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Il papa, con il quale ebbero un'alleanza, fu molto influente.

Il papa, con il quale ebbero un'alleanza, fu molto influente.
The pope, with whom they had an alliance, was very influential.
From Lesson 201:Historic past of essere and avere (fu, ebbe)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il papa, con il quale ebbero un'alleanza, fu molto influente.

Why does this sentence use ebbero and fu instead of the usual past tenses like avevano and era?
Ebbero (they had) and fu (he was) are the passato remoto (historic past) forms of avere and essere. This tense is used for events that happened in the distant past and are completely over. Because this sentence describes historical figures (a pope and an alliance), the historic past is the most natural choice.
Who is the verb fu referring to in this sentence?
Fu is the third-person singular form, meaning "he was". It refers back to the subject at the very beginning of the sentence: il papa (the pope). The phrase in the middle, con il quale ebbero un'alleanza, is just extra information inserted between the subject and its main verb.
Could I say con cui instead of con il quale?
Yes, absolutely. Both con cui and con il quale mean "with whom" when referring to a person. Il quale is slightly more formal and is very common in written or historical Italian, which perfectly matches the formal tone of the passato remoto verbs used here.
Is papa the same word as the one for "dad"?
No, they are pronounced and written differently. Il papa (with the stress on the first syllable and no written accent) means "the pope". If you want to say "dad", you need the accent on the final letter to shift the stress: il papà.
Why is there an apostrophe in un'alleanza?
Alleanza (alliance) is a feminine noun that starts with a vowel. The feminine indefinite article una drops its final letter and adds an apostrophe before a vowel, becoming un'. If it were a masculine noun starting with a vowel, you would just use un without an apostrophe.

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