Italian: Marina Pontificia Latin: Classis Pontificiae
Ensign of the Papal Navy
Active
circa 843–1870
Disbanded
De facto: 1870 (capture of Rome by the nascent Kingdom of Italy) De jure: 1878 (sale of the last warship controlled by the Papacy)
Country
Papal States
Allegiance
The Pope
Type
Navy
Patron
Saint Peter Saint Paul
Engagements
Battle of Ostia, 849 Battle of Garigliano, 915 Battle of Lepanto, 1571 Italian revolutions, 1848 Battle of Ancona, 1865
Commanders
Notable commanders
Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan (Appointed Captain-General of the Church[1] in 1455 by Pope Callixtus III; Under Trevisan, the Papal fleet was greatly expanded and won several victories of over the Turks)
Archbishop of Tarragona Pedro de Urrea (Appointed a Papal expedition fleet commander under Cardinal Trevisan in the 1450s)
Velasco Farinha (Portuguese naval officer appointed as a vice admiral of the Papal Navy in the 1450s under Cardinal Trevisan)
Duke-Prince Marcantonio Colonna (Appointed captain-general of the Holy League’s fleet, encompassing the Papal Navy, during the 1571 Battle of Lepanto)
Alessandro Cialdi (19th-century commandant)
Military unit
Navy of the Papal States
The Papal Navy (Italian: Marina Pontificia, "Pontifical Navy"; Latin: Classis Pontificiae[2]) was the maritime force of the Papal States. Loosely constituted, it was sporadically extant from approximately the Battle of Ostia (849) during the pontificate of Leo IV until the ascension of Pope Leo XIII in 1878 (though the Navy had ceased all operations in 1870), when he sold the last remaining Papal warship, the Immacolata Concezione.
The Papal Navy was separate from the Papal Army, a varying combination of volunteers, mercenaries, and Catholic military orders, being disbanded in 1870. The modern Vatican City State does not maintain any naval or maritime forces; however, it does maintain a paramilitary police force, the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City as well as the militarized Swiss Guard, responsible for the close protection of the Pontiff and other dignitaries of Vatican City, as well as providing a uniformed guard of honour across the city-state.
^Chambers, D.S. (2006). Popes, Cardinals & War: The Military Church in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. I.B. Tauris. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-84511-178-6. ...apostolic legate, governor-general, captain and general condottiere...
^Fiorani, Luigi (1999). Sermoneta e i Caetani (in Italian). L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER. ISBN 9788882650919.
The PapalNavy (Italian: Marina Pontificia, "Pontifical Navy"; Latin: Classis Pontificiae) was the maritime force of the Papal States. Loosely constituted...
Immacolata Concezione was a screw corvette of The PapalNavy, built in the English shipyards of Thames Iron Shipbuilding Co. in Blackwall. It was delivered...
The Papal States (/ˈpeɪpəl/ PAY-pəl; Italian: Stato Pontificio; Latin: Dicio Pontificia), officially the State of the Church (Italian: Stato della Chiesa...
former Papal States were defended by a relatively large Papal Army (including the Corsican Guard, active from 1603 to 1662) and a PapalNavy, a majority...
and Captain General of the Church (commander-in-chief of the Papal Army and the PapalNavy). He succeeded his rival Giovanni Vitelleschi, a fellow cardinal...
the de facto commander-in-chief of the Papal States’ armed forces (generally, the Papal Army and the PapalNavy) from the Middle Ages into the early modern...
Battle of Preveza (1538) Battle of Djerba (1560) Siege of Malta (1565) PapalNavy John F. Guilmartin (1974), pp. 253–255 Konstam, Angus (2003). Lepanto...
Dardanelles, 26 June 1656) was a Venetian admiral. He fought against the PapalNavy in 1642-1644 and subsequently participated in the new Turkish-Venetian...
Deliberation dated July 20, 1887. It houses the Papal Arsenal of Ripa Grande, a former boatyard of the PapalNavy, as well as the remains of the 16th-century...
Leo XIII Distributism List of popes List of popes by length of reign PapalNavy Prayer to Saint Michael Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy Portrait...
Ripa Grande The arsenal Detail with the coat of arms of Pope Clement XI PapalNavy Among other things, the arsenal was used in 1798 as a warehouse for the...
Giovanni Bichi, whom he appointed Admiral of the PapalNavy. In 1627 he began his apprenticeship as vice-papal legate at Ferrara, and on recommendations from...
which was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII to house the fleet of the PapalNavy. It was built between 1660 and 1663 and designed by the famed baroque...
1801, whilst she was in the Mediterranean Sea, and donated her to the PapalNavy, She was struck in 1806. HMS Speedy (1798) was a gunboat serving on the...
San Pancrazio – Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy PapalNavy Quercioli, Mauro (1982). Le mura e le porte di Roma. Rome.{{cite book}}:...
Vatican Hill. Rome would never again be approached by a Muslim army. PapalNavy Likely led by the Arab Aghlabid dynasty. See article for details. Bondioli...
future leaders of Christian Democracy. In 1938, while researching the papalnavy in the Vatican library, he met Alcide De Gasperi, who had been given sanctuary...
The Italian Navy (Italian: Marina Militare, lit. 'Military Navy'; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed...
League, formed by Spain, Venice, the Papal States and other Christian allies, inflicted a great defeat on the Ottoman Navy, stopping Muslim forces from gaining...
Paul III in February 1538 in assembled a ’’Holy League’’, comprising the Papal States, Habsburg Spain, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, and...
French Navy. The Knights Hospitaller were established in around 1099 to take care of pilgrims in the Holy Land. The Order was sanctioned by a papal bull...
major political units that balanced the power on the Italian Peninsula: the Papal States, the Venetian Republic, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Milan...
and the response of the Papalnavies. A monument in his honor was erected in Civitavecchia and two submarines of the Italian navy was named after him. He...
initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and...
Global Information
Papal States