Papal States


plural noun
  1. the areas comprising a large district in central Italy ruled as a temporal domain by the popes from a.d. 755 until the greater part of it was annexed in 1860, by Victor Emmanuel II: the remaining part, Rome and its environs, was absorbed into the kingdom of Italy in 1870.

  • Also called States of the Church .

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British Dictionary definitions for Papal States

Papal States

pl n
  1. the temporal domain of the popes in central Italy from 756 ad until the unification of Italy in 1870: Also called: States of the Church

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