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| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Emperor of theFrench, second son of Charles Marie Bonaparte and Maria Lætitia Ramolino, b. atAjaccio, inCorsica, 15 August, 1769; d. on the Island of St. Helena, 5 May, 1821.
His childhood was spent inCorsica; at the end of the year 1778 he entered thecollege ofAutun, in 1779 the militaryschool of Brienne, and in 1783 the militaryschool ofParis. In 1785, when he was in garrison atValence, as a lieutenant, he occupied his leisure with researches into the history ofCorsica and read many of thephilosophers of his time, particularly Rousseau. These studies left him attached to a sort ofDeism, an admirer of thepersonality of Christ, a stranger to all religious practices, and breathing defiance against "sacerdotalism" and "theocracy". His attitude under theRevolution was that of a citizen devoted to the newideas, in testimony of which attitude we have his scolding letter, written in 1790, to Battafuoco, a deputy from theCorsicannoblesse, whom the "patriots" regarded as a traitor, and also a work published by Bonaparte in 1793, "Le Souperde Beaucaire", in which he takes the side of the Mountain in the Convention against the Federalist tendencies of the Girondins.
His military genius revealed itself in December, 1793, when he was twenty-four years of age, in his recapture of Toulon from the English. He was made a general of brigade in the artillery, 20 December, and in 1794 contributed to Masséna's victories inItaly. The political suspicions aroused by his friendship with the younger Robespierre after 9 Thermidor of the Year III (27 July, 1794), the intrigues which led to his being removed from the Italian frontier and sent to command a brigade against the Vendeans in the west, and ill health, which he used as a pretext to refuse this post and remain inParis, almost brought his career to an end. He contemplated leavingFrance to take command of the sultan's artillery. But in 1795 when the Convention was threatened, Bonaparte was selected for theduty of pouring grapeshot upon its enemies from the platform of the church ofSaint Roch (13 Vendémiaire, Year IV). He displayed great moderation in his hour of victory, and managed to earn at once the gratitude of the Convention and the esteem of its enemies.
On 8 March, 1798, he contracted acivil marriage with thewidow of Alexandre de Beauharnais, Marie Joséphine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, who was born inMartinique, in 1763, of afamily originally belonging to the neighbourhood ofBlois. In the same month Napoleon set out forItaly, where the Directory, prompted by Carnot, had appointed him commander in chief against the First Coalition. The victory of Montenotte, over the Austrians commanded by Beaulieu, and those of Millesimo, Dego, Ceva, and Mondovì, over Colle'sPiedmontese troops, forced Victor Amadeus, King ofSardinia, to conclude the armistice of Cherasco (28 April, 1796). Wishing to effect a junction on the Danube with the Army of the Rhine, Bonaparte spent the following May in driving Beaulieu across NorthernItaly, and succeeded in pushing him back into the Tyrol. On 7 May he was ordered by the Directory to leave half of his troops inLombardy, under Kellermann's command, and march with the other half against Leghorn,Rome, andNaples. Unwilling to share the glory with Kellermann, Bonaparte replied by tendering his resignation, and the order was not insisted on. In a proclamation to his soldiers (20 May, 1796) he declared his intention of leading them to the banks of the Tiber to chastise those who had "whetted the daggers of civilwar inFrance" and "basely assassinated" Basseville, the French minister, to "re-establish the Capitol, place there in honour the statues of heroes who had made themselves famous", and to "arouse the Roman people benumbed by many centuries of bondage". In June he entered the Romagna, appeared at Bologna andFerrara, and madeprisoners of severalprelates. The Court ofRome demanded an armistice, and Bonaparte, who was far from eager for thiswar against theHoly See, granted it. The Peace of Bologna (23 June, 1796)obliged theHoly See to give up Bologna andFerrara to French occupation, to pay twenty one million francs, to surrender 100 pictures, 500manuscripts, and the busts of Junius and Marcus Brutus. The Directory thought these terms too easy, and when aprelate was sent toParis to negotiate the treaty, he was told that as an indispensable condition of peace,Pius VI must revoke the Briefs relating to the Civil Constitution of theclergy and to theInquisition. The Pope refused, and negotiations were broken off; they failed again atFlorence, where an attempt had been made to renew them.
During thesepourparlers betweenParis andRome, Bonaparte repulsed the repeated efforts of the Austrian Wurmser to reconquerLombardy. Between 1 and 5 August, Wurmser was twice beaten at Lonato and again at Castiglione; between 8 and 15 September, the battles of Roveredo, Primolano, Bassano, and San Giorgio forced Wurmser to take refuge inMantua, and on 16 October Bonaparte created the Cispadan Republic at the expense of the Duchy ofModena and of the Legations, which were pontifical territory. Then, 24 October, he invited Cacault, the French minister atRome, to reopen negotiations withPius VI "so as to catch the old fox"; but on 28 October he wrote to the same Cacault: "You may assure thepope that I have always been opposed to the treaty which the Directory has offered him, and above all to the manner of negotiating it. I am more ambitious to be called the preserver than the destroyer of theHoly See. If they will be sensible atRome, we will profit by it to give peace to that beautiful part of the world and to calm the conscientious fears of many people." Meanwhile the arrival in Venetia of the Austrian troops under Alvinzi caused Cardinal Busca, thepope's secretary of state, to hasten the conclusion of an alliance between theHoly See and the Court ofVienna; of this Bonaparte learned through intercepted letters. His victories at Arcoli (17 November, 1796) and Rivoli (14 January, 1797) and the capitulation ofMantua (2 February, 1797), placed the whole of NorthernItaly in his hands, and in the spring of 1797 thePontifical States were at his mercy.
The Directory sent him ferocious instructions. "The Roman religion", they wrote, "will always be the irreconcilable enemy of the Republic; first by its essence, and next, because its servants andministers will never forgive the blows which the Republic has aimed at the fortune and standing of some, and the prejudices and habits of others. The Directory requests you to do all that you deem possible, without rekindling the torch of fanaticism, to destroy thepapal Government, either by puttingRome under some other power or" which would be still better "by establishing some form of self government which would render the yoke of thepriests odious." But at the very moment when Bonaparte received these instructions heknew, by his private correspondence, that aCatholic awakening was beginning inFrance. Clarke wrote to him: "We have become once more Roman Catholic in France", and explained to him that the help of thepope might perhaps be needed before long to bring thepriests inFrance to accept the state of things resulting from theRevolution. Considerations such as these must have made an impression on a statesman like Bonaparte, who, moreover, at about this period, said to theparishpriests ofMilan: "Asociety without religion is like a ship without a compass; there is no good morality without religion." And in February, 1797, when he entered thePontifical States with his troops, he forbade any insult to religion, and showed kindness to thepriests and themonks, even to theFrenchecclesiastics who had taken refuge inpapal territory, and whom he might have caused to be shot as émigrés. He contented himself with levying a great many contributions, and laying hands on the treasury of theSanta Casa at Loretto. The first advances ofPius VI to his "dear son General Bonaparte" were met by Bonaparte's declaring that he was ready to treat. "I am treating with this rabble of priests [cette prêtraille], and for this once Saint Peter will again save the Capitol", he wrote to Joubert, 17 February, 1797. The Peace of Tolentino was negotiated on 19 February; theHoly See surrendered the Legations of Bologna,Ferrara, andRavenna, and recognized the annexation ofAvignon and the Comtat Venaissin byFrance. But Bonaparte had taken care not to infringe upon the spiritual power, and had not demanded ofPius VI the withdrawal of those Briefs which were offensive to the Directory. As soon as the treaty was signed he wrote toPius VI to express to him "his perfect esteem and veneration"; on the other hand, feeling that the Directory would be displeased, he wrote to it: "My opinion is thatRome, once deprived of Bologna,Ferrara, the Romagna, and the thirty millions we are taking from her, can no longer exist. The old machine will go to pieces of itself." And he proposed that the Directory should take thenecessary steps with thepope in regard to the religious situation inFrance.
Then, with breathless rapidity, turning back towards the Alps, and assisted by Joubert, Masséna, and Bernadotte, he inflicted on Archduke Charles a series of defeats which forcedAustria to sign the preliminaries of Leoben (18 April, 1797). In May he transformedGenoa into the Ligurian Republic; in October he imposed on the archduke the Treaty of Campo Formio, by whichFrance obtainedBelgium, the Rhine country withMainz, and the Ionian Islands, whileVenice was made subject toAustria. The Directory found fault with this last stipulation; but Bonaparte had already reached the point where he could act with independence and care little for what the politicians atParis might think. It was the same with his religious policy: he now began to think of invoking thepope's assistance to restore peace inFrance. A note which he addressed to the Court ofRome, 3 August, 1797, was conceived in these terms: "Thepope will perhaps think it worthy of his wisdom, of the most holy ofreligions, to execute aBull or ordinance commandingpriests to preach obedience to the Government, and to do all in their power to strengthen the established constitution. After the first step, it would be useful toknow what others could be taken to reconcile the constitutionalpriests with the non constitutional."
While Bonaparte was expressing himself thus, the Councils of the Five Hundred and the Ancients were passing a law to recall, amnesty, and restore to their civil and politicalrights thepriests who had refused to take theoath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. But Directors Barrès, Rewbell, and Lareveillère Lépeaux, considering that this act jeopardized the Republic, employed General Augereau, Bonaparte's lieutenant, to carry out thecoup d'état of 18 Fructidor against the Councils (4 Sept., 1797), andFrance was once more a prey to a Jacobin and anti-Catholic policy. These events were immediately echoed atRome, where Joseph Bonaparte, the general's brother, and ambassador from the Directory, was asked by the latter, to favour the Revolutionary party. Disturbances arose: General Duphot was killed in Joseph Bonaparte's house (28 December, 1797), and the Directory demanded satisfaction from theHoly See. General Bonaparte had just returned toParis, where he apparently confined himself to his functions as a member of the Institute (Scientific Section). He was by no means anxious to lead the expedition againstRome, which the Directory was projecting, and contented himself with giving Berthier, who commanded it, certain instructions from a distance. For this expedition for Berthier's entry intoRome and the proclamation of the Roman Republic (10-15 February, 1798), and for the captivity ofPius VI, who was carried off aprisoner toValence, seeP VI.
