RomeRome (Italian and Latin: Roma ˈroːma) is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009 residents in , Rome is the country's most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy.
Papal StatesThe Papal States (ˈpeɪpəl ; Stato Pontificio; Dicio Pontificia), officially the State of the Church (Stato della Chiesa ˈstaːto della ˈkjɛːza; Status Ecclesiasticus), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 until 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th century until the unification of Italy, between 1859 and 1870. The state had its origins in the rise of Christianity throughout Italy, and with it the rising influence of the Christian Church.
Guelphs and GhibellinesThe Guelphs and Ghibellines (ˈgwɛlfs...ˈgɪbᵻlaɪnz , USalso-liːnz,_-lɪnz ; guelfi e ghibellini ˈɡwɛlfi e ɡɡibelˈliːni, -fj e -) were factions supporting respectively the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during medieval time. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalry between these two parties dominated the political life across medieval Italy. The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire arose with the Investiture Controversy, which began in 1075, and ended with the Concordat of Worms in 1122.
LatiumLatium (ˈleɪʃiəm , USalso-ʃəm , ˈɫati.ũː) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on which resided the tribe of the Latins or Latians. It was located on the left bank (east and south) of the River Tiber, extending northward to the River Anio (a left-bank tributary of the Tiber) and southeastward to the Pomptina Palus (Pontine Marshes, now the Pontine Fields) as far south as the Circeian promontory.
Avignon PapacyThe Avignon Papacy (French: Papauté d'Avignon) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France) rather than in Rome. The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the subsequent death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305.
MichelangeloMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (mikeˈlandʒelo di lodoˈviːko ˌbwɔnarˈrɔːti siˈmoːni; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (ˌmaɪkəl'ændʒəloʊ,_ˌmIk-), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci.
