6th century, their power increased to such an extent that in the times of the Franks they already formed a species of papal Judices de clero. cabinet with a share and sometimes a predominance in the affairs of the republic. There were seven principal administrators, but two of them held the chief power—the primicerius notariorum and the secundicerius, i.e. the first and under secretaries of state. When, on the constitution of the new empire, these ministers were declared to be palatine or imperial as well as papal officials, the primicerius and the secundicerius were also in waiting on the emperor, who sat in council with them when in Rome. Next came the arcarius, or treasurer; the sacellarius, or cashier; the protoscriniarius, who was at the head of the papal chancery; the primus defensor, who was the advocate of the church and administered its possessions. Seventh and last came the nomenclator, or adminiculator, who pleaded the cause of widows, orphans and paupers. There were also some other officials, such as the vestiarius, the vicedominus or steward, the cubicularius or major-domo, but these were of inferior importance. They were ecclesiastics, but not bound to be in priest's orders. The first seven were those specially known as proceres clericorum and oftener still as judices de clero, since they speedily assumed judicial functions and ranked among the chief judges of Rome. But as ecclesiastics they did not give decisions in criminal cases. Thus Rome had two tribunals, that of the judices de clero, or ordinarii, presided over by the pope, and that of the judices de militia, leaders of the army, dukes and tribunes, also bearing the generic title of consuls. First appointed by the exarch and then frequently by the pope, these decided both civil and criminal cases. In the latter they were sole judges under the presidency of the prefect.
The pope was thus at the head of a large administrative body with judicial and civil powers that were continually on the increase, and, in addition to his moral authority over Christendom, was possessed of enormous revenues. So in course of time he considered himself the real representative of the Roman Republic. Gregory II. The popes and the papal power. (715–31) accepted in the name of the republic the submission of other cities, and protested against the conquest by the Lombards of those already belonging to Rome. He seemed indeed to regard the territory of the duchy as the patrimony of the church. The duke was always at the head of the army, and, officially, was always held to be an imperial magistrate. But the empire was now powerless in Italy. Meanwhile the advance of the Lombards was becoming more and more threatening; they seized Ravenna in 751, thus putting an end to the exarchate, and next marched towards Rome, which had only its own forces and the aid of neighbouring cities to rely upon. To avoid being crushed by the brute force of a foreign nation unfit to rule, and only capable of oppression and pillage, it was necessary to make an energetic stand.
Accordingly, the reigning pope, Stephen II. (752–57), appealed to Pippin, king of the Franks, and concluded with that monarch an alliance destined to inaugurate a new epoch of the world's history. The pope consecrated Pippin king of the Franks, and named him patricius Romanorum. This title, as introduced by Constantine, The popes appeal to the Franks for aid. had no longer the ancient meaning, but now became a sign of lofty social rank. When, however, it was afterwards conferred on barbarian chieftains such as Odoacer and Theodoric, and then on the representative of the Byzantine empire in Italy, it acquired the meaning of a definite dignity or office. In fact, the title was now given to Pippin as defender of the church, for the pope styled him at the same time patricius Romanorum and defensor or protector ecclesiae. And the king pledged himself not only to defend the church but also to wrest the exarchate and the Pentapolis from the Lombards and give them to Rome, or rather to the pope, which came to the same thing. This was considered as a restitution made to the head of the church, who was also the representative of the republic and the empire. And, to preserve the character of a restitution, the famous “donation of Constantine” was invented during this period (752–77). Pippin brought his Donation of Pippin. army to the rescue (754–55) and fulfilled his promise. The pope accepted the donation in the name of St Peter, and as the visible head of the church. Thus in 755 central Italy broke its connexion with the empire and became independent; thus was inaugurated the temporal power of the papacy, the cause of so much subsequent warfare and revolution in Rome.
Its first consequences were speedily seen. In 767 the death
of Paul I. was followed by a fierce revolt of the nobles under
Duke Toto (Theodoro) of Nepi, who by violent means raised
his brother Constantine to the chair of St Peter, although
Constantine was a layman and had first to be ordained. For
more than a year the new pontiff was a pliable tool in the hands
of Toto and of the nobles. But the genuine papal faction,
headed by a few judices de clero, asked the aid of the Lombards
and made a formidable resistance. Their adversaries were
defeated, tortured and put to death. Toto was treacherously
slain during a fight. The pope was blinded and left half dead
on the highway. Fresh and no less violent riots ensued, owing
to the public dread lest the new pope, Stephen III. (768–72),
elected by favour of the Lombards, should give them the city
in return. But Stephen went over to the Franks, whom he had
previously deserted, and his successor, Adrian I. (772–95),
likewise adhered to their cause, called the city to arms to resist
King Desiderius and his Lombard hordes, and besought the
assistance of Charlemagne. This monarch accordingly made a
Charlemagne
in Italy.
descent into Italy in 773, and not only gained an
easy victory over Desiderius, but destroyed the
Lombard kingdom and seized the iron crown. Entering
Rome for the first time in 774, he confirmed and augmented
the donation of Pippin by the addition of the dukedom of
Spoleto. He returned several times to Italy and Rome, making
new conquests and fresh concessions to Adrian I., until the
death of the latter in 795.
The position of Rome and of the pope is now substantially changed. Duke, prefect, militia and the people exist as heretofore, but are all subordinate to the head of the church, who, by the donations of Pippin and Charlemagne, has been converted into a powerful temporal sovereign. Henceforth all connexion with The papacy, the republic and the Franks. Byzantium is broken off, but Rome is still the mainspring of the empire, the Roman duchy its sole surviving fragment in Italy, and the pope stands before the world as representative of both. And, although it is difficult to determine how this came about, the pope is now regarded and regards himself as master of Rome. In the year 772 he entrusts the vestiarius with judicial powers over the laity, ecclesiastics, freemen and slaves nostrae Romanae reipublicae. He writes to Charlemagne that he has issued orders for the burning of the Greek ships employed in the slave trade, “in our city of Civita Vecchia” (Centumcellae), and he always speaks of Rome and the Romans as “our city,” “our republic,” “our people.” The donations of Pippin and Charlemagne are restitutions made to St Peter, the holy church and the republic at the same time. It is true that Charlemagne held the supreme power, had an immensely increased authority and actively fulfilled his duties as patricius. But his power was only occasionally exercised in Rome; it was the result of services rendered to the church, and of the church's continual need of his help; it was, as it were, the power of a mighty and indispensable ally. The pope, however, was most tenacious of his own authority in Rome, made vigorous protest whenever rebels fled to Charlemagne or appealed to that monarch's arbitration, and contested the supremacy of the imperial officials in Rome. Yet the pope was no absolute sovereign, nor, in the modern sense of the term, did any then exist. He asserted supremacy over many lands which continually rebelled against him, and which, for want of an army of his own, he was unable to reduce to obedience without others' help. Neither did the republic acknowledge him as its head. It profited by
