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How did the popes gain influence in central Italy after the Western Roman Empire declined?

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Side-by-side maps of central Italy showing the changing boundaries of the Papal States. The left map highlights the Papal States after the Treaty of Vienna in 1815 in green, showing their greatest extent. The right map shows the Papal States' reduced territory just before absorption into Italy, with orange marking areas annexed in 1860 and yellow showing the final area annexed in 1870, centered ar — Papal States The Papal States in 1815 (left) and at their annexation by Italy in 1870.

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the papacy’s influence in central Italy grew through a combination of local leadership and shifting geopolitical alliances.

Initially, as imperial authority waned, the people of central Italy increasingly relied on the popes for protection against barbarian invasions, such as those led by the Huns and Lombards. During this period, popes like Gregory I managed vast estates and provided essential administrative and charitable services.1

By the 8th century, the papacy grew estranged from the Byzantine Empire due to excessive taxation, the Iconoclastic Controversy, and Constantinople's inability to defend Rome. When the Lombards seized the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751, Pope Stephen II turned to the Frankish king Pippin III for aid. Pippin’s subsequent military intervention and the Donation of Pippin in 756 transferred control of central Italian territories to the papacy, establishing the foundation for its temporal power.123