STATES
259
STATES
it was evident that Rome and Ravenna could not
sinfjly maintain themselves for any length of time.
This was recognized by the Lombards ;dso. The
same narrow strip of lan<l in fact broke the connexion
between their Duchies of Spoleto and Henevento
and the main portion of the king's territories in the
north, and it was against this therefore that, from the
second decade of the eighth century, they aimed their
attacks with ever-increasing energy. In the be-
ginning the popes were able repeatedly to WTest from
their hands all that they had gained. In 728 the
Lombard king Liutprand took the Castle of Sutri,
which dominated the highway at Nepi on the road to
Perugia. But Liutprand, softened by the entreaties
of Pope Gregory II, restored Sutri "as a gift to the
blessed Apostles Peter and Paul ". This expression of
the "Liber pontificalis" was erroneously interpreted
to mean that in this gift the beginning of the States
of the Church was to be recognized. This is incor-
rect inasmuch as the popes continued to acknowledge
the imperial Government, and Greek officials appear
in Rome for some time longer. True it is, however,
that here for the first time we meet the association
of ideas on which the States of the Church were to
be constructed. The pope asked the Lombards for
the return of Sutri for the sake of the Princes of the
Apostles and threatened punishment by these sainted
protectors. The pious Liutprand was undoubtedly
susceptible to such pleas, but never to any consider-
ation for the Greeks. For this reason he gave Sutri
to Peter and Paul, that he might not expose himself
to their punishment. What the pope then did with
it would be immaterial to him.
The belief that the Roman territory (at first in the more restricted, but afterwards also in the wider sense) was defended by the Princes of the Apostles became more and more prevalent. In 738 the Lom- bard duke Transamund of Spoleto captured the Castle of Gallese, which protected the road to Perugia to the north of Nepi. By the payment of a large sum of money Gregory III induced the duke to restore the castle to him. The pope then sought by an alliance with Duke Transamund to protect him- self against Liutprand. But Liutprand conquered Spoleto, besieged Rome, laid waste the Duchy of Rome, and seized four important frontier fortresses (Blera, Orte, Bomarzo, and Amelia), thereby cutting off the communication with Perugia and Ravenna. In this exigency the pope now (739) for the first time turned to the powerful Prankish kingdom, under the protection of which Boniface had begim his successful labours as a missionary in Germany. He sent to Charles Martel, "the powerful mayor of the palace" of the Prankish monarchy and the commander of the Franks in the famous battle at Tours, undoubtedly with the consent of the Greek dux, and appealed to him to protect the tomb of the Apostle. Charles Martel re- plied to the embassy and acknowledged the gifts, but was unwilling to offer aid against the Lombards, who were helping him against the Saracens. Ac- cordingly the successor of Gregory III, Zacharias (the last Greek, who occupied the papal chair), changed the policy that had been previously foUowefl toward the Lombards. He formed an alliance with Liutprand against Transamund, and received (741) in return the four castles. This Zacharias ob- tained as the result of a personal visit to the camp of the king at Terni. Liutprand also restored a number of patrimonies that had been seized by the Lombards, and furthermore concluded a twenty years' peace with the pope, The duchy now had a respite from Lombard attacks. The I./ombards fell upon Ra- venna, which they had already held from 731 to 735. The exarch had no other recourse than to seek the aid of the pope. Liutprand did in fact allow himself to be induced by Zacharias to surrender the
greater part of his conquests. Nor was it unimpor-
tant that these districts too once owed their rescue
to the ))ope. Only a short time after Liutprand's
death (744) Zacharias was successful in further jiosl-
poning the catastrophe. When Rachis, the Lom-
bard king, was besieging Perugia (749), Zacharias so
wrought upon his conscience that the king raised the
siege. But as a result of this Rachis was overthrown,
and Aistulf , who was put into his place, at once showed
by his acts that no consideration could halt him in
his course.
In 751 Aistulf conquered Ravenna, and thereby decided the long delayed fate of the exarchate and the Pentapolis. And when Aistulf, who held Spoleto also under his immediate sway, directed all his might against the Duchy of Rome, it seemed that this too could no longer be held. Byzantium could send no troops, and Emperor Constantino V Copronymus, in answer to the repeated requests for help of the new pope, Stephen II, could only offer him the advice to act in accordance with the ancient policy of Byzan- tium, to pit some other Germanic tribe against the Lombards. The Franks alone were powerful enough to compel the Lombards to maintain peace, and they alone stood in close relationship with the pope. It is true that Charles Martel had on a former occasion failed to respond to the entreaties of Gregory III. But meanwhile the relations between the Frankish rulers and the popes had become more intimate. Pope Zacharias had only recently (751), at Pepin's accession to the throne, spoken the word that removed all doubts in favour of the Carlovingian mayor of the palace. It was not unreasonable, therefore, to expect an active show of gratitude in return, when Rome was most grievously pressed by Aistulf. Accordingly Stephen II secretly sent a letter to Pepin by pilgrims, sohciting his aid against Aistulf and asking for a conference. Pepin in turn sent Abbot Droctegang of Jumieges to confer with the pope, and a little later dispatched Duke Autchar and Bishop Chrodengang of Metz to conduct the pope to the Frankish realm. Never before had a pope crossed the Alps. While Pope Stephen was preparing for the joiu'ney, a messenger arrived from Constanti- nople, bringing to the pope the imperial mandate to treat once more with Aistulf for the purpose of per- suading him to surrender his conquests. Stephen took with him the imperial messenger and several dignitaries of the Roman Church, as well as members of the aristocracy belonging to the Roman militia, and proceeded first of all to Aistulf. In 753 the pope left Rome. ^\istulf , when the pope met him at Pavia, refused to enter into negotiations or to hear of a restoration of his conquests. Only with difficulty did Stephen finally prevail upon the Lombard king not to hinder him in his journey to the Frankish kingdom.
(4) Intervention of the Franks. Formation of the States of the Church. — The pope thereupon crossed the Great St. Bernard into the Frankish kingdom. Pepin received his guest at Ponthion, and there prom- ised him orally to do all in his power to recover the Exarchate of Ravenna and the other districts seized by Aistulf. The pope then went to St- Denis near Paris, where he concluded a firm alliance of friendship with the first Carlovingian king, probably in January, 754. He anointed King Pepin, his wife, and sons, and bound the Franks under the threat of excommu- nication never thereafter to choose their kings from any other family than the Carlovingian. At the same time he bestowed on Pepin and his sons the title of "Patrician of the Romans", which title, the highest Byzantine officials in Italy, the ex- archs, had borne. Instead of the latter the King of the Franks was now to be the protector of the Ro- mans. The pope in bestowing this title probably acted also in conformity with authority conferred on