While inParis, Bonaparte induced the Directory to take up the plan of an expedition toEgypt. His object was to make the Mediterranean a French lake, by the conquest ofMalta and the Nile Valley, and to menaceEngland in the direction ofIndia. He embarked on 19 May, 1798. The taking ofMalta (10 June), of Alexandria (2 July), the battle of the Pyramids (21 July), gave Bonaparte the uncontested mastery of Cairo. At Cairo he affected a great respect forIslam; reproached with this later on, he replied: "It wasnecessary for General Bonaparte toknow the principles ofIslamism, the government, the opinions of the foursects, and their relations with Constantinople andMecca. It wasnecessary, indeed, for him to be thoroughly acquainted with bothreligions, for it helped him to win the affection of theclergy inItaly and of the ulemas inEgypt."
The French troops inEgypt were in great danger when the naval disaster of Aboukir, inflicted by Nelson, had cut them off fromEurope. Turkey took sides withEngland: in the spring of 1799, Bonaparte made a campaign inSyria to strike both Turkey andEngland. Failing to effect the surrender ofAcre, and as his army was suffering from the plague (May, 1799), he had to make his way back toEgypt. There he re-established French prestige by the victory of Aboukir (25 July, 1799), then, learning that the Second Coalition was gaining immense successes against the armies of the Directory, he left Kléber inEgypt and returned secretly toFrance. He landed atFréjus, 9 October, 1799, and was inParis seven days later. Besides certain political results, the expedition toEgypt had borne fruit forscience: Egyptology dates its existence from the creation of the Institute ofEgypt (Institut d'Egypte) by Bonaparte.
While Bonaparte was inEgypt, the religious policy of the Directory had provoked serious troubles inFrance. Deportations ofpriests were multiplying;Belgium, where 6000priests were proscribed, was disturbed; the Vendée,Normandy, and the departments of the South were rising.France was angry and uneasy. Spurred on by his brother Lucien, president of the Five Hundred, allied with Directors Sieyès and Roger Ducos, Bonaparte caused Directors Gohier and Moulins to beimprisoned, and broke up the Five Hundred (18 Brumaire; 9-10 November, 1799). The Directorial Constitution was suppressed, andFrance thenceforward was ruled by three consuls. First Consul Bonaparte put into operation the Constitution known as that of the Year VIII, substituted for the departmental administrators elected by the citizens, others appointed by the Executive Power, and reorganized the judicial and financial administrations. He commissioned the Abbé Bernier to quiet the religious disturbance of the Vendeans, and authorized the return of the non juringpriests toFrance on condition of their simply promising fidelity to thelaws of the republic. Then, to make an end of the Second Coalition, he entrusted the Army ofGermany to Moreau, and, himself taking command of the Army ofItaly, crossed the Great St. Bernard (13-16 May, 1800) and, with the co operation of Desaix, who was mortally wounded, crushed the Austrians (14 June, 1800) between Marengo and San Giuliano at the very spot he had marked on the map in his study in the Tuileries. The Peace of Lunéville, concluded withAustria, 9 February, 1801, extended the territory ofFrance to 102 departments.
Bonaparte spent the years 1801 and 1802 effecting internal reforms inFrance. A commission, established in 1800, elaborated a new code which, as the "Code Napoléon", was to bepromulgated in 1804, to formally introduce some of the "principles of 1789" into French law, and thus to complete the civil results of theRevolution. But it was Napoleon's desire that, in the newsociety which was the issue of theRevolution, theChurch should have a place, and consciences should be set at rest. TheConcordat with the Holy See was signed on 17 July, 1801; it was published, together with theOrganic Articles, as a law, 16 April, 1802. The former of these two acts established the existence of theChurch inFrance, while the other involved the possibility of serious interference by the State in the life of theChurch. Napoleon never said, "The Concordat was the great fault of my reign." On the contrary, years afterwards, at St. Helena, he considered it his greatest achievement, and congratulated himself upon having, by the signature of the Concordat, "raised the fallen altars, put a stop to disorders,obliged thefaithful topray for the Republic, dissipated the scruples of those who had acquired the national domains, and broken the last thread by which the old dynasty maintained communication with the country." Fox, in a conversation with Napoleon at this period, expressed astonishment at his not having insisted upon the marriage of priests: "I had, and still have, to accomplish peace", Napoleon replied, "theological controversies are allayed with water, not with oil." The Concordat had wrecked the hopes of those who, like Mme de Staël, had wished to makeProtestantism the state religion ofFrance; and yet theCalvinist Jaucourt, defending theOrganic Articles before the Tribunat, gloried in the definitive recognition of theCalvinist religion by the state. TheJewish religion was not recognized until later (17 March, 1808), after the assembly of a certain number of Jewish delegates appointed by the prefects (29 July, 1806) and the meeting of the Great Sanhedrim (10 February — 9 April, 1807); the State, however, did not make itself responsible for the salaries of the rabbis. Thus did the new master ofFrance regulate the religious situation in that country.
On 9 April, 1802,Caprara was received for the first time by Bonaparte in the official capacity ofPius VII'slegatea latere, and before the first consul took anoath which, according to the text subsequently published by the "Moniteur", bound him to observe the constitution, thelawsstatutes, and customs of the republic, and nowise to derogate from therights, liberties, and privileges of the Gallican Church. This was a painful surprise for the Vatican, and Caprara declared that the words about Gallican liberties had been interpolated in the "Moniteur". Another painful impression was produced at the Vatican by the attitude of eight constitutionalpriests whom Bonaparte had nominated tobishoprics, and to whom Caprara had grantedcanonical institution, and who afterwards boasted that they had never formallyabjured their adhesion to the Civil Constitution of theclergy. In retaliation, the Roman curia demanded of the constitutionalparishpriests a formal retractation of the Civil Constitution, but Bonaparte opposed this and when Caprara insisted, declared that ifRome pushed matters too far the consuls would yield to the desire ofFrance to becomeProtestant.Talleyrand spoke to Caprara in the same sense, and thelegate desisted from his demands. On the other hand, though Bonaparte had at first been extremely irritated by the allocution of 24 May, 1802, in whichPius VII demanded the revision of theOrganic Articles, he ended by allowing it to be published in the "Moniteur" as a diplomatic document. A spirit of conciliation on both sides tended to promote more cordial relations between the two powers. The proclamation of Bonaparte as consul for life (August, 1802) increased in him the sense of his responsibility towards the religion of the country, and inPius VII the desire to be on good terms with a personage who was advancing with such long strides towardsomnipotence.
Bonaparte took care to gain the attachment of the revived Church by his favours. While he dissolved the associations of the Fathers of the Faith, the Adorers of Jesus, and the Panarists, which looked to him like attempts to restore theSociety of Jesus, he permitted the reconstitution of the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of St. Thomas, the Sisters of St. Charles, and the Vatelotte Sisters, devoted to teaching andhospital work, and made his mother, Madame Lætitia Bonaparte, protectress of all the congregations ofhospital sisters. He favoured the revival of theInstitute of the Christian Schools for the religious instruction of boys; side by side with thelycées, he permitted secondaryschools under the supervision of the prefects, but directed byecclesiastics. He did not rest content with a mere strict fulfilment of the pecuniaryobligations to theChurch to which the Concordat had bound the State; in 1803 and 1804 it became the custom to pay stipends to canons anddesservants of succursalparishes. Orders were issued to leave theChurch in possession of theecclesiastical buildings not included in the new circumscription ofparishes. Though the State had not bound itself to endowdiocesanseminaries, Bonaparte granted thebishops national estates for the use of suchseminaries and theright to receive donations and legacies for their benefit; he even founded, in 1804, at the expense of the State, tenmetropolitanseminaries, re-established, with a government endowment, theLazarist house for theeducation of missionaries, and placed the Holy Sepulchre and theOriental Christians under the protection ofFrance.
As to the temporal power of thepopes Bonaparte at this period affected a somewhat complaisant attitude towards theHoly See. He restoredPesaro andAncona to thepope, and brought about the restitution ofBenevento and Pontecorvo by the Court ofNaples. After April, 1803, Cacault was replaced, as his representative atRome, by one of the fiveFrenchecclesiastics to whomPius VII had consented to grant the purple late in 1802. This ambassador was no other than Bonaparte's own uncle,Cardinal Joseph Fesch, whose secretary for a short time wasChateaubriand, recently made famous by his "La génie du Christianisme". One of Bonaparte's grievances against Cacault was a saying attributed to the latter: "How many sources of his glory would cease if Bonaparte ever chose to playHenry VIII!" Even in those days of harmony Cacault had a presentiment that the Napoleonic policy would yet threaten the dignity of theHoly See.
Theidea of a struggle withEngland became more and more an imperious obsession of Bonaparte's mind. The Peace ofAmiens (25 March, 1802) was only a truce: it was broken on 22 May, 1803, by Mortier's invasion ofHanover and the landing of the English in French Guiana. Napoleon forthwith prepared for his gigantic effort to lay the ban ofEurope onEngland. The Duc d'Enghien, who was suspected of complicity withEngland and the French Royalists, was carried off from Ettenheim, a village within the territory ofBaden, and shot at Vincennes, 21 March, 1804, and one ofCardinal Fesch's first acts as ambassador atRome was to demand the extradition of the Frenchémigré Vernègues, who was in the service ofRussia, and whom Bonaparte regarded as a conspirator.
While the Third Coalition was forming betweenEngland andRussia, Bonaparte caused himself to be proclaimed hereditary emperor (30 April 18 May, 1804), and at once surrounded himself with a brilliant Court. He created two princes imperial (his brothers Joseph and Louis), seven permanent high dignitaries, twenty great officers, four of them ordinary marshals, and ten marshals in active service, a number of posts at Court open to members of the old nobility. Even before his formal proclamation as emperor, he had given Caprara a hint of his desire to becrowned by thepope, not atReims, like the ancient kings, but at Notre Dame de Paris. On 10 May, 1804, Caprara warnedPius VII of this wish, and represented that it would benecessary to answer yes, in order to retain Napoleon's friendship. But the execution of the Duc d'Enghien had produced a deplorable impression inEurope; Royalist influences were at work against Bonaparte at the Vatican, and thepope was warned against crowning an emperor who, by the Constitution of 1804, would promise to maintain "the laws of the Concordat", in other words, theOrganic Articles.Pius VII andConsalvi tried to gain time by dilatory replies, but these very replies were interpreted byFesch atRome, and by Caprara atParis, in a sense favourable to the emperor's wishes. At the end of June, Napoleon I joyfully announced, at the Tuileries, that thepope had promised to come toParis. ThenPius VII tried to obtain certain religious and political advantages in exchange for the journey he was asked to make. Napoleon declared that he would have no conditions dictated to him; at the same time he promised to give newproofs of his respect andlove for religion, and to listen to what thepope might have to submit. At last the cleverness of Talleyrand, Napoleon's minister of foreign affairs, conquered the scruples ofPius VII; he declared, at the end of September, that he would accept Napoleon's invitation if it were officially addressed to him; he asked only that theceremony ofconsecration should not be distinct from thecoronation proper, and that Napoleon would undertake not to detain him inFrance. Napoleon had the invitation conveyed toPius VII, not by twobishops, as thepope expected, but by a general; and before setting out forFrance,Pius VII signed a conditional act of abdication, which thecardinals were to publish in case Napoleon should prevent his returning toRome; then he began his journey toFrance, 2 November, 1804.
