The Fall of the Papal States

On this day, the recently formed Royal Italian Army captured the city of Rome, bringing to an end the Papal States, which had existed since the Donation of Pepin in 756, along with the temporal power of the Holy See, and leading to the establishment of Rome as the capital of unified Italy. Following Garibaldi’s enterprise in Sicily and southern Italy, the Kingdom of Italy had been proclaimed on 17th March 1861, but did not include Rome or Veneto. In early September 1870 King Victor Emanuele II offered Pope Pius IX a peaceful solution that was flatly refused. Consequently, the Italian army placed Rome under siege on 19th September and at 5:00 a.m. the following morning began firing at the city walls. After a few hours, the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia were breached and the royal troops flooded into Rome and forced the Papal troops to surrender. After a plebiscite held on 2 October 1870, Rome was officially made capital of Italy on 3 February 1871, completing the unification of Italy.

Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987. View all posts by Tony