Papal State

A form of Papal States — A country in southern Europe that existed until 1870, comprising the territories of Italy (and some enclaves in France) over which the pope was the ruler in a civil as well as a spiritual sense.

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Meanings

proper nounthe Papal State
  1. singularsingular of Papal States

    In this war Sixtus IV had been allied with Venice; but, the conflict going badly in the Papal State, he suddenly made a separate peace […]

    1968, William J. Bouwsma, Venice and the Defense of Republican Liberty: Renaissance Values in the Age of Counter Reformation, page 81
    1 more example

    In later retrospect, indeed, the middle decades of the fourteenth century may be seen to foreshadow a radical change in the balance of power within the Papal State, […]

    1974, P. J. Jones, The Malatesta of Rimini and the Papal State: A Political History, page 92
Cite this entry
APA

Papal State. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papal%20State

MLA

“Papal State.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papal%20State. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Papal State,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Papal%20State.

Source: Papal State on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.