Napoleon would not accord any solemn reception toPius VII; surrounded by a hunting party, he met thepope in the open country, made him get into the imperial carriage, seating himself on the right, and in this fashion took him to Fontainebleau.Pius VII was brought toParis by night. The whole affair nearly fell through at the last moment.Pius VII informed Josephine herself, on the eve of the day set for thecoronation of the empress, that she had not been married to Napoleon in accordance with the rules of religion. To the great annoyance of the emperor, who was already contemplating adivorce, in case no heir were born to him, and was displaying a lively irritation against Josephine,Pius VII insisted upon the religious benediction of the marriage; otherwise, there was to be nocoronation. The religious marriageceremony was secretly performed at the Tuileries, on the first of December, without witnesses, not during the night, but at about four o'clock in the afternoon, byFesch, grand almoner of the imperial household. As Welschinger hasproved,Fesch had previously asked thepope for thenecessarydispensations and faculties, and the marriage was canonically beyond reproach. On 2 December thecoronation took place. Napoleon arrived at Notre Dame later than the hour appointed. Instead of allowing thepope to crown him, he himself placed the crown on his own head andcrowned the empress, but, out of respect for thepope, this detail was not recorded in the "Moniteur".Pius VII, to whom Napoleon granted but few opportunities for conversation, had a long memoranda drawn up byAntonelli and Caprara, setting forth his wishes; he demanded thatCatholicism should be recognized inFrance as the dominant religion; that thedivorce law should be repealed; that thereligious communities should be re-established; that the Legations should be restored to theHoly See. Most of these demands were to no purpose: the most important of the very moderate concessions made by the emperor was his promise to substitute the Gregorian Calendar for that of theRevolution after 1 January, 1806. WhenPius VII leftParis, 4 April, 1805, he was displeased with the emperor.
But theChurch ofFrance acclaimed the emperor. He was lauded to the skies by thebishops. Theparishpriests, not only in obedience to instructions, but also out ofpatriotism, preached againstEngland, and exhorted their hearers to submit to the conscription. The splendour of the Napoleonic victories seemed, by the enthusiasm with which it inspired allFrenchmen, to blind theCatholics ofFrance to Napoleon'sfalse view of the manner in which their Church should be governed. He had reorganized it; he had accorded it more liberal pecuniary advantages than the Concordat had bound him to; but he intended to dominate it. For example, in 1806 he insisted that all periodical publications of areligiouscharacter should be consolidated into one, the "Journal des curés", published under police surveillance. On 15 August, 1806, he instituted the Feast of St. Napoleon, to commemorate themartyr Neopolis, or Neopolas, who suffered inEgypt underDiocletian. In 1806 he decided thatecclesiastical positions of importance, such as cures ofsouls of the first class, could be given only to candidates who held degrees conferred by theuniversity, adding that these degrees might be refused to those who werenotorious for their "ultramontaneideas orideas dangerous to authority". He demanded the publication of a singlecatechism for the whole empire, in whichcatechism he was called "the image ofGod upon earth," "the Lord's anointed", and the use of which was made compulsory by adecreedated 4 April, 1806. Theprisons of Vincennes, Fenestrelles, and the Island of Sainte Marguerite receivedpriests whom the emperor judged guilty of disobedience to his orders.
After 1805 relations betweenPius VII and Napoleon became strained. AtMilan, 26 May, 1805, when Napoleon, as King ofItaly, took the Iron Crown ofLombardy, he was offended because thepope did not take part in theceremony. When he askedPius VII to annul the marriage which his brother Jerome Bonaparte had contracted, at the age of nineteen with Elizabeth Patterson ofBaltimore, thepope replied that the decrees of theCouncil of Trent againstclandestine marriages applied only where they had been recognized, and the reply constituted one more cause of displeasure for the emperor, who afterwards, in 1806, obtained an annulment from the complaisantecclesiastical authorities ofParis. And whenConsalvi, in 1805, complained that the French Civil Code, and with it thedivorce law, had been introduced intoItaly, Napoleon formally refused to make any concession.
The greatwar which the emperor was just then commencing was destined to be an occasion of conflict with theHoly See. Abandoning the preparations which he had made for an invasion ofEngland (the Camp of Boulogne), he turned againstAustria, brought about the capitulation of Ulm (20 October, 1805), made himself master ofVienna (13 November), defeated at Austerlitz (2 December, 1805) Emperor Francis I and Tsar Alexander. The Treaty of Presburg (26 December, 1805) unitedDalmatia to the French Empire and the territory ofVenice to theKingdom of Italy, madeBavaria and Wurtemberg vassal kingdoms of Napoleon, enlarged the margravate ofBaden, and transformed it into a grand duchy, and reducedAustria to the valley of the Danube. The victory of Trafalgar (21 October, 1805) had givenEngland the mastery of the seas, but from that time forward Napoleon was held to be the absolute master of the Continent. He then turned to thepope, and demanded a reckoning of him.
To prevent a landing Russian and English troops inItaly, Napoleon, in October, 1805, had ordered Gouvion Saint Cyr to occupy thepapal city ofAncona. Thepope, lest the powers hostile to Napoleon might some day reproach him with having consented to the employment of a city of thePontifical States as a base of operations, had protested against this arbitrary exercise of power: he had complained, in a letter to the emperor (13 November, 1805), of this "cruel affront", declared that since his return fromParis he had "experienced nothing but bitterness and sorrow", and threatened to dismiss the French ambassador.
But the treaty of Presburg and the dethronement of the Bourbons ofNaples by Joseph Bonaparte and Masséna (January, 1806), changed theEuropean and the Italian situation. FromMunich Napoleon wrote two letters (7 January, 1806), one toPius VII, and the other toFesch, touching his intentions in regard to theHoly See. He complained of thepope's ill will, tried to justify the occupation ofAncona, and declared himself thetrue protector of theHoly See. "I will be the friend of Your Holiness", he concluded, "whenever you consult only your own heart and thetrue friends of religion." His letter toFesch was much more violent: he complained of the refusal to annul Jerome's marriage, demanded that there should no longer be any minister either ofSardinia or ofRussia inRome, threatened to send aProtestant as his ambassador to thepope, to appoint a senator to command inRome and to reduce thepope to the status of mereBishop of Rome, claimed that thepope should treat him likeCharlemagne, and assailed "the pontifical camarilla which prostituted religion". A reply fromPius VII (29 January, 1806), asking for the return ofAncona and the Legations let loose Napoleon's fury. In a letter toPius VII (13 February), he declared: "Your Holiness is the sovereign ofRome but I am its emperor; all my enemies ought to be yours"; he insisted that thepope should drive English, Russian,Sardinian, andSwedish subjects out of his dominions, and close his ports to the ships of those powers with whichFrance was atwar; and he complained of the slowness of theCuria in grantingcanonical institution tobishops inFrance andItaly. In a letter toFesch he declared that, unless thepope acquiesced he would reduce the condition of theHoly See to what it had been beforeCharlemagne.
An official note fromFesch toConsalvi (2 March, 1806) defined Napoleon's demands; thecardinals were in favour of rejecting them, andPius VII, in a very beautiful letter,dated 21 March, 1806, remonstrated with Napoleon, declared that thepope had noright to embroil himself with the other states, and must hold aloof from thewar; also, that there was no emperor ofRome. "If our words", he concluded, "fail to touch Your Majesty's heart we will suffer with a resignation conformable to the Gospel, we will accept every kind of calamity as coming fromGod." Napoleon, more and more irritated, reproachedPius VII for having consulted thecardinals before answering him, declared that all his relations with theHoly See should thenceforward be conducted through Talleyrand, ordered the latter to reiterate the demands which thepope had just rejected, and replacedFesch as ambassador atRome with Alquier, a former member of the Convention. Then the emperor proceeded from words to deeds. On 6 May, 1806, he caused Cività Vecchia to be occupied. Learning that thepope, before recognizing Joseph Bonaparte as King ofNaples, wished Joseph to submit to the ancient suzerainty of theHoly See over theNeapolitan Kingdom, he talked of "the spirit of light-headedness" (esprit de vertige) which prevailed atRome, remarked that, when thepope thus treated a Bonaparte as a vassal, he must be tired of wielding the temporal power, and directed Talleyrand to tellPius VII that the time was past when thepope disposed of crowns. Talleyrand was informed (16 May, 1806) that, ifPius VII would not recognize Joseph, Napoleon would no longer recognizePius VII as a temporal prince. "If this continues", Napoleon went on to say, "I will haveConsalvi taken away fromRome." He suspectedConsalvi of having sold himself to the English. Early in June, 1806, he seizedBenevento and Pontecorvo, two principalities which belonged to theHoly See, but which were shut in by theKingdom of Naples.
Yielding before the emperor's wrath,Consalvi resigned his office:Pius VII unwillingly accepted his resignation, and replaced him with Cardinal Casoni. But the first dispatch written by Casoni underPius VII's dictation confirmed thepope's resistance to the emperor's behests. Napoleon thenviolently apostrophized Caprara, in the presence of the whole court, threatening to dismember thePontifical States, ifPius VII did not at once, "without ambiguity or reservation", declare himself his ally (1 July, 1806). A like ultimatum was delivered, on 8 July, to Cardinal Casoni by Alquier. But Continental affairs were claiming Napoleon's attention, and the only immediate result of his ultimatum was the emperor's order to his generals occupyingAncona and Cività Vecchia, to seize the pontifical revenues in those two cities. On the other hand, the constitution of the Imperial University (May, 1806), preparing for a state monopoly of teaching, loomed up as a peril to theChurch's right of teaching, and gave theHoly See another cause for uneasiness.
