Papal nobility
Today, the Pope still exercises authority to grant titles with territorial designations, although these are purely nominal and the privileges enjoyed by the holders pertain to styles of address and heraldry.
Under the Carolingian empire, the County (also derived from a Roman precedent; Comes, Comitatus), was instituted as the basic jurisdictional unit centered on a fortified town or castle.
As feudalism developed the old Byzantine, Lombard, and Frankish structures were worked into a hierarchy, and the old military and administrative offices became hereditary titles with fiefs attached.
The late middle ages were marked by a rivalry between the Guelphs and Ghibellines – the parties favoring Pope and Emperor, respectively – that roiled the cities of Northern Italy.
When the Pope returned to Italy at the end of the fourteenth century, he had to either overthrow or force the submission of the lords of the cities of Emilia-Romagna, Le Marche and Umbria.
The Medici of Florence and other noble families set their sights on the papacy as a means of aggrandizing themselves and establishing dynastic goals through marriage, diplomacy and ennoblement.
Cesare Borgia notably ousted many of the lords of Le Marche and established himself as the Duke of Romagna before being overthrown by his father's successor Julius II.
[2] Modern Italy is dotted with the fruits of their success; various family palazzi remain standing today as a testament to their sometimes meteoric rise to power.
From the second half of the 16th century onwards, members of the higher clergy and the aristocracy connected to the papal court built a number of stately homes, or suburban villas in the countryside of Lazio.
[5] As modern statehood emerged and the boundaries between imperial and papal territory solidified, titles of nobility were proliferated as a means of establishing allies and friendly buffer states.
Upon restitution of sovereignty to the Papal States, Pius VII decided to abolish feudalism, transforming all the titles to honorifics disconnected from territorial privileges.
In 1854 a complete list of Roman princely families was drawn up and entered into the Golden Book of the Capitoline nobility (established by the Urbem Romam constitution of Benedict XIV of 1746).
Among Maloney's various charitable activities was a home for the elderly in honor of his parents, donations to the Catholic University of America, and towards the refurbishment of the Lateran Basilica.
[6] In 1903, Leo created New York City socialite and benefactress Annie Leary a Papal Countess, the first such title to have been bestowed upon a woman in the United States.
A trustee of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Crimmons established Corpus Christi Monastery at Hunts Point in the Bronx for the Dominican Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
On the occasion of the signing of the Lateran Accords of 1929, the Italian government recognized the sovereignty of the Holy See and confirmed the pope's power to grant noble titles.
John Paul II granted several noble titles to Polish compatriots at the beginning of his pontificate, but quietly and without their being published in the Acts of the Apostolic See.
Just as Catholic monarchs sometimes exercised veto powers in papal elections, bishops and abbots were historically represented in the parliaments or "estates-general" (legislative and consultative assemblies) of many countries.
Recipients of such honours included both Italians – especially those close to the papacy (some of whom were/are papal relatives) – and prominent non-Italian Catholics, including Irish tenor John McCormack, Irish art historian and politician George Noble Plunkett, American financier George MacDonald, American philanthropist Katherine E. Price, and Rose Kennedy (mother of U.S. president John F.
[11] From the sixteenth century forward, strong statehood developed in Italy and vague, overlapping territorial claims were gradually determined and settled through conquest and treaty.
