Donation of Pepin

The Donation of Pepin, or Donation of Pippin, was the transfer of Frankish territory in central Italy to Pope Stephen II made by Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, in 756. The Donation took place amid the Byzantine Empire's decline in Italy and marked both "an important moment in the papal–Carolingian alliance" and an "important step" in the formation of the Papal States. With the fall of the imperial capital in Italy, Ravenna, to Aistulf, King of the Lombards, "any semblance of imperial protection for Rome" had evaporated and the pope, who had technically been a Byzantine subject to this point, turned to Pepin for assistance. Pepin invaded Italy and, in 756, he "defeated Aistulf and imposed a peace on him."

The "Confession of St. Peter," a document listing the cities involved in the Donation, was "placed on the altar of Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 756" along with "keys of the cities and territories in central Italy." The Confession document was created "following Pippin’s second invasion of Italy to assist the pope." Prior to the Confession, Pepin had made a promise to Stephen II at Quierzy, near Soissons, France, in April 754. While this earlier promise is "often identified as the Donation," it may have only been verbal and "does not exist in written form." Papal accounts of the 754 promise state that Pepin "granted the pope the exarchate, including Ravenna, and the Roman duchy."

The Donation established the Frankish Papacy and provided a legal basis for the creation of the Papal States, thus extending the temporal rule of the popes beyond the duchy of Rome. The Donation was subsequently "confirmed by Pippin’s successors, Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, in 778 and 817 respectively," as both "sought to strengthen their ties with the pope." Although the Donation "involved territories that were technically not Pippin's to give," the inability of the Byzantine Empire to control these lands signalled that "the imperial presence in central Italy" was at an end. The Donation of Pepin came at a "critical time in the history of the early Middle Ages," and "had a significant impact on the history of the papal states."