The Confederation of the Rhine, formed by Napoleon out of fourteen German States (12 July, 1806), and his assertion of a protectorate over the same, resulted in Francis II's abdication of the title of emperor ofGermany; it its place Francis took the title of emperor ofAustria. Thus ended, under the blows dealt it by Napoleon, that Holy Roman Germanic Empire which had exerted so great an influence overChristianity in theMiddle Ages. Thepope and the German emperor had long been considered as sharing between them the government of the world in the name ofGod. Napoleon had definitively annihilated one of these "two halves of God", as Victor Hugo has termed them. Frederick William II ofPrussia became alarmed, and in October, 1806, formed, withEngland andRussia, the Fourth Coalition. The stunning victories of Auerstädt, won by Davoust, and Jena, won by Napoleon (14 October, 1806), were followed by the entry of the French intoBerlin, the king ofPrussia's flight to Königsberg, and the erection of the Electorate of Saxony into a kingdom in alliance with Napoleon. From Berlin itself Napoleon launched adecree (21 November, 1806) by which he organized the Continental blockade againstEngland, aiming to close the whole Continent against English commerce. Then, in 1807, penetrating intoRussia, he induced the tsar by means of the battles of Eylau (8 February, 1807) and Friedland (14 June, 1807), to sign the Peace of Tilsit (8 July, 1807). The empire was at its apogee;Prussia had been bereft of its Polish provinces, given to the King of Saxony under the name of the Grand Duchy ofWarsaw; the Kingdom ofWestphalia was being formed for Jerome Bonaparte, completing the series of kingdoms given since 1806 to the emperor's brothers —Naples having been assigned to Joseph, andHolland to Louis. A series of principalities and duchies, "great fiefs", created all overEurope for his marshals, augmented the might and prestige of the empire. At home, the emperor's personal power was becoming more and more firmly established; the supervision of the press more rigorous; summary incarcerations more frequent. He created an hereditary nobility as an ornament to the throne.
To him it was something of a humiliation, that the Court ofRome persisted in holding aloof, politically, from the great conflicts of the nations. He began to summon thepope anew. He had already, soon after Jena, called Mgr Arezzo to him fromSaxony, and in menacing fashion had bidden him go and demand ofPius VII that he should become the ally of the empire; once morePius VII had replied to Arezzo that thepope could not consider the enemies ofFrance his enemies. Napoleon also accused thepope of hindering theecclesiastical reorganization ofGermany, and of not making provision for thedioceses of Venetia. His grievances were multiplying. On 22 July, 1807, he wrote to Prince Eugène, who governedMilan as his viceroy, a letter intended to be shown to thepope: "There were kings before there were popes", it ran. "Anypope who denounced me toChristendom would cease to bepope in my eyes; I would look upon him asAntichrist. I would cut my peoples off from all communication withRome. Does thepope take me for Louis the Pious? What the Court ofRome seeks is the disorder of theChurch, not the good of religion. I will not fear to gather the Gallican, Italian, German and Polish Churches in a council to transact my business [pour faire mes affaires] without anypope, and protect my peoples against thepriests ofRome. This is the last time that I will enter into any discussion with the Romanpriest rabble [la prêtraille romaine]". On 9 August Napoleon wrote again to Prince Eugène, that, if thepope did anything imprudent, it would afford excellent grounds for taking the Roman States away from him.Pius VII, driven to bay, sentCardinal Litta toParis to treat with Napoleon: thepope was willing to join the Continental blockade, and suspend all intercourse with the English, but not to declarewar against them. Thepope even wrote to Napoleon (11 September, 1807) inviting him to come toRome. The emperor, however, was only seeking occasion for a rupture, while thepope was seeking the last possible means of pacification.
Napoleon refused to treat withCardinal Litta, and demanded thatPius VII should be represented by aFrenchman, Cardinal de Bayanne. Then he pretended that Bayanne's powers from thepope were not sufficient. And while thepope was negotiating with him ingood faith, Napoleon, without warning, caused the four pontifical Provinces ofMacerata,Spoleto,Urbino, andFoligno to be occupied by General Lemarrois (October, 1807).Pius VII then revoked Cardinal Bayanne's powers. It as evident that, not only did Napoleon require of him an offensive alliance againstEngland, but that the Emperor's pretensions, and those of his new minister of foreign affairs, Champagny,Talleyrand's successor, were now beginning to encroach upon the domain of religion. Napoleon claimed that one third of thecardinals should belong to the French Empire; and Champagny let it be understood that the emperor would soon demand that theHoly See should respect the "Gallican Liberties", and should abstain from "any act containing positive clauses or reservations calculated to alarm consciences and spread divisions in His Majesty's dominions". Henceforth it was the spiritual authority that Napoleon aspired to control.Pius VII ordered Bayanne to reject the imperial demands. Napoleon then (January, 1808) decided that Prince Eugène and King Joseph should place troops at the disposition of General Miollis, who was ordered to march onRome. Miollis at first pretended to be covering the rear of theNeapolitan army, then he suddenly threw 10,000 troops intoRome (2 February). Napoleon wrote to Champagny that it wasnecessary "to accustom the people ofRome and the French troops to live side by side, so that, should the Court ofRome continue to act in an insensate way, it might insensibly cease to exist as a temporal power, without anyone noticing the change". Thus it may be said that, in the beginning of 1808, Napoleon's plan was to keepRome.
In a manifesto to theChristian powers,Pius VII protested against this invasion; at the same time, he consented to receive General Miollis and treated him with great courtesy. Champagny, on 3 February, again insisted on thepope's becoming the political ally of Napoleon, andPius VII refused. The instructions given to Miollis became more severe every day: he seized printing presses, journals, post offices; he decimated theSacred College by having sevencardinals conducted to the frontier, because Napoleon accused them of dealing with the Bourbons of the two Sicilies, then, one month later, he expelled fourteen othercardinals fromRome because they were not native subjects of thepope. Cardinal Doria Pamphili, who had been appointed secretary of state, in February, 1808, was also expelled by Miollis;Pius VII now had with him only twenty-onecardinals, and thepapal Government was disorganized. He broke off all diplomatic relations with Napoleon, recalled Bayanne and Caprara fromParis, and uttered his protest in a consistorial allocution delivered in March. Napoleon, on his side, recalled Alquier fromRome. The struggle betweenpope and emperor was taking on a tragic character.
On 2 April Napoleon signed two decrees: one annexed to theKingdom of Italy "in perpetuity" the Provinces ofUrbino,Ancona,Macerata, andCamerino; the other ordered all functionaries of the Court ofRome who were natives of theKingdom of Italy to return to that kingdom, under pain of confiscation of theirproperty.Pius VII protested before allEurope against thisdecree, on 19 May, and, in an instruction addressed to thebishops of the provinces which Napoleon was lopping off from his possessions, he denounced the religious "indifferentism" of the imperial Government, and forbade the faithful of those provinces to take theoath of allegiance to Napoleon or accept any offices from him. Miollis retaliated, 12 June, by driving Gavrielli, the new secretary of state, out ofRome.Pius VII then replaced Gavrielli withCardinal Pacca, reputed an opponent ofFrance; on 11 July he delivered a very spirited allocution, which, in spite of the imperial police, was circulated throughoutEurope; andPacca, on 24 August, directed a note against the institution of the "Civic Guard" — anidea recently conceived by Miollis — in which Miollis was compelling even thepope's soldiers to enroll. On 6 September, 1808, Miollis sent two officers to the Quirinal to arrestPacca;Pius VII interposed, declaring that they should not arrestPacca without arresting thepope, and that in future the secretary of state should sleep at the Quirinal, which was closed to all the French.
The definitive execution of Napoleon's projects against theHoly See was retarded by thewars which occupied him during the year 1808. When he transferred his brother Joseph from the Throne ofNaples to that ofSpain,Spain rose, and the English invadedPortugal. Dupont's capitulation, at Baylen (20 July, 1808), and Junot's at Cintra (30 August, 1808), were painful reverses for French arms. Napoleon, having made an alliance with the tsar in the celebrated interview of Erfurt (27 September — 14 October, 1808), hastened toSpain. There he found a people whose spirit of resistance was exasperated all the more because they believed themselves to be fighting for their liberty and the integrity of theirfaith as much as for their country. In November he gained the victories ofBurgos, Espinosa,Tudela, and Somo Sierra, and reopened the gates ofMadrid for Joseph; on 21 February Saragossa was taken by the French armies after an heroic resistance. A Fifth Coalition was formed against Napoleon: he returned fromSpain and, rushing acrossBavaria, bombarded and tookVienna (11 13 May, 1809). On the day after the victory he devoted some of his leisure hours to thinking about thepope.
For some time Murat, who in 1808 had replaced Joseph as King ofNaples, had been ready to support Miollis whenever Napoleon should judge that the hour had come to incorporateRome with the empire. On 17 May, 1809, Napoleon issued from Schönbrunn two decrees in which, reproaching thepopes for the ill use they had made of the donation ofCharlemagne, his "august predecessor", he declared thePontifical States annexed to the empire, and organized, under Miollis, a council extraordinary to administer them. On 10 June Miollis had the Pontifical flag, which still floated over the castle of St. Angelo, lowered.Pius VII replied by havingRome placarded with aBullexcommunicating Napoleon. When the emperor received news of this (20 June) he wrote to Murat: "So thepope has aimed anexcommunication against me. No more half measures; he is a raving lunatic who must be confined. HaveCardinal Pacca and other adherents of thepope arrested." In the night of 5 6 July, 1809, Radet, a general of gendarmerie, by the orders of Miollis, entered the Quirinal, arrestedPius VII andPacca, gave them two hours to make their preparations, and took them away fromRome at four in the morning.Pius VII was taken to Savona,Pacca to Fenestrella. Meanwhile Napoleon, completing the work of crushingAustria, had been the victor at Essling (21 May, 1809) and at Wagram (6 July, 1809), and the Peace ofVienna (15 October, 1809) put the finishing touch to the mutilation ofAustria by handing over Carniola,Croatia, and Friuli toFrance, at the same timeobliging the Emperor Francis to recognize Joseph as King ofSpain. The young German, Staps, who attempted to assassinate Napoleon at Schöenbrunn (13 October), died crying: "Long liveGermany!"
