Pius VII

Barnaba Chiaramonti was born in Cesena, in the Papal States, in 1742. From a family of provincial nobility, he entered the Benedictines very young and took his vows at the abbey of Santa Maria di Monte. There he pursued studies in philosophy and theology, taught in several monasteries, before being appointed bishop of Tivoli in 1782. Two years later, he was transferred to Imola, in Romagna. It was there that he weathered the revolutionary storm. French troops entered Italy in 1796; Napoleon Bonaparte imposed the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797. Romagna was annexed to the Cisalpine Republic. Chiaramonti, bishop of a diocese now under French administration, adopted a pragmatic stance: in his Christmas homily of 1797, he argued that Christian virtues were compatible with democracy. « Be good Christians and you will be good democrats. » The formula scandalised Rome; it nevertheless earned him the reputation of a moderate prelate, open to dialogue.

In 1798, French troops occupied Rome. Pope Pius VI was taken prisoner, deported to Valence where he died in August 1799. The Papacy seemed threatened with extinction. A conclave opened in Venice — the city under Austrian protection — in November 1799. The cardinals were divided: the « zelanti » refused any accommodation with the revolutionary powers; the « politicani » favoured a conciliatory policy. Chiaramonti was not a cardinal, but his reputation as the moderate bishop of Imola singled him out. The conclave dragged on; Austria and Spain exerted pressure. On 14 March 1800, on the seventy-fourth ballot, Chiaramonti was elected. He took the name Pius VII in homage to his martyred predecessor. He was fifty-eight.

Pius VII entered Rome in July 1800. The situation was dramatic: the Papal States were dismantled, ecclesiastical property confiscated in France and annexed territories. First Consul Bonaparte wished to normalise relations with the Church: most Frenchmen remained Catholic; a reconciliation would serve to consolidate the regime. Negotiations opened. Cardinal Consalvi, the Pope's Secretary of State, and Joseph Bonaparte represented the Holy See and France respectively. The Concordat was signed on 15 July 1801. The Catholic religion was recognised as that « of the majority of Frenchmen » — not as the state religion. Bishops were appointed by the First Consul, canonically invested by the Pope. The clergy swore an oath to the State. Confiscated property was not restored; instead, the government would ensure priests' salaries. Pius VII accepted a painful compromise: he consecrated the loss of ecclesiastical assets in exchange for official recognition of worship.

In 1804, Napoleon summoned the Pope to Paris for the imperial coronation. Pius VII hesitated — the Emperor's demands accumulated: he wanted the Pope to attend the ceremony, to crown Josephine. The Pope finally accepted. He left Rome in November, crossed the Alps, arrived at Fontainebleau then Paris. On 2 December 1804, in Notre-Dame Cathedral, the ceremony unfolded according to a carefully orchestrated script. Napoleon took the crown from the Pope's hands and crowned himself — a calculated gesture to assert that power emanated from the Emperor and not the Holy See. Pius VII blessed the crowns, anointed the brows of Napoleon and Josephine. He was present, but his role was diminished. David's painting immortalised the scene: the Pope, seated, hands on knees, seemed resigned.

Relations deteriorated rapidly. In 1806, Napoleon occupied the Papal States — French troops entered Ancona, then Rome. The Pope refused to join the Continental Blockade and close his ports to the English. In 1808, imperial troops seized Rome; the Papal States were annexed to the Empire in 1809. Pius VII excommunicated Napoleon and the authors of the annexation by a bull of 10 June 1809. The response was brutal: on 6 July, General Radet abducted the Pope from the Quirinal Palace. Pius VII was taken to Savona, in Liguria.

At Savona, the Pope was held in the bishop's palace, isolated from the world. Napoleon demanded that he renounce his temporal power, that he settle in France, that he consecrate bishops appointed by the Emperor without canonical investiture. Pius VII refused. He signed nothing. The cardinals who accompanied him were dispersed; his correspondence was censored. In 1811, a national council met in Paris — without the Pope. Napoleon tried to obtain from the French clergy a declaration limiting pontifical prerogatives. The council resisted; several bishops were arrested. Pius VII, weakened, ill, still refused to yield.

In June 1812, on the eve of the Russian campaign, Napoleon had the Pope transferred to Fontainebleau. The journey, arduous, lasted several weeks. Pius VII arrived exhausted at the château. In January 1813, Napoleon imposed a new Concordat on him — the Concordat of Fontainebleau — which drastically limited the Pope's powers. Pius VII, under pressure and exhaustion, signed. But on 24 March, he retracted his agreement in a secret letter. « Everything I have done since 25 January, I did under duress. » The retraction became known. Napoleon fulminated; the Pope remained a captive. The situation only changed with the fall of the Empire.

In January 1814, the Coalition invaded France. Napoleon, cornered, freed Pius VII. On 23 January, the Pope left Fontainebleau under Austrian escort. He crossed Burgundy, reached Savoy, then Italy. On his passage through Rome, the crowd acclaimed him. The Congress of Vienna restored the Papal States to the Holy See. Pius VII returned to Rome on 24 May 1814 — after five years' absence. He was welcomed as a martyr and a victor. His resistance to Napoleon had restored prestige to the Papacy.

The final years of his pontificate were marked by the restoration of ecclesiastical institutions and a policy of prudence towards the liberal movements shaking Europe. Pius VII re-established the Society of Jesus in 1814 — the Jesuits had been suppressed in 1773. He strengthened ties with the restored monarchies. In 1815, during the Hundred Days, he refused to recognise Napoleon's return; he left Rome for a few months and took refuge in Genoa. After Waterloo, he welcomed the Bonapartes in exile with a certain benevolence: Queen Hortense, Madame Mère, Pauline. Lucien Bonaparte, protected by the Pope, settled in Rome.

Pius VII died at the Quirinal on 20 August 1823, aged eighty-one. His pontificate — twenty-three years — ranks among the longest in history. He had lived through the Revolution, the Empire, the Restoration. His figure embodies spiritual resistance to temporal power: the pastor who refuses to bow before the conqueror, even at the price of captivity. Canova sculpted his recumbent effigy for St Peter's Basilica; the Pope's hand, outstretched, seems to still bless. Collective memory retains the image of the Sovereign Pontiff facing Napoleon — humble in appearance, unshakeable in faith.