The origins of a papal state reach back to the patrimonies accumulated in late antiquity. In the eighth century, the papacy allied with the Franks who defeated the Lombards and forced them to donate lands to the papacy, most of which had formerly belonged to Byzantium. A series of documents down to the eleventh century (Pactum Ludovicianum, Constitutio Romana, Ottonianum, Henricianum) spelled out the territories assured to the popes and mutual papal and imperial rights in those lands. Political strife in Italy and then the Roman commune severely attenuated papal control of its territories. Innocent III began a process of “recuperation” based on the old documents and he inaugurated institutional reforms and innovations. Across the thirteenth century, judicial and financial reforms enhanced papal rule of a First Papal State while battles with the German Empire and then the Angevin kingdom in the south represented constant challenges.