[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":24},["ShallowReactive",2],{"zoom:p4ch11z5:en":3},{"period":4,"chapter":14,"zoom":17},{"id":5,"title":6,"titleEn":6,"titleEs":7,"range":8,"rangeEn":8,"rangeEs":8,"cover":9},"p4","Early Middle Ages","Alta Edad Media","476 → 987",{"fileName":10,"filePageUrl":11,"imageUrl":12,"sourceLabel":13},"François Louis Dejuinne 08265 baptême de CLovis.JPG","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7ois%20Louis%20Dejuinne%2008265%20bapt%C3%AAme%20de%20CLovis.JPG","/assets/p4-haut-moyen-age-cover.png","Wikimedia Commons",{"id":15,"title":16},"p4ch11","Pepin the Short: From Real Power to the Crown (741–768)",{"id":18,"title":19,"chapterId":15,"html":20,"hasEn":21,"isFallback":22,"seoDescription":23},"p4ch11z5","Donation of Pepin: Papacy, Lombards, and the Papal States (753–756)","\u003Cp>Between \u003Cstrong>753\u003C/strong> and \u003Cstrong>756\u003C/strong>, the alliance between \u003Cstrong>Pepin the Short\u003C/strong> and the papacy transformed the balance of power in Italy and in the Latin West. The episode known as the \u003Cstrong>Donation of Pepin\u003C/strong> did not consist in one isolated act, but in a sequence of commitments, campaigns, and territorial transfers.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>Historical context\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>In the mid-eighth century, the papacy faced converging pressures:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>the expansion of the \u003Cstrong>Lombard kingdom\u003C/strong> under \u003Cstrong>Aistulf\u003C/strong>,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>the declining ability of Byzantium to provide effective military protection in central Italy.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>This context pushed Pope \u003Cstrong>Stephen II\u003C/strong> to seek direct support from the Frankish ruler, an exceptional diplomatic step in western politics.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2>Sequence of alliance (753–756)\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Ponthion (January 754):\u003C/strong> first formal commitment by Pepin to intervene.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Saint-Denis (July 754):\u003C/strong> renewed consecration of Pepin and his sons; strong sacralization of Carolingian legitimacy.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Quierzy (754):\u003C/strong> political framework for restitution and protection in favor of the papacy.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>The alliance was reciprocal:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>the papacy reinforced Carolingian dynastic legitimacy,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Pepin provided military force and diplomatic protection.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Ch2>Military implementation (755–756)\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Pepin’s interventions against Aistulf in \u003Cstrong>755\u003C/strong> and \u003Cstrong>756\u003C/strong> turned diplomatic pledges into concrete outcomes. After military pressure, restitutions were imposed in favor of the Roman Church, especially in areas previously contested between Lombard and Byzantine claims.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2>Territorial and institutional consequences\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The Donation is best understood as a \u003Cstrong>process\u003C/strong>, not as one legal document. It contributed to:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>the emergence of a papal territorial core in central Italy,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>the long-term political autonomy of the papacy,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>durable Frankish influence over Italian affairs.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>The arrangement also generated tensions with Constantinople, which did not necessarily recognize Frankish authority to transfer former imperial lands.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2>Historiographical note\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Sources differ on exact territorial inventories and legal formulas attached to the “Donation.” Most historians therefore focus on political effects: military protection of Rome, papal territorial consolidation, and Carolingian-papal interdependence.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>Key points\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>The 753–756 alliance linked Frankish military capacity with papal legitimacy.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>The Donation of Pepin helped establish the territorial basis of the Papal States.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>It marked a major reconfiguration of western political order in the Carolingian age.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n",true,false,"Between 753 and 756 , the alliance between Pepin the Short and the papacy transformed the balance of power in Italy and in the Latin West. The episode known as",1778543118575]