The Via Papalis
Title
Description
The road most of the processions followed was known as the via Papalis, or the road of the Pope. This was the main road that connected the Vatican, the papal residence and home of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the Lateran Basilica, the official cathedral of Rome. It had prestige both for being the road of papal processions and for its accessibility to Rome’s most important secular and religious sites, like the Vatican and the Capitoline Hill. Therefore, the via Papalis was one of the most desirable streets to live or own a business on in medieval Rome. It was also home to the two wealthiest communities in Rome: the old Roman nobility and members of the papal bureaucracy and curia who had arrived following the pope’s return from Avignon in 1377.
The pope's return doubled the population of Rome as he brought back the papal bureacracy, and businesses followed suit. This led to a transformation of the via Papalis as new palaces were constructed to house this influx of residents, as well as conflict between the old Roman elite and new papal curia. Oftentimes the pope enacted policies that favored new curia and penalized native Romans such as granting these new members construction permits and privileges over members of the old elite. To increase papal control along the via Papalis, the pope demolished porticoes, some of the most important spaces in the city where business and legal matters were conducted. The destruction of porticos and widening of narrow streets served to improve papal defense in the chance of a revolt.
In this way, the via Papalis became the theater for tensions between the old and new elite that manifested themselves in the utilization of space and construction of palaces. When the pope processed down the via Papalis, he would often have been facing the people most critical of him: old noble Romans. A member of the pope's cavalcade would toss coins into the crowd along the road. By completing the papal procession along this route, traversing the territory of the Roman elite and the most important religious and secular sites, the pope claimed to unify and dominate the city, often provoking stoning and rioting in the process.
Creator
Edited by Ella Parke (2027) and Julia Tassava (2026)
Source
Partridge, Loren. The Art of the Renaissance in Rome, 1400-1600. London: Laurence King Publishers, 2012.
Date
Identifier
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Description
The road most of the processions followed was known as the via Papalis, or the road of the Pope. This was the main road that connected the Vatican, the papal residence and home of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the Lateran Basilica, the official cathedral of Rome. It had prestige both for being the road of papal processions and for its accessibility to Rome’s most important secular and religious sites, like the Vatican and the Capitoline Hill. Therefore, the via Papalis was one of the most desirable streets to live or own a business on in medieval Rome. It was also home to the two wealthiest communities in Rome: the old Roman nobility and members of the papal bureaucracy and curia who had arrived following the pope’s return from Avignon in 1377.
The pope's return doubled the population of Rome as he brought back the papal bureacracy, and businesses followed suit. This led to a transformation of the via Papalis as new palaces were constructed to house this influx of residents, as well as conflict between the old Roman elite and new papal curia. Oftentimes the pope enacted policies that favored new curia and penalized native Romans such as granting these new members construction permits and privileges over members of the old elite. To increase papal control along the via Papalis, the pope demolished porticoes, some of the most important spaces in the city where business and legal matters were conducted. The destruction of porticos and widening of narrow streets served to improve papal defense in the chance of a revolt.
In this way, the via Papalis became the theater for tensions between the old and new elite that manifested themselves in the utilization of space and construction of palaces. When the pope processed down the via Papalis, he would often have been facing the people most critical of him: old noble Romans. A member of the pope's cavalcade would toss coins into the crowd along the road. By completing the papal procession along this route, traversing the territory of the Roman elite and the most important religious and secular sites, the pope claimed to unify and dominate the city, often provoking stoning and rioting in the process.
Creator
Grace Brindle (2021)Edited by Ella Parke (2027) and Julia Tassava (2026)
Date
1377Coverage
1300sSource
Cafà, Valeria. “The via Papalis in Early Cinquecento Rome: a Contested Space between Roman Families and Curials.” Urban History 37, no. 3 (2010): 434–51. doi:10.1017/S0963926810000556.Partridge, Loren. The Art of the Renaissance in Rome, 1400-1600. London: Laurence King Publishers, 2012.