Papal state · The Papal State: the pope's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Campagna

South-east of Rome, from the Alban hills along the Sacco valley to the Liri, and down the coast past the Pontine marshes to Terracina, lies the pope's home country.

Anagni is his summer residence, Segni his family seat, Ferentino his rector's fortress. The towns elect their own consuls, the barons hold their castles of the pope, and the whole province is the Papal State's march against the Kingdom of Sicily: across the Liri, German captains hold Sora, Rocca d'Arce and Aquino on 1 January 1200.

Who holds it

Name
Landone di Montelongo [medium]
Title
Rector of the Campagna and Marittima, for the pope
Since
1199 (succeeding Giacomo, the pope's cousin, rector in 1198)
Confidence
medium

Innocent III set up a military and administrative base at Ferentino, on the old county of the Campagna, to hold the province and keep its communes in check (it.wikipedia). The first rector of his pontificate was his cousin Giacomo, the marshal of the campaign notes, in 1198; Landone di Montelongo follows in 1199 (it.wikipedia). Whether Landone is still rector on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. In 1198 the pope sent two cardinals with a force of 'Campanian knights' to stiffen Montecassino against Markward, and those knights held the abbey's rampart in January 1199 (Richard of San Germano).

What it holds

  • Ferentino: the rector's seat and papal garrison
  • Anagni: papal residence and cathedral city, a commune with consuls
  • Segni: seat of the Conti, the pope's family
  • Alatri, Veroli and Frosinone: hill communes with their own consuls under papal lordship
  • Ceprano: papal frontier town at the Liri crossing into the Kingdom
  • Ceccano and the neighbouring castles of the Sacco valley: the Ceccano counts, kin of Cardinal Giordano, papal vassals
  • Velletri: commune under papal lordship; its bishop is the cardinal-bishop of Ostia and Velletri
  • Cori, Norma, Sermoneta, Sezze and Priverno: towns of the Lepini hills above the Pontine marshes
  • Terracina: commune and frontier port on the Via Appia, where the Frangipane family claims rights [medium]
  • Palestrina, Genazzano, Zagarolo, Paliano and Valmontone: baronial castles under papal lordship [thin]

How it was acquired

Papal since the 8th century; rectors of the Campagna appear in the 12th (the campaign notes make Pietro Gallocia rector under Alexander III). Innocent III gave the province its settled form: a rector with a garrison at Ferentino, set over communes that had begun to elect their own consuls (Alatri, Ferentino, Terracina, Velletri).

How things stand that morning

Held for the pope by the rector, with the communes self-governing and the barons loyal while the pope is a Conti. The Liri frontier faces German garrisons.

Wealth

Grain of the Sacco valley; wine; the Via Latina and the Via Appia, the two roads from Rome into the Kingdom; the fish and salt of the coast; Terracina's port; the pope's household spending at Anagni.

Threats

  • German garrisons just across the Liri: Sora, Rocca d'Arce, Aquino, Pontecorvo
  • Terracina's quarrels and the Frangipane claims
  • Feuds among the barons and the communes, and the Conti's growing grip, which other families resent

Advocates and rivals

The Ceccano counts; the Conti, the pope's own family, rising fast (the DBI on Riccardo Conti records his later purchase of Valmontone and pledge of Poli); the Frangipane in the Marittima; the Colonna around Palestrina; the communes with their consuls; and across the Liri the German lords of the Kingdom (Conrad of Marlenheim at Sora, Diepold at Rocca d'Arce and Aquino).

Places of note

  • Anagni: Papal residence
  • Ceprano: Papal frontier town at the Liri crossing

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Fair for the province's frame and its rectors; thin for the individual castles and baronial holdings in 1200.

On the map: The outline follows the later frontier with the Kingdom of Sicily (Terracina, Vallecorsa, Castro, Falvaterra, Ceprano and Boville papal; Fondi, Lenola, San Giovanni Incarico, Arce, Monte San Giovanni and Sora in the Kingdom). It shows papal lordship, not papal possession: much of it was held by barons and self-governing towns.

Primary sources for Papal State

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. Campagna e Marittima (it.wikipedia)
  2. Richard of San Germano, Chronicle, trans. G.A. Loud (University of Leeds, PDF)
  3. Riccardo Conti (Treccani, Dizionario Biografico)
  4. A. Luchaire, Innocent III: Rome et l'Italie (PDF, mediterranee-antique.fr)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.