View source for Papal State

The '''Papal States''' are the personal lands of the [[pope]], held by him in a [[feudal]] manner in the same way as any other [[crown]], except that the [[pope]] is not a [[hereditary]] office, it is [[elect]]ed.

The area of the '''Papal States''' varied widely during the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], however they usually included [[Rome]], [[Viterbo]], [[Urbino]] and ocassionally lands as far north as [[Ferrara]], [[Bologna]], [[Parma]] and [[Modena]].

To the south of the '''Papal States''' is the [[Kingdom]] of [[Naples]].

Anton notes :
Once the Pope controlled the Papal States, he was a de facto [[Secular]] Italian prince. One of the points of the Reformed, such as [[Luther]] was that the Pope by controlling these lands had abjured his Spritiual responsibilities for Temporal gains.