To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII
Yale University Press (May 25, 2021)
Hardcover : 416 pages
ISBN-13# 9780300251333
In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, and Pope Pius VII shared a common goal: to reconcile the church with the state. But while they were able to work together initially, formalizing an agreement in 1801, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. In 1809, Napoleon ordered the Pope’s arrest.
Ambrogio Caiani provides a pioneering account of the tempestuous relationship between the emperor and his most unyielding opponent. Drawing on original findings in the Vatican and other European archives, Caiani uncovers the nature of Catholic resistance against Napoleon’s empire; charts Napoleon’s approach to Papal power; and reveals how the Emperor attempted to subjugate the church to his vision of modernity. Gripping and vivid, this book shows the struggle for supremacy between two great individuals—and sheds new light on the conflict that would shape relations between the Catholic church and the modern state for centuries to come.
Review
"Ambrogio Caiani gives us a bold, provocative new assessment of the French Emperor and his relationship with the Catholic Church. In gripping, vivid prose, Caiani brings to life the struggle for power that would shape modern Europe. It all makes for a historical read which is both original and enjoyable."—Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette
Author
Ambrogio A. Caiani is senior lecturer in modern European history at the University of Kent. He is the author of Louis XVI and the French Revolution 1789-1792.
I beg everyone's pardon regarding the last posting I made on the pope. The pope I was referring to was Pius VII, not Clemens VII. I should have been more specific.
It wouldn't be comfortable existence for me - to be deprived of my freedom, in case the Pope should have been imprisoned, Boney should perhaps have been imprisoned by ordering POWs bayoneted to death.
The pope just made the mistake not to obey Nabulieone's wishes and for that reason he had to be removed from Rome, only to come back in triumph.
I am unaware that Clemens VII was in exile in Savona nor at Fontainebleau - and that it the pope Maggie Scott did mention.
comfortable exile = prison.
Arresting the pope, who went into a comfortable exile in France, ended ecclesiastical government in the Papal States, ended the Roman Inquisition, and abolished the Jewish Ghetto in Rome.
Unfortunately, when the pope was reinstated, those three evils were also reinstated. So much for the virtue of charity from the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Review
I just started reading this and I'm pleasantly surprised. The author is very knowledgeable and so far very even -handed. Worth the money if you are interested in the politics of the era.