Papal States

Papal States - Wikipedia

Name

The Papal States were also known as the Papal State (although the plural is usually preferred, the singular is equally correct as the polity was more than a mere personal union).

The territories were also referred to variously as the State(s) of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, the Patrimony of St Peter or the Roman States (Italian: Stato Pontificio, also Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa, Stati Pontifici, and Stato Ecclesiastico;

Latin: Status Pontificius, also Dicio Pontificia "papal rule").^[9]

To some extent the name used varied with the preferences and habits of the European languages in which it was expressed.