When the Eternal City defied the Pope to be part of the new Italy
Citizens of Rome voted overwhelmingly in favour of becoming part of the new Italy on this day in 1870, less than two weeks after the city had been captured by the Italian army and the unification process was finally complete.
Romans celebrate the result of the
vote outside the Palazzo Senatorio
For nine years after the Kingdom of Italy was officially declared in 1861, Rome remained under the control of Pope Pius IX as the sovereign territory of the Church, even though much of the area that had been the Papal States had been captured by the unification forces by 1860.
The city’s independence had been protected by a French garrison stationed there permanently by Emperor Napoleon III, a key Church ally, but the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 meant that the French soldiers had to be withdrawn.
In their absence, after attempts to persuade Pope Pius IX to agree a peaceful surrender had failed, Italian troops led by General Raffaele Cadorna breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia early on the morning of September 20, and flooded into the city, needing only a few hours to be in complete control. There were casualties on both sides, although thankfully few.
Pius IX, who had been head of the Catholic Church since 1846, believed that retaining the sovereign territorial power held by the church for more than 1,100 years was vital to its spiritual authority. He was also fiercely opposed to two of the leading figures in the Risorgimento movement, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini, whom he perceived as anti-Catholic.
But the people of Rome and the surrounding Lazio region, which was the last territorial remnant of the Papal States, wanted to be part of a unified Italy and Giovanni Lanza, who had been prime minister since December 1869, believed that a referendum would settle any arguments and legitimise the annexation of the territories.
Thus a plebiscite was organised for Sunday, October 2, 1870. Multiple polling stations, typically in public buildings, were set up across the city and region, which were open from early morning until the evening.
Voting eligibility was quite restricted at the time. Only males over the age of 21 were allowed to take part and they were required to meet certain property or tax‑paying requirements, often needing to prove their literacy as well.
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| Pope Pius IX opposed the absorption of Rome into the unified Kingdom of Italy |
When the results were announced the following day, there was an overwhelming majority in favour of becoming part of the unified kingdom.
In the city itself, the vote was ‘Yes: 40,785 No: 46’; in the Lazio region it was ‘Yes: 77,520 No: 857’. Overall, 133,681 had voted in favour and only 1,507 against.
Rome was officially declared the capital of Italy in February, 1871. Before then, the status of capital city had been bestowed first on Turin (1861-65) and then Florence (1865-71).
Despite the numbers, Pope Pius IX remained steadfast in his opposition.
After the plebiscite had ratified annexation, the Italian government passed the Law of Guarantees offering personal inviolability for the pope, annual financial support, extra-territoriality for the Vatican and Lateran palaces, and the freedom to conduct diplomacy.
But Pius IX rejected the law entirely, arguing that accepting it would imply recognising Italy’s sovereignty over Rome. He continued to insist that the pope needed territorial sovereignty to remain politically independent and able to act freely in international affairs.
He declared himself a “prisoner in the Vatican”, refusing to leave the Apostolic Palace and refusing all contact with the Italian state.
His actions began a stand-off between the Papacy and the Italian state that persisted for almost 60 years in which a succession of popes refused to recognise Italy’s sovereignty and the Italian authorities in turn avoided interfering in Vatican affairs.
This awkward relationship came to be known as the ‘Roman Question’ and was not settled until the Lateran Treaty of 1929, agreed between Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini.
Under the terms of the treaty, the Vatican City was recognised as an independent, sovereign micro state, Catholicism was recognised as the sole official state religion of Italy, and a financial settlement was agreed that provided substantial financial compensation to the Holy See for the loss of its historical territories.
Travel tip:
St Peter's Basilica is part of the Vatican City, the
smallest sovereign state in the world
The Vatican City, which occupies an area of 44 hectares (110 acres) within the city of Rome and has approximately 1,000 citizens, is the smallest sovereign state in the world by both area and population. It came into existence in 1929 when an agreement was signed between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See to recognise the Vatican as an independent state. The treaty - known as the Lateran Treaty - settled what had been a long-running dispute regarding the power of the Popes as rulers of civil territory within a united Italy. The treaty was named after the Lateran Palace where the agreement was signed and although the signatory for the Italian government was the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, succeeding democratic governments have all upheld the treaty. The major tourist attractions of St Peter’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and the Pinocateca Vaticana art gallery are all within Vatican territory. The Via della Conciliazione, the broad thoroughfare that connects St Peter's Square to Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber, was built by Mussolini to symbolise the new accord between the Vatican and the Italian state.
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Travel tip:
The Monumento al Bersaglieri
stands opposite Porta Pia
Porta Pia is a gate in Rome’s ancient walls, named after Pope Pius lV, who commissioned Michelangelo to design it just before his death in Rome in 1564. You will find it at the end of Via XX Settembre, which goes off Piazza di San Bernardo, not far from the Quirinale Palace and the Trevi Fountain. It was a dozen metres to the west of the gate that Italian artillery created the breach in the wall through which soldiers from the Bersaglieri, an elite light-infantry corps of the Italian army, entered Rome on September 20, 1870, to complete the unification of Italy. A marble and bronze Monument to the Porta Pia Breach marks the spot. Opposite the gate, on the external side, at the centre of the Piazzale di Porta Pia, is the Monumento al Bersagliere, commissioned by Mussolini and erected in 1932 by Publio Morbiducci. The buildings between the two arches of the gate now contain the Historical Museum of the Bersaglieri.
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More reading:
How the Lateran Treaty confirmed the Vatican as an independent state
Alessandro la Marmora, founder of the Bersaglieri corps
Also on this day:
1538: The birth of Church reformer Saint Charles Borromeo
1821: The birth of soldier and politician Nino Bixio
1897: The birth of Mafia boss Joe Profaci
1950: The birth of anti-corruption magistrate Antonio Di Pietro