7 June

NEW - Lateran Treaty comes into effect

When the Vatican became an independent state

Benito Mussolini was helped to gain more power and any public opinion against him was effectively neutralised by the Lateran Treaty when it came into effect in Italy on this day in 1929.  The Catholic Church had effectively given legitimacy to fascism when the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See had signed the treaty earlier in the year, recognising the Vatican as an independent state within Italy. The Church was perceived as openly inviting Catholics to support the Fascist regime.  When the Treaty was ratified by the Italian Parliament on June 7, 1929, it finally settled what had been known as ‘The Roman Question’, a dispute regarding the power of the popes as rulers of civil territory within a united Italy.  Although Italy was then under a Fascist government, the Lateran Treaty was incorporated into the new, democratic Italian constitution in 1947. Read more…

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Pippo Baudo - TV presenter

Record-breaking host of Sanremo festival

The television presenter Pippo Baudo, who became one of the most recognisable personalities on Italian television in a broadcasting career spanning six decades, was born on this day in 1936 in Militello in Val di Catania, in Sicily.  Baudo, who died in 2025, presented numerous shows for the national broadcaster Rai and for private networks but is probably best known as the host of the annual Sanremo Music Festival and the presenter of the immensely popular Sunday afternoon magazine show Domenica In.  He was the face of Sanremo a record 13 times between 1968 and 2008, eclipsing another much-loved TV host, Mike Bongiorno, who presented the prestigious song contest on 11 occasions.  Baudo anchored or co-hosted Domenica In for 13 seasons.  His appearance in the 2016-17 edition of the show came 37 years after he presented the programme for the first time in 1979.  Read more…

Federico da Montefeltro – condottiero

Patron of the arts made money through war

Federico da Montefeltro, one of the most successful of the Italian condottieri, was born on this day in 1422 in Gubbio.  He has been immortalised by the famous portrait painted of him by Piero della Francesca, where he was dressed in red and showing his formidable profile.  Federico ruled Urbino from 1444 until his death, commissioning the building of a large library where he employed his own team of scribes to copy texts.  He was the illegitimate son of Guidantonio da Montefeltro but he was legitimised by the Pope with the consent of Guidantonio’s wife.  Federico began his career as a condottiero - a kind of mercenary military leader - at the age of 16. When his half-brother, who had recently become Duke of Urbino, was assassinated in 1444, Federico seized the city of Urbino.  To bring in money he continued to wage war as a condottiero. Read more…

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Gaetano Berenstadt – operatic castrato

Italian-born performer who specialised in roles created by Handel

Gaetano Berenstadt, an alto castrato who sang many roles in George Frideric Handel’s operas, was born on this day in 1687 in Florence.  His parents were German and his father played the timpani - kettle drums - for the Grand Duke of Tuscany.  Berenstadt was sent to be a pupil of Francesco Pistocchi, a singer, composer and librettist who founded a singing school in Bologna.  After performing in Bologna and Naples, Berenstadt visited London where he performed the role of Argante in a revival of Handel’s Rinaldo. The composer created three new arias especially for Berenstadt’s voice.  On a later visit to London, Berenstadt sang for the composers of the Royal Academy of Music. On this visit he created the roles of Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, the title role in Flavio, and the role of Adalberto in Ottone.  Read more…

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Book of the Day:  The Vatican and Italian Fascism, 1929-32: A Study in Conflict, by John F Pollard

The Vatican and Italian Fascism is a study of relations between the Vatican and the Fascist regime in Italy in the most troubled and crucial phase of their relationship, the period 1929–32. It is the first time that any historian, either in Italy or elsewhere, has carried out a detailed and comprehensive study of the conflicts between the Vatican and Italian Fascism in these years; nor has there been any detailed analysis of the causes and the consequences of the crisis of 1931. As well as considering the various causes of conflict in this period, the author sets out what he believes to be the long-term consequences of the 1931 crisis, and in so doing challenges a number of previously accepted interpretations.

John Francis Pollard is a British historian specialising in the political and religious history of modern Italy, with a particular focus on Fascism, the Papacy, and the interaction between Church and state. He is a former Professor of Modern European History at Anglia Polytechnic University (later Anglia Ruskin University).

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