document has been preserved, but later 8th century sources quote from it and the ''[[Fragmentum Fantuzzianum]]'' probably relied on it.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}--> On 28 July in the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]], the Pope anointed Pepin and his sons [[Charlemagne|Charles]] and [[Carloman I|Carloman]] as kings of the Franks and [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians of the Romans]]<!-- in a memorable ceremony that was recalled in the [[Coronation|coronation rites]] of French kings until the end of the {{lang|fr|[[ancien régime]]}} in 1792-->. He also pronounced a blessing on Queen [[Bertrada of Laon|Bertrada]] and the assembled nobility. The pope's right to grant the patrician title is doubtful.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=18–20}} The 754 anointing also had a sacramental element, giving the king "a place and function in the church with duties, privileges and responsibilities" that would manifest over time through the [[Frankish Papacy|Franco-Papal alliance]].<ref>{{Cite book|edition=2.|title=A History of the Church in the Middle Ages|publisher=Routledge|date=2013|location=London New York|isbn=978-0-415-66993-1|first=F. Donald|last=Logan}}</ref>

== Military actions ==
[[File:Aistulf follis 80000860.jpg|thumb|A ''[[follis]]'' coin of King [[Aistulf]], dating from 749 to 756.]]
In the spring of 755, Pepin summoned the army to muster at [[Braine, Aisne|Braisne-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 the [[Mont Cénis]] and defeated the Lombard army near [[Susa, Italy|Susa]]. 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=20–22}}

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 in a series of letters to Pippin about the Lombard threat, which includes the pope claiming that "a good name," or title "means to dispute with all energy for the enhancement of the holy Church of God," since God favors those who are "loyal adherents and defenders of his holy Church."<ref>{{cite book | last1=Hartmann | first1=Florian | title=The Good Christian Ruler in the First Millennium | chapter=The Good Ruler from a Papal Perspective: Continuities and Discontinuities in Papal Letters from the Fourth to Eighth Centuries | date=2021 |series=Millennium Studies  |volume=92 | pages=291–310 | doi=10.1515/9783110725612-014 | isbn=978-3-11-072561-2 |editor1=Philip Michael Forness |editor2=Alexandra Hasse-Ungeheuer |editor3=Hartmut Leppin |location=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter}}</ref> Recorded by the ''[[Codex Carolinus]]'', the letters detail the pope's perspective of the Lombard presence.<ref name=":3">Rosenwein, Barbara H., ed. ''Reading the Middle Ages : Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World''. Second edition. North York, Ontario, Canada ; University of Toronto Press, 2014.</ref> In 755, one letter to Pippin describes the pope's motives for writing, prompted by the "many trials" of [[Rome]] due to the "wicked King Aistulf of the Lombards."<ref name=":3" /> The pope references the [[Quierzy]] document, established in 754, mentioning that "through a charter of donation" the king's "goodness has been confirmed that restitution should be made."<ref name=":3" /> He urges the king that "hasten to restore and hand over to blessed Peter" what was promised in the donation, and what the king "once promised blessed Peter."<ref name=":3" /> In a separate letter addressed on February 24, 756, he mentions how the earlier peace treaty established after Pippin first came to the pope's aid has been "overthrown" by Aistulf.<ref name=":3" /> Rome, he mentions, is surrounded by the Lombards, and have set fire to the "churches of God, casting the most holy images of the saints into the fire."<ref name=":3" /> The pope is imploring Pippin to come to their aid again, asking him not to abandon Rome so that the Lord does not abandon him, with "all possible haste and the greatest speed."<ref name=":3" /> The letters from Pope Stephen II to the Frankish king Pippin III regarding the increasing threat of Lombard invasion are "crucial sources for the commencement and early years of the Franco-papal alliance" and "the emergence of the [[Papal States]]."<ref name=":3" />

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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=20–22}}

