What was life like in the Papal States? How did being ruled by

Until the return of Martin V in 1431, Rome was rather underpopulated, ruled by various noble families and in disrepair. At one point only 25,000 people lived in the city. When Martin V returned, he enacted sweeping infrastructure reforms, cleaned up some of the city and removed many of the ruined buildings which still spread across the Eternal City.

>>1974536
Imagine farming

Imagine farming a lot

Now imagine never being able to eat anything sugary or with intense flavoring for the rest of your life

Imagine that places you went to socialise smelled like shit

File: Papal dog.jpg (321KB, 1280x851px) Image search: [Google]

321KB, 1280x851px

>>1974536
Funnily enough: it wasn't a 100% theocracy.

Sacred matters are handled by the pope, but secular matters in Rome such as everyday governance is handled by the Roman Senate (medieval version, the Signoria) who is headed by the Gonfaloniere. However the pope does have a huge influence in the governance of Rome and the States, making him virtually an elected prince.

Furthermore that is just Rome, it is called the Papal STATES for a reason: many other city states include it. Some are ruled by princes while others are republics. They have a modicum of autonomy but to enjoy the continued direct patronage of the Pope, they must pay the Denarii Sancti Petri (Money owed to St. Peter) a sort of Tax from a given percentage of income of the states.

Some papal states obeyed the pope and are de facto ruled by him, others gave him the finger, particularly Romagna, who used to belong to the Holy Roman Empire. Romagna continued giving the pope the Finger until Rodrigo Borgia assumed office and his warlord of a son destroyed them and made them kiss papal ass for a time anyway.

>>1974536
Depends on where you lived.
In Rome or Emilia and Romagna quality of life was quite higher than in the Appennines and the rest of papal central Italy, which was basically just not very fertile farmland and mountains.

>>1974536
Every single male was fondled by a priest.