Law of guarantees
The Law of the Italian State on the Privileges of the Pope and the Holy See and on the Relationship of the State to the Church (in short: Law of Guarantees or Guarantee Law ) is a historical source of Italian law . It regulates the territory of the Vatican City .
Entry into force and content
The law came into force on February 16, 1871 and regulated the rights of the Pope and the relationship of the Vatican to the Italian kingdom after the political disempowerment of the then Pope Pius IX. (Sl.). It guaranteed the pope the inviolability of his person, of the of the Vatican and the Lateran Palace and of Castel Gandolfo . Pius IX In May 1871, he refused the limited rights of sovereignty offered by the Italian King Victor Emmanuel II . Pius and his successors were limited in their radius of action to the immediate Vatican City, which was surrounded by fortifications.
This Roman question remained a constant unresolved issue of conflict between the Pope and Italy and could only be negotiated with fascist Italy under Mussolini . The law of guarantees was repealed by Art. 26 (III) of the Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy of February 11, 1929 ( Lateran Treaties ).
background
After the withdrawal of the French protection troops due to the beginning of the war against Prussia, the Italian military marched into the then remaining Papal States ( Latium with its capital Rome ) on September 20, 1870, almost without a fight . In the course of the Italian independence movement (cf. Risorgimento ), the Papal State was dissolved in order to complete the Italian nation-state founded in 1861 with Rome as its capital.