I was thinking what if the Byzantines annex the Papal States during the 10th century, what would happen to the Latin and Greek rites?
Well,certainly,and Basil II or Nikiphoros Phocas or Ioannis Tsimiskis who had the best veteran army in the world would be 'frightened out of their wits'...or in reality they would serve smelly nights for lunch...If the Byzantines attempted to do this, it would have meant full out war with the Holy Roman Empire... They may have had early success in taking out Apulia and Capua, but by that point I would imagine a sufficient amount of Bavarian and Swabian knights would be marching down to support good ol' St. Peter..
Also, why would the HRE especially care?
It has other concerns than the temporal property of the Pope.
Because the Ottonian Emperors like to act like "proper" late Roman Emperors- using Rome as their capital and adopting Byzantine methods of governance? Rome is going to be very important to them, I would think.
Point.
Which brings up the question. De facto, does the Pope actually control the area that became the Papal States at this point?
Wouldnt that mean that Franks and other western powers would be implicated heavily too? I dont think that Byzantines could handle Franks (and any other westerners) in the same time with Bulgars and Arabs...
(Plz forgive if i make any mistakes i am on vacations and i cant think clearly...)