# The Chronicle of Vatican City: From the tomb of an apostle to the world's smallest state: the long story of the popes' temporal power. History of Vatican City: From the tomb of an apostle to the world's smallest state: the long story of the popes' temporal power. 6 eras and 24 sourced… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/VAT/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-13 Founding: The Lateran Treaty creates the State of Vatican City — 1929. The modern state was born on 11 February 1929, when the Lateran Treaty was signed in Rome between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, signed for Italy by the head of government Benito Mussolini and for the papacy by the cardinal secretary of state Pietro Gasparri. The treaty resolved the 'Roman Question', the dispute that had festered since the Kingdom of Italy took Rome in 1870 and ended the popes' temporal rule over the Papal States. Italy recognised the full sovereignty of the Holy See and its possession of an independent territory, the State of Vatican City, a minute enclave of about 44 hectares (109 acres) that is the smallest sovereign state in the world. The new state formally came into existence on 7 June 1929 when the ratifications were exchanged. It must be distinguished from the Holy See itself, the sovereign juridical entity of the universal Church, which maintains diplomatic relations with most of the world's states and sits as a permanent observer at the United Nations. Vatican City is the smallest sovereign state on earth, a walled enclave of about 44 hectares within Rome, yet it carries one of the longest continuous histories of any place in Europe. Its story begins not with a state but with a grave: the traditional burial place of the apostle Saint Peter on the Vatican Hill, over which the emperor Constantine raised a great basilica in the fourth century, making the spot the seat of the bishops of Rome, the popes. From the eighth century the popes became temporal rulers as well as spiritual ones: the Donation of Pepin in 756 created the Papal States, territories of central Italy that the popes governed for more than a thousand years. The Renaissance papacy rebuilt Saint Peter's, commissioned the Sistine Chapel and gathered the collections that became the Vatican Museums. That temporal realm was swept away by Italian unification, when the Kingdom of Italy took Rome in 1870 and ended the popes' rule; the popes refused to recognise the new state and styled themselves 'prisoners in the Vatican', a standoff known as the Roman Question. It was resolved only on 11 February 1929, when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy created the independent State of Vatican City. Today the territory of Vatican City and the worldwide sovereign authority of the Holy See together preserve both an enormous cultural patrimony and the centre of the Roman Catholic Church. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## The Tomb of Peter and the First Basilica — c. 64 – 590 On the Vatican Hill, beside Nero's circus, an apostle was martyred and buried; over his grave Constantine built a basilica that made the spot the seat of the bishops of Rome. - c. 64: **Martyrdom of Saint Peter** — According to tradition the apostle Peter was martyred in Rome during the persecution under Nero and buried on the Vatican Hill beside the circus, around 64 CE. [sanpietro-tomb, papacy-britannica] - c. 2nd century: **The Trophy of Gaius marks the grave** — About a century after Peter's death a small funerary monument, later known as the Trophy of Gaius, was built over the burial site and became a place of veneration. [sanpietro-tomb] - c. 330: **Constantine builds Old St Peter's Basilica** — The emperor Constantine raised a great basilica over the traditional tomb of Peter on the Vatican Hill, enclosing the shrine and making the site the chief sanctuary of Western Christendom. [sanpietro-tomb, stpeters-britannica] - c. 1st–5th c.: **The bishops of Rome and apostolic succession** — The popes were regarded as successors of Peter as bishops of Rome, a claim founded on the doctrine of apostolic succession that linked their authority to the apostle buried at the Vatican. [papacy-britannica, apostolic-britannica] Figures: - Saint Peter (died c. 64) — Apostle and first bishop of Rome. An apostle of Jesus, traditionally regarded as the first pope, Peter is held to have been martyred and buried on the Vatican Hill. The church built over his tomb became the seat of his successors, the bishops of Rome. - Constantine the Great (c. 272 – 337) — Roman emperor. The first Christian emperor, Constantine legalised the faith and, around 330, built the first great basilica over the tomb of Saint Peter, founding the shrine that would become the heart of the Vatican. ## The Rise of Temporal Power and the Papal States — 590 – 1417 From defenders of Rome the popes became its rulers; the Donation of Pepin in 756 made them sovereigns of a band of territory across central Italy that they would govern for over a thousand years. - 756: **The Donation of Pepin creates the Papal States** — After Pepin the Short forced the Lombards to surrender their conquests, he restored the lands of central Italy to the pope, creating the Papal States and the basis of papal temporal power. [papalstates-britannica, papalstates-summary] - 1309–1377: **The Avignon papacy** — The popes moved their residence to Avignon in France, where seven popes ruled for nearly seventy years away from Rome. [avignon-britannica] - 17 Jan 1377: **Gregory XI returns the papacy to Rome** — Pope Gregory XI brought the papacy back to Rome from Avignon, against French