The conflict with hisprisoner, thepope, was another embarrassment, a new source of anxiety to the emperor. At first he took all possible steps to prevent the public from hearing of what had happened atRome: the "Moniteur" made not the slightest allusion to it; the newspapers received orders to be silent. He also wished hisexcommunication to be ignored; the newspapers must be silent on this point also; but theBull ofExcommunication, secretly brought toLyons, was circulated inFrance by members of the Congregation, a pious association, founded 2 February, 1801, by Père Delpuits, a formerJesuit. Alexis de Noailles and five other members of the Congregation were arrested by the emperor's command, and hisanger extended to all thereligious orders. He wrote (12 September, 1809) to Bigot de Préameneu, minister of public worship: "If on 1 October there are any missions or congregations still inFrance, I will hold you responsible." The celebrated Abbé Frayssinous had to discontinue hissermons; theLazarists dispersed; theSulpicians were threatened. Napoleon consulted Bigot de Préameneu as to the expediency of laying theBull before the Council of State, but abstained from doing so.
It was not long, however, before he had to face an enormous difficulty: there were more than twentybishoprics vacant, andPius VII declared toFesch, to Caprara, and to Maury that, so long as he was aprisoner, so long as he could not communicate freely with his natural counsellors, thecardinals, he would not provide for the institution of thebishops. Thus the life of theChurch ofFrance was partially suspended. In November, 1809, Napoleon appointed an "ecclesiastical council" to seek a solution of the difficulty. WithFesch as president, this council included as members Cardinal Maury, Barral,Archbishop ofTours, Duvoisin,Bishop ofNantes, Emery, Superior of S. Sulpice, Bishops Canaveri ofVercelli, Bourlier ofEvreux, Mannay of Trèves, and theBarnabite Fontana. Bigot de Préameneu, in the name of the emperor, laid before the council several sets of questions relating to the affairs ofChristendom in general, then to those ofFrance, and lastly to those ofGermany andItaly, and to theBull ofExcommunication.
In the preamble to its replies, the council gave voice to a petition for the absolute liberty of thepope and the recall of thecardinals. It declared that if ageneral council were assembled for the settlement of the religious questions then pending, thepope's presence at the council would benecessary, and that a national council would not have sufficient authority in questions affecting the wholeCatholicChurch. It also declared that thepope could not complain of any essential violation of the Concordat, that, when he advanced his temporal spoliation, as one reason for his refusal to institute thebishops canonically, he was confounding the temporal order with the spiritual, that the temporal sovereignty was only an accessory of thepapal authority, that the invasion ofRome was not a violation of the Concordat, and that the national council would interpose an appeal from theBull ofExcommunication either to the general council or to thepope better informed. The manner in whichcanonical institution might be secured for thebishops, if thepope should continue his resistance, was twice discussed. Urged by the Government, the council admitted that, taking the circumstances into consideration, the conciliary institution given by ametropolitan to his suffragans, or by the senior suffragan to a newmetropolitan, might possibly be recognized by a national council as, provisionally, a substitute for pontificalBulls. Emery, thinking the council too lenient, refused to endorse the answers, which were sent to Napoleon on 11 January, 1810.
On 17 February, 1810, the Act regulating the Roman territory and future condition of thepope, introduced by Régnault de Saint Jean d'Angély, was passed unanimously by the senate. ThePapal States, in accordance with thisdecree, were to form two departments; fromRome, which was declared the first city of the empire, the prince imperial was to take his title of king. The emperor, alreadycrowned once at Notre Dame, was to go within ten years to becrowned at St. Peter's. Thepope was to have a revenue of two millions. The empire was to charge itself with the maintenance of theSacred Congregation of Propaganda. Thepope, on his accession, must promise to do nothing contrary to the four articles of the Gallican Church. Another Act of the Senate, of 25 February, 1810, made the Declaration of 1682 a general law of the empire. Thus did Napoleon flatter himself that he would reduce thepapacy to servitude and bringPius VII to live inParis. He even prepared a letter toPius VII in which he told him: "I hold in execration the principles of the Bonifaces and the Gregorys. It is my mission to govern the West; do not meddle with it." This letter he would have had taken to thepope bybishops who were to give notice toPius VII that in future thepopes must swear allegiance to Napoleon, as of yore toCharlemagne, and to inform him that he himself would be dispensed from thisobligation, but that he must undertake not to reside atRome. Napoleon expected in this way to bend thepope to his will. Wiser counsellors, however, prevailed upon him not to send this insulting letter. Nevertheless, to carry out his plan of removing thepapal throne fromRome, he ordered Miollis to compel all thecardinals who were still atRome to set out forParis, and to have the Vatican archives transported thither. In 1810 there were twenty sevenRoman cardinals inParis; he lavished gifts upon them, invited them to the court festivals, and wished them to write and urgePius VII to yield; but, following the advice ofConsalvi, thecardinals refused.
It was in the midst of these bitter conflicts with the church that, Napoleon desiring an heir, resolved todivorce Josephine. Ever since the end of 1807Metternich had been aware of the reports that were current about the emperor's approachingdivorce. On 12 December, 1807, Lucien Bonaparte had vainly endeavored to obtain from Josephine her consent to thisdivorce; some time after, Fouché had made a similar attempt with no better success. In December, 1809, at Fontainebleau, in the presence of Prince Eugène, Josephine's son, the emperor induced her to consent; on 15 December, this wassolemnly proclaimed in the throne room, in the presence of the Court, in an address delivered by Napoleon, and another read by the unhappy Josephine, who was prevented by her tears from finishing it. The Act of the Senate (16 December), based on a report of Lacépède, the naturalist, himself a member of the Senate, ratified thedivorce. Napoleon then thought of marrying the tsar's sister. ButMetternich, getting wind of this project, made Laborde and Schwarzenberg sound the Tuileries to see if Napoleon would marry an Austrian archduchess. Theidea pleased Napoleon. The Court ofVienna, however, first required that the spiritual bond between Napoleon and Josephine should be severed.
This bond thepope alone was competent to dissolve; Louis XII had had recourse toAlexander VI;Henry IV toClement VIII; but Napoleon,excommunicated by hisprisonerPius VII, could not apply to him. Cambacérès, the arch chancellor, sent for thediocesan officials ofParis and explained to them that the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine had been invalid in consequence of the absence of theparishpriest of the two parties and of witnesses. In vain did they object that only thepope could decide such a case; they were told to commence proceedings, and be quick about it. On 26 December, the promoter of the case, Rudemare, begged Cambacérès to submit the matter to theecclesiastical council over whichFesch presided. On 2 January, 1810, Cambacérès sent a request to the official, Boislesve, for a declaration of nullity of the marriage, alleging, this time, that there had been absence of consent on Napoleon's part. On the next day theecclesiastical council replied that if the defect of Napoleon's consent could beproved to the officiality, the marriage would be null and void. Cambacérès wished to produceFesch, Talleyrand, Duroc, and Berthier as witnesses. The testimony ofFesch was very confused; he explained that thepope had given him thenecessarydispensations tobless the marriage; that two days later he had given Josephine a marriage certificate; that the emperor had then upbraided him, declaring to him that he (the emperor) had only agreed to this marriage in order to quiet the empress, and that it was, moreover, impossible for him to renounce his hopes of direct descendants. The other two witnesses told how Napoleon had repeatedly expressed the conviction that he was not bound by this marriage and that he regarded theceremony only as "a mere concession to circumstances [acte de pure circonstance] which ought not to have any effect in the future".
On 9 January thediocesan authorities declared the marriage null and void, on the ground of the absence of the lawfulparishpriest and of witnesses; it pronounced this decision only in view of the "difficulty in the way of having recourse to the visible head of theChurch, to whom it has always belonged in fact to pronounce upon these extraordinary cases." The promoter Rudemare had concluded with the recommendation that the tribunal should at least lay a precept upon the two parties to repair the defect of form which had vitiated their marriage; Boilesve, the official, refrained from proffering this invitation. Rudemare then appealed to themetropolitan authorities on this point. On 12 January, 1810, the official, Lejeas, with much greater complaisance, admitted both the grounds of nullity advanced by Cambacérès — that is, not only the defect of form, but also the defect of the emperor's consent. He alleged that thecivil marriage of Napoleon and Josephine had been annulled by thedecree of the Senate, that by the concordatorylaws (lois concordataires) the religious marriage ought to follow the civil, and that theChurch could not now ask two parties who were no longer civilly married to repair the defects of form in their religious marriage. Thus, he declared, the marriage was religiously annulled. It may be noted here that theCatholicChurch cannot be held responsible for the excessive complaisance shown in this matter by theecclesiastical council and thediocesan authorities ofParis. On 21 January, 1810, Napoleon resolved to ask for the hand of Marie Louise. The French ambassador atVienna, at the request of theArchbishop ofVienna, gave him his word ofhonour that the sentence pronounced by thediocesan authorities ofParis was legal. At last all the religious obstacles to the celebration of the new marriage were disposed of.
It took place on 1 April, 1810, but thirteen of thecardinals then inParis refused to be present. These thirteencardinals were turned away when they presented themselves at the Tuileries two days later; the minister of public worship informed them that they were no longercardinals, that they no longer had any right to wear the purple; the minister of police forwarded them, two by two, to small country towns; their pensions were suppressed, theirproperty sequestrated. People called them "the black cardinals". Thebishops andpriests of the Roman States were treated with similarviolence; nineteen out of thirty twobishops refused theoath of allegiance to the emperor, and wereimprisoned, while a certain number of non juringparochialclergy were interned inCorsica, and the emperor announced his intention of reducing the number ofdioceses andparishes in the Roman States by three fourths. This policy of bitterpersecution coincided with fresh overtures to hisprisoner, thepope, through the Austrian diplomat Lebzeltern (May, 1810).Pius VII's reply was that, to negotiate, he must be free and able to communicate with thecardinals. In July Napoleon sent Cardinals Spina and Caselli to Savona, but they obtained nothing from thepope. There had been no solution of the internal crisis of theChurch ofFrance; whilePius VII was aprisoner thebishops were not to receivecanonical institution. Bigot de Préameneu and Maury suggested to the emperor a possible arrangement; to invite the chapter in eachdiocese to designate thebishop who had been nominated, but not yet canonically instituted, provisional administrator.Fesch refused to lend himself to this expedient and occupy the Archbishopric ofParis; but a certain number of nominatedbishops did go to their episcopal cities in the capacity of provisional administrators. Going one step further, Napoleon removed Maury from theSee of Montefiascone, and d'Osmond from that ofNancy, and had them designated by the respective chapters provisional administrators of the two vacantArchdioceses ofParis and Florence. Maury and d'Osmond, at the emperor's bidding, left thedioceses given them by thepope to install themselves in thesearchdioceses.
