Papal States
territories mostly in the Appenine Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope between 756–1870
AI overview
The Papal States were territories, mostly in the Apennine Peninsula, that were directly ruled by the pope as an independent sovereign from 756 to 1870. They mattered because they gave the pope temporal (worldly) power and independence from other rulers, allowing the Catholic Church to maintain its own government separate from secular kingdoms.
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Today part of France
Italy