opposition, ending the Avignon period. [gregoryxi-britannica, avignon-britannica] - 1378–1417: **The Western Schism** — Rival popes in Rome and Avignon divided the Church for four decades until the Council of Constance restored a single papacy in 1417. [avignon-britannica] Figures: - Pope Stephen II (died 757) — Pope who secured Frankish protection. Facing the Lombard threat, Stephen II appealed to Pepin the Short for aid. The Frankish king's intervention and the Donation of Pepin in 756 founded the Papal States and the popes' temporal power. - Gregory XI (1329 – 1378) — Last of the Avignon popes. Gregory XI ended the Avignon papacy by returning the papal court to Rome on 17 January 1377. His death the next year precipitated the Western Schism. ## The Renaissance Papacy and the New Saint Peter's — 1417 – 1648 Returned to Rome, the popes became patrons of the Renaissance, rebuilding Saint Peter's, decorating the Sistine Chapel and gathering the collections that grew into the Vatican Museums. - 1481–1483: **The Sistine Chapel completed** — Built under Pope Sixtus IV, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated in 1483; it became the place where cardinals meet in conclave to elect the pope. [sistine-vatican] - 18 Apr 1506: **First stone of the new Saint Peter's** — Pope Julius II laid the foundation stone of an entirely new Saint Peter's Basilica to replace the failing fourth-century church; it was completed in 1626. [stpeters-britannica] - 1508–1512: **Michelangelo paints the Sistine ceiling** — Commissioned by Julius II, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, one of the supreme achievements of Renaissance art. [sistine-vatican, stpeters-britannica] - 1506: **Origins of the Vatican Museums** — The Vatican Museums trace their founding to 1506, when Julius II displayed the newly excavated ancient sculpture of the Laocoon, beginning the papal collections. [museums-vatican] Figures: - Pope Julius II (1443 – 1513) — Patron pope of the High Renaissance. Julius II began the new Saint Peter's in 1506, commissioned Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling and Raphael's frescoes, and founded the papal art collections, shaping the Vatican as a Renaissance masterpiece. - Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) — Artist and architect. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–1512) and the 'Last Judgement', and as architect of Saint Peter's from 1546 designed its great dome, defining the Vatican's artistic identity. ## The Loss of Rome and the Roman Question — 1648 – 1929 Italian unification swept away the popes' thousand-year-old realm; Rome fell in 1870 and the popes, refusing to recognise the new state, declared themselves prisoners in the Vatican. - 1861: **The Kingdom of Italy claims Rome** — The new Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed in 1861, regarded Rome as its capital, leaving the pope's remaining territory protected only by a French garrison. [italy-unification-britannica] - 20 Sep 1870: **The capture of Rome** — Italian troops breached the walls at the Porta Pia and took Rome, ending more than a thousand years of papal temporal rule and completing the unification of Italy. [italy-unification-britannica, romanquestion-britannica] - 1871: **Pius IX, 'prisoner in the Vatican'** — Refusing to accept the loss of Rome, Pope Pius IX withdrew into the Vatican and declared himself a prisoner, a position his successors held until 1929. [romanquestion-britannica] - 1870–1929: **The Roman Question** — For nearly six decades the popes refused to recognise the Italian state's seizure of Rome, leaving the church-state dispute known as the Roman Question unresolved. [romanquestion-britannica, lateran-britannica] Figures: - Pope Pius IX (1792 – 1878) — Last sovereign of the Papal States. The longest-reigning pope, Pius IX lost Rome and the Papal States to the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 and, refusing to recognise the new state, declared himself a 'prisoner in the Vatican'. - Pope Leo XIII (1810 – 1903) — Pope during the Roman Question. Successor to Pius IX, Leo XIII maintained the papacy's refusal to recognise the Italian seizure of Rome, keeping the Roman Question alive while reasserting the church's voice in the modern world. ## The Lateran Treaty and the Birth of Vatican City — 1929 – 1962 The Lateran Treaty of 1929 created the world's smallest state and resolved the Roman Question; through the Second World War the new state held to neutrality under Pius XII. - 11 Feb 1929: **Signing of the Lateran Treaty** — The Holy See and Italy signed the Lateran Treaty, signed by Mussolini for Italy and Cardinal Gasparri for the papacy, recognising the Holy See's sovereignty and creating the State of Vatican City. [lateran-britannica, ewtn-vatican-country] - 7 Jun 1929: **The State of Vatican City comes into being** — With the exchange of ratifications on 7 June 1929 the State of Vatican City formally came into existence as an independent sovereign state of about 44 hectares. [lateran-britannica, ewtn-vatican-country] - 1929: **The Roman Question resolved** — The Lateran Treaty ended the nearly sixty-year dispute over the popes' loss of Rome, reconciling the papacy to the Italian state in return for a sovereign territory. [lateran-britannica, romanquestion-britannica] - 4 Jun 1944: **Wartime neutrality and the liberation of Rome** — Vatican City kept to neutrality under Pius XII during the Second World War; though Rome was occupied and then liberated by the Allies on 4 June 1944, the Vatican itself was not occupied. [piusxii-britannica] Figures: - Pope Pius XI (1857 – 1939) — First sovereign of Vatican