firmation.

Between the middle of the ninth century and the middle of the eleventh
the greater part of the Roman territory had passed into the hands of
laymen. Some portions were possessed by the emperor, some by the great
Italian families, and the revenues of the Pope were derived from the
tribute of his vassals. Sylvester II. complains that this was very
small, as the possessions of the Church had been given away for very
little. Besides the tribute, the vassals owed feudal service to the
Pope; but the government was not in his hands, and the imperial
suzerainty remained. The great families had obtained from the Popes of
their making such extensive grants that there was little remaining, and
Otho III. tried to make up for it by a new donation. The loss of the
patrimonies in Southern Italy established a claim on the Norman
conquerors, and they became papal vassals for the kingdom of Sicily. But
throughout the twelfth century the Popes had no firm basis of their
power in Italy. They were not always masters of Rome, and there was not
a single provincial town they could reckon on. Seven Popes in a hundred
years sought a refuge in France; two remained at Verona. The donation of
Matilda was disputed by the emperors, and brought no material accession
of territory, until Innocent III., with his usual energy, secured to the
Roman Church the south of Tuscany. He was the first Pope who governed a
considerable territory, and became the real founder of the States of the
Church. Before him, the Popes had possessions for which they claimed
tribute and service, but no State that they administered. Innocent
obtained the submission of Benevento and Romagna. He left the towns to
govern themselves by their own laws, demanding only military aid in case
of need, and a small tribute, which was not always exacted; Viterbo, for
instance, paid nothing until the fifteenth century.

The contest with Frederic II. stripped the Holy See of most of these
acquisitions. In many cases its civil authority was no longer
acknowledged; in many it became a mere title of honour, while the real
power had passed into the hands of the towns or of the nobles, sometimes
into those of the bishops. Rudolph of Habsburg restored all that had
been lost, and surrendered the imperial claims. But while the German
influence was suspended, the influence of France prevailed over the
Papacy; and during the exile at Avignon the Popes were as helpless as if
they had possessed