Despite the rigour of his captivity,Pius VII was able to make known the pontifical commands to Cardinal di Pietro at Semur; a secret agency atLyons, established by certain members of the Congregation, devised ingenious ways of facilitating these communications as well as the circulation ofBulls. In November, 1810, the Court was stupefied with the news that twoBulls ofPius VII, addressed to the Chapters of Florence andParis, forbade their recognizing D'Osmond and Maury. The imperial fury was let loose. On 1 January, 1811, Napoleon, during an audience to Maury and the canons, demanded an explanation fromd'Astros, thevicar capitular, who had received theBull, telling him that there is "as much difference between the religion ofBossuet and that ofGregory VII as betweenheaven andhell";d'Astros, taken by Maury himself to police headquarters, wasimprisoned at Vincennes. At the Council of State, 4 January, 1811, Portalis, a relative ofd'Astros, was openly accused of treason by Napoleon, and immediately put out of the council chamber (with a brutality that the emperor afterwards regretted) and was then ordered to quitParis. Cardinals di Pietro, Oppizzone, and Gabrielli, and thepriests Fontana and Gregori, former counsellors of thepope, were thrown intoprison. Maury used his influence with the canons ofParis to induce them to apologize to Napoleon, who received them, told them that thepope must not treat him as aroi fainéant, and declared that, since thepope was not acting up to the Concordat in the matter of institution ofbishops, the emperor, on his side, renounced the Concordat. The conditions of thepope's captivity were made more severe; all his correspondence had to pass throughParis, to be inspected by the Government; the lock of his desk was picked; he could no longer receive visits without the presence of witnesses; a gendarme demanded of him the ring of St. Peter, whichPius VII surrendered after breaking it in two. Chabrol, thepope's custodian, showed him the addresses to which some of the chapters were expressing their submission to the emperor, butPius VII was inflexible. A commission of jurisconsults inParis, after discussing the possibility of a law regulating thecanonical institution ofbishops without thepope's co operation, ended by deciding that to pass such a law was almost equivalent toschism.
Napoleon was not willing to go so far. He summoned theecclesiastical council which he had already established and, 8 February, 1811, proposed to it these two questions: (1) All communication between thepope and the emperor's subjects being interrupted, to whom must recourse be had for thedispensations ordinarily granted by theHoly See? (2) What canonical means is there of providing institution forbishops when thepope reuses it?Fesch and Emery tried to sway the council towards some courses which would save thepapal prerogative. But the majority of the council answered: (1) That recourse might be had, provisionally, to thebishops for thedispensations in question; 2) That a clause might be added to the Concordat stipulating that thepope must grantcanonical institution within a stated time; failing which, the right of institution would devolve upon the council of the province; and that, if thepope rejected this amendment of theConcordat, thePragmatic Sanction would have to be revived so far as concernedbishops. The council added that, if thepope persisted in his refusal, the possibility of a public abolition of the Concordat by the emperor would have to be considered; but that these questions could be broached only by a national council, after one last attempt at negotiation with thepope.
On 16 March, 1811, Napoleon summoned to the Tuileries the members of the council and several of the great dignitaries of the empire; inveighing bitterly against thepope, he proclaimed that the Concordat no longer existed and that he was going to convoke a council of the West. At this meeting Emery, who died on 28 April, boldly faced Napoleon, quoting to him passages fromBossuet on the necessity of thepope's liberty.Pius VII not yielding to a last summons on the part of Chabrol, the council was convoked on 25 April to meet on 9 June. By this step Napoleon expected to subdue thepope to his will. In pursuance of a plan outlined by thephilosopherGerando, Archbishop Barral, and Bishops Duvoisin and Mannay were sent toPius VII to gain him over on the question of theBulls of institution. They were joined by theBishop ofFaenza, and arrived atSavona on 9 May. At first thepope refused to discuss the matter, not being free to communicate with hiscardinals. But thebishops and Chabrol insisted, and thepope's physician added his efforts to theirs. They represented that theChurch was becoming disorganized. At the end of nine days, thepope, who was neither eating nor drinking anything, being very much fatigued, consented, not to ratify, but to take as "a basis of negotiation" a note drawn up by the fourbishops to the purport that, in case of persistent refusal on his part,canonical institution might be given tobishops after six months. On 20 May, at four o'clock in the morning, thebishops started forParis with this note; at seven o'clock thepope summoned Chabrol and told him that he did not accept the note in any definitive sense, that he considered it only a sketch, and that he had made no formal promise. He also asked that a courier should be sent after thebishops to warn them of this. The courier bearing this message overtook thebishops atTurin on 24 May.Pius VII warned Chabrol that if the first note were exploited as representing an arrangement definitely accepted by thepope, he "would make a noise that should resound through the wholeChristian world". Napoleon, in his blindness, resolved to do without thepope and put all his hopes in the council.
The council convoked for 9 June, 1811, was not opened at Notre Dame until 17 June, the opening being postponed on account of thebaptism of the King ofRome, just born of Marie Louise. Paternalpride and the seemingly assured destinies of his throne rendered Napoleon still more inflexible in regard to thepope. Only since 1905 has thetruth about this council been known, thanks to Welschinger's researches. Under the Second Empire, when D'Haussonville wrote his work on theRoman Church and the First Empire (see below) Marshal Vallant had refused him all access to the archives of the council. These archives Welsinger was able to consult. Boulogne,Bishop ofTroyes, in his opening sermon affirmed the solidarity of thepope and thebishops, whileFesch, as president of the council, made all its members swear obedience and fidelity toPius VII. Upon this Napoleon gaveFesch a sound rating, on the evening of 19 June, atSaint Cloud. The emperor had packed his council in very arbitrary fashion, choosing only 42 out of 150Italianbishops to mix with theFrenchbishops, with a view to ecumenical effect. A private bulletin sent to the emperor, 24 June, noted that the fathers of the council themselves were generally impressed with a sense of restraint. The opposition to the emperor was very firmly led by Broglie,Bishop ofGhent, seconded by Aviau,Archbishop ofBordeaux, Dessole,Bishop ofChambéry, and Hirn,Bishop ofTournai. The first general assembly of the council was held on 20 June. Bigot de Préameneu and Marescalchi,ministers of public worship forFrance andItaly, were present and read the imperial message, one draft of which had been rejected by Napoleon as too moderate. The final version displeased all thebishops who had any regard for thepapal dignity. Napoleon in this document demanded thatbishops should be instituted in accordance with the forms which had obtained before the Concordat, no see to be vacant for longer than three months, "more than sufficient time for appointing a new incumbent". He wished the council to present an address to him, and the committee that should prepare this address to be composed of the fourprelates he had sent to Savona. The address, which was prepared in advance by Duvoisin, one of these fourprelates, was an expression of assent to Napoleon's wishes. But the council decided to have on the committee besides these fourprelates, some otherbishops chosen by secret ballot, and among the latter figured Broglie. Broglie discussed Duvoisin's draft and had a number of changes made in it, andFesch had some trouble in keeping the committee from at once demanding the liberation of thepope. The address, as voted, was nonsensical. It was not what Napoleon expected, and the audience which he was to have given to the members of the council on 30 June, did not take place.
Another committee was appointed by the council to inquire into thepope's views on the institution ofbishops. After a conflict of ten days, Broglie secured against Duvoisin, by a vote of 8 to 4, a resolution to the effect that, in this matter, nothing must be done without thepope, and that the council ought to send him a deputation to learn what was his will. Napoleon was furious and said toFesch and Barral: "I will dissolve the council. You are a pack of fools". Then, on second thought, he informed the council thatPius VII by way of concession, had formally promisedcanonical institution to the vacantbishoprics and had approved a clause enabling themetropolitans themselves in future, after six months vacancy of any see, to givecanonical institution. Napoleon requested the council to issue a note to this effect and sent a deputation to thank thepope. First the committee voted as the emperor wished, then, on more mature consideration, suspecting some stratagem on the emperor's part, it recalled its vote, and, on 10 July, Hirn,Bishop ofTournai, speaking for the committee, proposed to the council that no decision be made until a deputation had been sent to thepope. Then, on the morning of 11 July, Napoleon pronounced the council dissolved. The following night Broglie, Hirn, and Boulogne wereimprisoned at Vincennes. The emperor next thought of turning over the administration of thedioceses to the prefects, but presently took the advice of Maury, viz., to have all the members of the council called up, one by one, by the minister of public worship, and their personal assent to the imperial project obtained in this way. After fifteen days devoted to conversations between the minister and certain of thebishops, the emperor reconvoked the council for 5 August, and the council, by a vote of 80 to 13, passed thedecree by whichcanonical institution was to be given within six months, either by thepope or, if he refused, by themetropolitan. Thebishops who passed thisdecree tried to palliate their weakness by saying that they had noidea of committing an act of rebellion, but formally asked for, and hoped to obtain, thepope's assent. Napoleon believed himself victorious; he held in his hands the means of circumventing thepope and organizing without his co operation the administration of French andItaliandioceses. He had brought theSacred College, the Dataria, the Penitentiary, and the Vatican Archives toParis, and had spent several millions in improving thearchiepiscopal palace which he meant to make the pontifical palace. He wished to remove the Hôtel Dieu, install the departments of theRoman Curia in its place, and make the quarter of Notre Dame and the Isle de Saint Louis the capital ofCatholicism. But his victory was only apparent: to make thedecree of the national council valid, thepope's ratification was needed, and once more the resistance ofPius VII was to hold the emperor in check.
