https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Pepin
"The Donation of Pepin in 756 provided a legal basis for the creation of the Papal States, thus extending the temporal rule of the Popes beyond the duchy of Rome."

http://www.saintlazarus.org/pages/Global%20Presence.html
http://www.saintlazarus.org/pages/Supreme%20Grand%20Priory.html Habsburgs again and again...