City. Pius XI concluded the Lateran Treaty of 1929 with Italy, ending the Roman Question and becoming sovereign of the new State of Vatican City, for which he accepted only a minimal territory. - Pope Pius XII (1876 – 1958) — Wartime pope. Pope through the Second World War, Pius XII held Vatican City to neutrality and organised humanitarian aid, but his restraint in condemning the Holocaust remains fiercely debated. ## Vatican II, the Modern Papacy and a World Patrimony — 1962 – present From the Second Vatican Council to a global diplomatic presence, the modern Holy See projects worldwide influence from the smallest of states, guardian of an unmatched cultural patrimony. - 1962–1965: **The Second Vatican Council** — Opened by John XXIII on 11 October 1962 in Saint Peter's and concluded under Paul VI in 1965, Vatican II reformed the worship, self-understanding and outward relations of the Roman Catholic Church. [vaticanii-britannica] - 1964: **The Holy See becomes a UN permanent observer** — The Holy See established a Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in 1964, choosing observer status to preserve its neutrality, distinct from the territory of Vatican City State. [holysee-un, holysee-diplomatic] - 1984: **Vatican City inscribed as a World Heritage Site** — UNESCO inscribed the entire State of Vatican City as a World Heritage Site, recognising Saint Peter's, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums as a cultural patrimony of universal value. [unesco-vatican, unesco-rome] - 10 Jan 1984: **Diplomatic relations with the United States** — The United States and the Holy See established full diplomatic relations on 10 January 1984, more than a century after the loss of the Papal States had ended earlier ties. [stategov-holysee] Figures: - Pope John XXIII (1881 – 1963) — Pope who called Vatican II. John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962 to renew the church for the modern world, opening it in Saint Peter's before his death the following year. - Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005) — Globe-spanning modern pope. Elected in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in centuries, John Paul II travelled the world and lent decisive moral weight to the fall of communism, projecting vast influence from the smallest state. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:VAT:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/VAT/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [sanpietro-tomb] The Tomb of Saint Peter — Fabbrica di San Pietro / basilicasanpietro.va · https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/san-pietro/the-tomb-of-saint-peter - [stpeters-britannica] St. Peter's Basilica — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Peters-Basilica - [papacy-britannica] Papacy — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/papacy - [apostolic-britannica] Apostolic succession — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/apostolic-succession - [papalstates-britannica] Papal States — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Papal-States - [papalstates-summary] Papal States (summary) — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/summary/Papal-States - [avignon-britannica] Avignon papacy — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Avignon-papacy - [gregoryxi-britannica] Gregory XI — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregory-XI - [sistine-vatican] History of the Sistine Chapel — Vatican Museums (museivaticani.va) · https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/storia-cappella-sistina.html - [museums-vatican] The Vatican Museums — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vatican-Museums-and-Galleries - [italy-unification-britannica] Italy: The acquisition of Venetia and Rome — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Italy/The-acquisition-of-Venetia-and-Rome - [romanquestion-britannica] Roman question — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-question - [lateran-britannica] Lateran Treaty — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Lateran-Treaty - [ewtn-vatican-country] How the Vatican Became a Country — EWTN Vatican · https://ewtnvatican.com/articles/how-the-vatican-became-a-country - [piusxii-britannica] Pius XII: World War II and the Holocaust — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pius-XII/World-War-II-and-the-Holocaust - [vaticanii-britannica] Second Vatican Council — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Vatican-Council - [holysee-un] The Holy See Celebrates Years as Permanent Observer to the United Nations — Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN · https://holyseemission.org/contents/mission/5ac79b91753bc.php - [holysee-diplomatic] Diplomatic Relations of the Holy See — Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN · https://holyseemission.org/contents/mission/diplomatic-relations-of-the-holy-see.php - [unesco-vatican] Vatican City (World Heritage List, no. 286, inscribed 1984) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/286/ - [unesco-rome] Historic Centre of Rome and the Holy See properties enjoying extraterritorial rights — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/91/ - [stategov-holysee] Holy See — Countries — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (history.state.gov) · https://history.state.gov/countries/holy-see - [wikipedia-lateran-treaty] Lateran Treaty — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Vatican City: From the tomb of an apostle to the world's smallest state: the long story of the popes' temporal power.", terralore.co/country/VAT/chronicle, retrieved .