Holy See: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The smallest country in the world has a rich if narrowly focused history. Religion, art and construction dominate the region that is now the Holy See. Politically, the area followed Rome and Italy until 1929; long before that the region to the northwest of central Rome was inextricably connected to the Catholic Church. In about 65 AD the Romans were sacrificing Christians in Nero's Circo Vaticano, and it's probably here that St Peter - regarded as the first Pope - met his end. About 100 years later the site was abandoned and a small monument to the martyr was erected. In 315, Emperor Constantine ordered construction of a basilica on the apostle's tomb. St Peter's Basilica was consecrated in 326.

The history of the Vatican is a history of power plays, schisms, crusades and inquisitions. For more than 70 years in the 14th century, Rome was popeless. Abandoned because of political instability, the thousand-year-old centre of the Church, founded on the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul, lost not only the prestige of being the home of the papacy, but also the considerable income of tithing Christendom, reducing Rome to extreme poverty. After the return of the papacy, Rome began to strengthen again. Although Rome is now far more self-sufficient, the Vatican is still hugely important to the economic and cultural security of the city.

A thousand years after St Peter's Basilica was built it was - not surprisingly - in a poor state of repair. A new basilica was designed. The demolition of the old one caused great controversy at the time as it involved destroying Byzantine mosaics and frescoes by artists including Giotto. After 150 years - and with the input of artists like Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo and Giacomo della Porta - the basilica was completed. Most of the kudos for the massive project rests with Michelangelo, who took it over in 1547, aged 72, and designed the 119m (390ft) dome. The cavernous interior can hold an amazing 60,000 people. Excavations that commenced in 1940 under the basilica unearthed remnants of the original church, a tomb believed to be that of St Peter, and the bones of an elderly, well-built man. Pope Paul VI declared these bones to be those of St Peter.

In the 1870s, during the occupation of Italy by Napoleon III, the papal soldiers - known as the Swiss Guard - provided the only significant resistance to the Italian forces as they reclaimed Rome. They refused to recognise the Kingdom of Italy, so the Pope was stripped of his temporal powers and evicted from his palace.

Modern History

During the 1920s, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini worked to restore the independent papal state, and autonomy was announced in 1929. The early years of independence saw the establishment and rapid expansion of the Vatican 'society'. A radio station was opened by wireless inventor Marconi in the early 1930s, and the city now has one television station and seven radio stations spreading Good News to anyone who'll listen.

More recently, the Vatican has been tainted by scandal, first and foremost over questions surrounding the papacy's role during the period of Fascist and Nazi preeminence in Europe in the late 30s and early 40s. ''Scandals and innuendo have also periodically circulated relating to the Italian mafia's relationship with the Vatican. Given their reported clout over much of the rest of Italy - the mafia's estimated worth is about 9.5% of Italy's gross national product - there seems no reason to suppose that that crime organisations don't have connections with the Holy See. Rumours were fuelled in 1982 when the Italian financier Roberto Calvi, dubbed 'God's banker' for his close ties with the Vatican, was found hanging under London's Blackfriar's Bridge. Twenty-three years later, in October 2005, five people, including Giuseppe 'Pippo' Calò, known as 'the mafia's cashier', were put on trial for his murder. No judgement has yet been reached.

Recent History

Recent Vatican history has been eventful. On 8 April 2005, more than 200 heads of state sat down in Piazza San Pietro to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II who had died six days earlier. The third-longest serving pontiff in history (1978-2005), he was replaced by the 78-year-old German cardinal Josef Ratzinger. Labelled 'God's Rottweiler' for his hardman opposition to theological liberalisation, the arch-conservative Ratzinger had been a major force in his predecessor's pontificate as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican ministry responsible for ethics and morality. After a subdued start in the top job, Pope Benedict XVI caused furore in September 2005 when he made what many interpreted as anti-Islamic comments in a speech in Bavaria.

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