On 17 August Napoleon commissioned theArchbishops ofTours andMechlin, thePatriarch ofVenice, the Bishops ofEvreux,Trier, Feltro, andPiacenza to go to Savona and demand of thepope his full adhesion to thedecree of 5 August; thebishops were even to be precise in stating that thedecree applied toepiscopal sees in the formerPapal States, so that, in giving his assent,Pius VII should by implication assent to the abolition of the temporal power. ThatPius VII might not allege the absence of thecardinals as a reason for postponing his decisions, Napoleon sent to Savona fivecardinals on whom he could rely (Roverella, Dugnani, Fabrizio Ruffo, Bayanne, and Doria) with instructions to support thebishops. The emperor's artifice was successful. On 6 September, 1811,Pius VII declared himself ready to yield, and charged Roverella to draw up aBrief approving theDecree of 5 August, and on 20 September thepope signed theBrief. But even then, theBrief as it was, was not what Napoleon wanted:Pius VII abstained from recognizing the council as a national council, he treated theChurch ofRome as the mistress of all the Churches, and did not specify that thedecree applied to thebishoprics of the Roman States; he also required that, when ametropolitan gavecanonical institution, it should be given in the name of thepope. Napoleon did not publish theBrief. On 17 October he ordered the deputation ofprelates to notify thepope that thedecree applied equally tobishoprics in the Roman States. This interpretationPius VII then formally repudiated, and announced once more that any further decision on his part would be postponed until he should have with him a suitable number ofcardinals. Napoleon first wreaked his irritation on the Bishops ofGhent,Tournai, and Troyes, whom he forced to resign their sees and caused to be deported to various towns, then, on 3 December, he declared theBrief unacceptable, and charged theprelates to ask for another.Pius VII refused.
On 9 January, 1812, theprelates informed thepope, from the emperor, that, if thepope resisted any longer, the emperor would act on his own discretion in the matter of the institution ofbishops.Pius VII sent a personal reply to the emperor, to the effect that he (thepope) needed a more numerous council and facility of communication with thefaithful, and that he would then do, "to meet the emperor's wishes, all that was consistent with theduties of his Apostolic ministry." By way of rejoinder, Napoleon dictated to his minister of public worship, on 9 February, an extraordinarily vehement letter, addressed to the deputation ofprelates. In it he refused to givePius VII his liberty or to let the "black cardinals" go back to him; he made known that if thepope persisted in the refusal to govern theChurch, they would do without thepope; and he advised thepope, in insulting terms, to abdicate. Chabrol, the prefect of Montenotte, read this letter toPius VII, and advised him to surrender thetiara. "Never", was thepope's answer. Then on 23 February, Chabrol notified thepope, in the emperor's name, that Napoleon considered the Concordats abrogated, and that he would no longer permit thepope to interfere in any way in thecanonical institution of thebishops.Pius VII answered that he would not change his attitude. Mme de Staël wrote to Henri Meister: "What a power is religion which gives strength to the weak when all that was strong has lost its strength!" The difference between thepope and the emperor naturally reacted upon the feelings of theclergy towards Napoleon, and upon the emperor's policy towards religion. From this time Napoleon refused the seminarists any exemption from military service. He made stricter theuniversity monopoly of teaching, and Broglie,Bishop ofGhent, who, after leaving theprison of Vincennes, had continued to correspond with hisclergy, was sent to the Island of Sainte Marguerite.
At this time Napoleon was absolutely drunk with power. The French Empire had 130 departments; theKingdom of Italy 240. The seven provinces ofIllyria were subject toFrance. The rigour of the Continental blockade was ruining English commerce and embarrassing theEuropean states. The tsar would have liked Napoleon, master of the West, to leave him freedom of action inPoland and Turkey; enraged at receiving no such concessions, he approachedEngland. The French armies inSpain were exhausting their strength in a savage and ineffectualwar against a ceaseless uprising of the native population; nevertheless Napoleon resolved to attackRussia also. At Dresden, from March to June, 1812, he held a congress of kings, and prepared forwar. It was atDresden, in May, 1812, that, under pretext of satisfying the demands of Francis Joseph for gentler treatment of thepope, Napoleon decided to havePius VII removed fromSavona to Fontainebleau; the fact is that he was afraid the English would attempt acoup de main on Savona and carry off thepope. After a journey the painful incidents of which have been related by d'Haussonville, following amanuscript in the British Museum,Pius VII reached Fontainebleau on 19 June. Equipages were placed at his disposal, he was desired to appear in public and officiate; but he refused, led a solitary life in the interior of the palace, and gave not the least indication of being ready to yield to Napoleon's demands.
Napoleon definitely declaredwar against the tsar on 22 June, 1812. The issue was soon seen to be dubious. TheRussians devastated the whole country in advance of the French armies, and avoided pitched battles as much as possible. The victory of Borodino (7 September, 1812), an extremely bloody one, opened to Napoleon the gates ofMoscow (14 September, 1812). He had expected to pass the winter there, but the conflagration brought about by the Russians forced him to retrace his steps westward, and the retreat of the "Grande Armée" so heroically covered by Marshall Ney, costFrance the lives of numberless soldiers. The passage of the Beresina was glorious. As far as Lithuania, Napoleon shared the sufferings of his army, then he hastened toParis, where he suppressed General Malet's conspiracy and prepared a newwar for the year 1813. When he set out forPrussia it was hisidea to extend his march beyond that country, throughAsia toIndia, to knock over "the scaffolding of mercantile greatness raised by the English, and strikeEngland to the heart". "After this", he declared, "it will be possible to settle everything and have done with this business ofRome and thepope. Thecathedral ofParis will become that of theCatholic world. . . . IfBossuet were living now, he would have beenArchbishop ofParis long ago, and thepope would still be at the Vatican, which would be much better for everybody, for then there would be no pontifical throne higher than that of Notre Dame, andParis could not fearRome. With such a president, I would hold aCouncil of Nicæa in Gaul."
But the failure of the Russian campaign upset all these dreams. The emperor's haughty attitude towards theChurch was now modified. On 29 December, 1812, he wrote with his own hand an affectionate letter to thepope expressing a desire to end the quarrel. Duvoisin was sent to Fontainebleau to negotiate a Concordat. Napoleon's demands were these: thepope must swear to do nothing against the four articles; he must condemn the behaviour of the black cardinals towards the emperor; he must allow theCatholic sovereigns to chose two thirds of thecardinals, take up his residence inParis, accept thedecree of the council on thecanonical institution ofbishops, and agree to its application to thebishoprics of the Roman States.Pius VII spent ten days discussing the matter. On 18 January, 1813, the emperor himself came to Fontainebleau and spent many days in stormy interviews with thepope though, according toPius VII's own statement to Count Paul Van der Vrecken, on 27 September, 1814, Napoleon committed no act ofviolence against thepope. On 25 January, 1813, a new Concordat was signed. In it there was no mention either of the Four Articles, or of thenomination ofcardinals by theCatholic sovereigns, or of thepope's place of residence: the six suburbicandioceses were left at thepope's disposition, and he could moreover provide directly for tenbishoprics, either inFrance or inItaly — on all these points Napoleon made concessions. But on the other hand, thepope confirmed thedecree of the Council of 1811 on thecanonical institution ofbishops.
According to the very words of its preamble, this Concordat was intended only "to serve as basis for a definitive arrangement". But, on 13 February, Napoleon had it published, just as it stood, as a law of the State. This was very unfair towardsPius VII: the emperor had noright to convert "preliminary articles" thus into a definitive act. On 9 February theimprisonedcardinals had been liberated by Napoleon; going to Fontainebleau, they had foundPius VII very anxious on the subject of the signature he had given, and which he regretted. With the advice ofConsalvi, he prepared to retract the "preliminary articles". In his letter of 24 March to Napoleon he reproached himself for having signed these articles and disavowed the signature he had given. Napoleon had failed egregiously. He did not listen to the advice of the Comte de Narbonne, who, in a letter drafted by young Villemain, expressed the opinion that thepope ought to be set at liberty and sent back toRome. It has been claimed that Napoleon had said to hisministers of State: "If I don't knock the head off the shoulders of some of thosepriests at Fontainebleau, matters will never be arranged." This is a legend; on the contrary, he ordered the minister of public worship to keep secret the letter of 24 March. Immediately, acting on his own authority, he declared the Concordat of Fontainebleau binding on theChurch, and filled twelve vacantsees. On 5 April he had Cardinal di Pietro removed from Fontainebleau and threatened to do the same forCardinal Pacca.
In the Dioceses ofGhent,Troyes, and Tournai, the chapters regarded thebishops appointed by Napoleon as intruders. The irregular measures of the emperor only exasperated the resistance of theclergy. TheBelgianclergy, warned by Count Van der Vrecken of thepope's retractation, began to agitate against the imperial policy. Meanwhile, on 25 April, 1813, Napoleon assumed command of the Army ofGermany. The victories of Lutzen (2 May) and Bautzen (19 22 May) weakened thePrussian and Russian troops. But the emperor made the mistakes of accepting the mediation ofAustria — only a device to gain time — and of consenting to hold the Congress of Prague (July). A letter fromPius VII, secretly carried in the face of many dangers by Van der Vrecken, warned the Congress of Prague that thepope formally rejected the articles of 25 January. Napoleon continued nevertheless to send from his headquarters with the army severe orders calculated to overcome the resistance of theBelgianclergy; on 6 August he caused the director of theseminary ofGhent to beimprisoned, and all the students to be taken to Magdeburg; on 14 August he had the canons ofTournai arrested. But his perils were increasing. Joseph had been driven out ofSpain. Bernadotte, King of Sweden, one of Napoleon's own veterans, was driving the french troops out of Stralsund. Under Schwarzenberg, Blücher and Bernadotte, three armies were forming against the emperor. He had but 280,000 men against 500,000. He was victor atDresden (27 August), but his generals were falling away on all sides. He was deserted by theBavarian contingents in the celebrated "Battle of the Nations" at Leipzig (18 19 October), the defection of theWürtembergers and the Saxons was the chief cause of his defeat. The victories of Hanau (30 October) and Hocheim (2 November) enabled his troops to get back toFrance, but the Allies were soon to enter that land.
The liberation of thepope figured on the programme of the Allies. In vain did the emperor send the Marchesa di Brignoli toConsalvi, and Fallot de Beaumont,Archbishop ofBourges, toPius VII, to open negotiations. In vain, on 18 January, 1814, when he learned that Murat had gone over to the Allies and occupied the Roman provinces on his own account, did he offer to restore thePapal States toPius VII.Pius VII declared that such a restitution was an act ofjustice, and could not be made the subject of a treaty. Meantime, Blücher and Schwarzenberg were advancing throughBurgundy. On 24 January, Lagorse, the commandant of gendarmes who had guardedPius VII for four years, announced to him that he was about to take him back toRome. Thepope was conveyed by short stages through southern and centralFrance. Napoleon defeated the Allies at Saint Dizier and at Brienne (27 29 January, 1814), the princes offered peace on condition that Napoleon should restore the boundaries ofFrance to what they were in 1792. He refused. As the Allies demanded the liberation of thepope, Napoleon sent orders to Lagorse, who was taking him through the south ofFrance, to let him make his way toItaly. On 10 March the prefect of Montenotte received orders to have thepope conducted as far as the Austrian outposts in the territory ofPiacenza. The captivity ofPius VII was at an end.