== Final agreement ==
The treaty officially conferred upon the pope the territories belonging to Ravenna, even cities such as [[Forlì]] with their hinterlands, the Lombard conquests in the [[Romagna]] and in the [[Duchy of Spoleto]] and [[Benevento]], and the [[Pentapolis]] (the "five cities" of [[Rimini]], [[Pesaro]], [[Fano]], [[Senigallia]] and [[Ancona]]). [[Narni]] and [[Ceccano]] were former papal territories.{{sfn|Noble|1984|p=93}} 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. Abbot [[Fulrad]] 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.{{sfn|Partner|1972|pp=20–22}}

The Donations made the Pope a temporal ruler for the first time. This strip of territory extended diagonally across Italy from the [[Tyrrhenian Sea|Tyrrhenian]] to the [[Adriatic Sea]]. Over these extensive and mountainous territories the medieval Popes were unable to exercise effective sovereignty, given the pressures of the times.{{clarification needed|date=August 2021}}

== Charlemagne ==
The relationship between [[Charlemagne]], the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingians]], and the papacy was also developing around the time of the Donation. [[Bertrada of Laon|Bertrada]], wife of Pippin III, utilized her young son Charles, later known as Charlemagne, to maintain the peace established with the Lombards. She arranged for Charlemagne's marriage to a daughter of the Lombard king [[Desiderius]]. [[Pope Stephen II]] was against this match, but Bertrada reassured the pope that the pairing would not harm the Frankish relationship with Rome, St. Peter's see, or the pope's status.<ref name=":4" /> However, for reasons unknown, Charles reneged on his agreement to marry the Lombard princess.<ref name=":4" /> The rejection of his daughter humiliated Desiderius and strengthened the [[Frankish Papacy|Franco-Papal alliance]] on the "more traditional anti-Lombard terms."<ref name=":4" />

When Charlemagne came to power in 771, he continued to protect St. Peter's see by invading Rome. In 773, [[Pope Adrian I|Pope Hadrian I]] requested assistance against the Lombards just like Pope Stephen had years a few decades earlier.<ref name=":5">DeVries, Kelly Robert, and Robert D. (Robert Douglas) Smith. ''Medieval Weapons : An Illustrated History of Their Impact''. 1st ed. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2007.</ref> Charlemagne came to the aid of the pope in 774 and besieged the Lombard capital, [[Pavia]].<ref>Logan, F. Donald. "Carolingians and Church Practices." In ''A History of the Church in the Middle Ages''. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Group, 2012.</ref> After his successful conquest of the Lombards, which added Italy from the Alps to Rome to the Carolingian kingdom, Charlemagne received the title of King of the Lombards once their prior king, Desiderius, had surrendered.<ref name=":5" /> Charlemagne was different from his father or other Frankish kings in that he claimed to be both secular and spiritual lord of his domains, unlike other rulers who kept these designations separate.<ref>Meyer, Andreas. "Papal Monarchy." In ''A Companion to the Medieval World'', edited by Carol Lansing and Edward D. English, 372–96. Oxford, UK: Wiley‐Blackwell, 2009.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Donation of Constantine]], a forged Roman imperial decree by which the 4th-century emperor Constantine the Great supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Thomas F. X. |last=Noble |title=The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680–825 |year=1984}}
* {{cite book |first=Peter |last=Partner |author-link=Peter Partner |title=The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance |publisher=University of California Press |year=1972}}
* {{cite book |first=Walter |last=Ullmann |title=The Growth of Papal Government in the Middle Ages: A Study in the Ideological Relation of Clerical to Lay Power |year=1962}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|first=Augustin|last=Theiner|title=Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis S. Sedis|url=https://archive.org/details/CodexDiplomaticusDominiiTemporalisV1|edition=Tome premier |year=1861|publisher=Imprimerie du Vatican|location=Rome|language=Latin|page=[https://archive.org/details/CodexDiplomaticusDominiiTemporalisV1/page/n23 1]}}

{{Holy See}}{{Investiture Controversy}}{{Portal bar|Catholicism|Italy|Vatican City}}

[[Category:Foreign relations of the Holy See]]
[[Category:History of the papacy]]
[[Category:Papal States]]
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[[Category:8th century in the Papal States]]
[[Category:Investiture Controversy]]