Thewar was resumed immediately after the Congress of Chatillon. In five days Napoleon gave battle to Blücher four times at Champaubert, Montmirail, Chateau Thierry, and Vauchamp, and hurled him back onChâlons; against Schwarzenberg he fought the battles of Guiges, Mormant, Nangis, and Méry, thus opening the way to Troyes. But Lyons was taken by the Austrians,Bordeaux by the English. Exhausted as he was Napoleon beat Blücher again at Craonne (7 March), retookReims and Epernay, and contemplated cutting off the retreat of Blücher and Schwarzenberg on the Rhine. He caused a general levy to be decreed; but the Allies had their agents inParis. Marmont and Mortier capitulated. On 31 March the Allies enteredParis. On 3 April the Senate declared Napoleon dethroned. Returning to Fontainebleau, the emperor, determined to try one last effort, was stopped by the defection of Marmont's corps at Essonnes. On 20 April he left Fontainebleau; on 4 May he was inElba.
At the end of ten months, learning of the unpopularity of the regime founded inFrance by Louis XVIII, Napoleon secretly leftElba, landed at Cannes (1 March, 1815), and went in triumph fromGrenoble toParis (20 March, 1815). Louis VIII fled to Ghent. Then began the Hundred Days. Napoleon desired to giveFrance liberty and religious peace forthwith. On the one hand, by theActe Additionnel, he guaranteed the country a constitutional Government; on the other hand (4 April, 1815), he caused the Duke ofVicenza to write toCardinal Pacca, and he himself wrote toPius VII, letters in a pacific spirit, while Isoard, auditor of theRota, was commissioned to treat with thepope in his name. But the Coalition was re formed. Napoleon had 118,000 recruits against more than 800,000 soldiers; he beat Blücher at Ligny (16 June), whilst Ney beatWellington at Quatre Bras; next day, at Waterloo, Napoleon was victorious over Bülow and Wellington until seven o'clock in the evening, but the arrival of 30,000Prussians, under Blücher, resulted in the emperor's defeat. He abdicated in favour of his son, set out for Rochefort, and claimed the hospitality ofEngland.England declared him theprisoner of the Coalition and, in spite of his protests, had him taken to the Island of St. Helena. There he remained until his death, strictly watched by Hudson Lowe, and dictated to General Montholon, Gourgaud, and Bertrand those "Mémoires" which entitle him to a place among the great writers.Las Casas, at the same time, wrote day by day, the "Mémorial de Sainte Hélène", a journal of the emperor's conversations. In the first of his captivity, Napoleon complained to Montholon of having nochaplain. "It would rest my soul to hear Mass", he said.Pius VII petitionedEngland to accede to Napoleon's wish, and the Abbé Vignali became hischaplain. On 20 April, 1821, Napoleon said to him: "I was born in theCatholic religion. I wish to fulfil theduties it imposes, and receive the succour it administers." To Montholon he affirmed hisbelief inGod, read aloud theOld Testament, the Gospels, and the acts of theApostles. He spoke ofPius VII as "an old man full of tolerance and light". "Fatal circumstances," he added "embroiled our cabinets. I regret it exceedingly." Lord Rosebery has attached much importance to the paradoxes with which the emperor used to tease Gourgaud, and amused himself in maintaining the superiority ofMohammedanism,Protestantism, orMaterialism. One day, when he had been talking in this strain, Montholon said to him: "Iknow that your Majesty does not believe one word of what you have just been saying". "You are right", said the emperor. "At any rate it helps to pass an hour."
Napoleon was not an unbeliever; but he would not admit that anyone was above himself, not even thepope. "Alexander the great", he once said to Fontanes, "declared himself the son of Jupiter. And in my time I find apriest who is more powerful than I am." This transcendentpride dictated his religious policy and utterly vitiated it. By the Concordat, as Talleyrand said, he had "done not only an act ofjustice, but also a very clever act, for by this one deed he had rallied to himself the sympathies of the wholeCatholic world." But the same Talleyrand declares, in his "Mémoires", that his struggle withRome was produced by "the most insensate ambition", and that when he wished to deprive thepope of the institution ofbishops, "he was all the more culpable because he had had before him theerrors of the Constituent Assembly". This double judgment of the former Constitutionalbishop, later the emperor's minister of foreign affairs, will be accepted by posterity. By a strange destiny, this emperor who travelled all overEurope, and whose attitude towards theCatholic religion was in a measure inherited from the old Roman emperors, never set foot inRome; through himRome was for many years deprived of the presence of the remotest successor of St. Sylvester and ofLeo III; but the successor of Constantine and ofCharlemagne did not seeRome, andRome did not see him.
Chief Sources. Correspondence de Napoléon premier (1858 sqq.); Lecestre, Lettres inédites de Napoléon I (Paris, 1897); Oxx Euvres de Napoléon Bonaparte (Paris, 1822); Mémoires dictés a Sainte Hélène, ed. Lacroix (Paris, 1904); Las Casas, Mémorial de Sainte Hélène (London, 1853); Memoirs of Chateaubriand and Talleyrand.
General Works. Thiers, The Consulate and the Empire under Napoleon (tr. London, 1893); Allison, History of Europe from the commencement of the French Revolution to the restoration of the Bourbons (Edinburgh, 1849 1858); Rose, The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era (Cambridge, 1907); Hazlitt, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte (London, 1894); Watson, Napoleon, a Sketch of his Life (New York, 1902); Sloane, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte (New York, 1896); Taine, Modern Régime, tr. Durand (London, 1904); Levy, Napoléon intime (Paris, 1893; reprinted, Edinburgh, 1910); Masson, Napoléon dans sa jeunesse (Paris, 1907); Idem, Napoléon et sa famille (Paris, 1897 1907); Idem, Napoléon et son fils (Paris, 1904); Idem, Napoléon inconnu (Paris, 1895); Idem, Josephine empress and queen, tr. Hoey (London, 1899). In France Frédéric is now the foremost student of Napoleonic history. His numerous works are indispensable for a knowledge of the Empire.
Special Studies. His Religious Sentiments. Bourgine, Première communion et fin chrétienne de Napoléon (Tours, 1897); Fischer, Napoleon I, dessen Lebens und Charaktersbild mit besonderer Rücksicht auf seine Stelling zur christlichen Religion (Leipzig, 1904).
His Youth. Chuquet, La jeunesse de Napoléon (Paris, 1897 98); Browning, Boyhood and Youth of Napoleon, 1760 1793 (London, 1906).
The Coming of Napoleon. Vandal, Avènement de Bonaparte (Paris, 1902 1907).
Relations with England. Coquelle, Napoleon and England (1808 1813), tr. Knox (London, 1904); Levy, Napoléon et la paix (Paris, 1902); Wheeler and Broadley, Napoleon and the Invasion of England, the story of the Great Terror (London, 1908); Alger, Napoleon's British visitors and captives (Westminster, 1904); Grand Carteret, Napoléon en images, estampes anglaises (Paris, 1895); Ashton, English Caricature and Satire on Napoleon I (London, 1884).
Relations with Spain. DeGrandmaison, L'Espagne sous Napoléon (Paris, 1908).
The Divorce. Welschinger, Le divorce de Napoléon (Paris, 1889); Rineri, Napoleone e Pio VII (1804 1813); (Turin, 1906).
Relations with Russia. Vandal, Napoléon et Alexandre I (Paris, 1891 1894); De Ségur, Histoire de Napoléon et de la Grande Armée pendant l'année 1812, in the Nelson collection (Edinburgh, 1910).
The End. Wolseley, Decline and Fall of Napoleon (London, 1895); Rosebery, Napoleon, the Last Phase (London, 1900); Browning, Fall of Napoleon (London, 1907); Houssaye, 1814 (Paris, 1888); Idem, 1815 (Paris, 1893 99); Idem, Waterloo, tr. Mann (London, 1900); Seaton, Napoleon's captivity in relation to Sir Hudson Lowe (London, 1903).
Italian and Religious Policy. De Barral, Fragments relatifs à l'histoire ecclésiastique du 19ième siècle (Paris, 1814); DePradt, Les quatre concordats (Paris, 1818); Ricard, Correspondance diplomatique et papiers inédits du cardinal Maury (Paris, 1891).
Words of Erudition. Bouvier, Bonaparte en Italie: 1796 (Paris, 1899); Driault, Napoléon en Italie (Paris, 1906); D'Haussonville, L'église romaine et le premier empire (Paris, 1868); Welschinger, Le pape et l'empereur 1804 1815 (Paris, 1905); Rinieri, Napoleone e Pio VII, 1804 1813 (Turin, 1906); Madelin, La Rome de Napoléon: la domination française à Rome de 1809 à 1814 (Paris, 1906); Chotard, Le pape Pie VII à Savone (Paris, 1887); Destram, La déportation des pretres sous Napoléon I in Rev. Hist., XI (1879); De Lanzac de Laborie, Paris sous Napoleon: la religion (Paris, 1907); Lyonnet, Histoire de Mgr d'Aviau (Paris, 1847); Meric, Histoire de M. Emery (Paris, 1895); de Grandmaison, Napoléon et les Cardinaux noirs (1895); Caussette, Vie du Card. d'Astros (Paris, 1853); Guillaume, Vie épiscopale de Mgr d'Osmond (Paris, 1862); Marmottan, L'institution canonique et Napoléon I: l'archevêque d'Osmond à Florence in Revue Historique, LXXXVI (1904); see also bibliographies to Concordat of 1801; Articles, the Organic; Pius VI; Pius VII. For a fuller bibliography of the subject, consult Kirchheisen, Bibliographie de l'époque de Napoléon I (Paris, 1908); Davois, Bibliographie Napoléonienne française jusqu'en 1908; I (Paris, 1909); Rivista Napoleonica (1901 sqq.).
APA citation.Goyau, G.(1911).Napoleon I (Bonaparte). InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10687a.htm
MLA citation.Goyau, Georges."Napoleon I (Bonaparte)."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 10.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10687a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Mary Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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