PIUS
132
PIUS
the vacant sees. In April, 1791, when more than half
the sees in the Kingdom of Naples were vacant, a
temporary compromise was reached and in that year
sixty-two vacant sees were filled (Rinieri, loc. cit.,
infra).
In response to the application of the clergy of the United States, the Bull of April, 1789, erected the See of Baltimore (see Baltimore, Archdiocese of).
Pius VI put the papal finances on a firmer basis; drained the marshy lands near Citta della Pieve, Perugia, Spoleto, and Trevi; deepened the harbours of Porto d'Anzio and Terracina; added a new sacristy to the Basilica of St. Peter; completed the Museo Pio- Clementino, and enriched it with many costly pieces of art; restored the Via Appia; and drained the greater part of the Pontine Marshes.
After the French Revolution, Pius rejected the "Constitution civile du clerge" on 13 March, 1791, suspended the priests that accepted it, provided as well as he could for the banished clergy and protested against the execution of Louis XVI. France retaliated by annexing the small papal territories of Avignon and Venaissin. The pope's co-operation with the Allies against the French Republic, and the murder of the French attache, Basseville, at Rome, brought on by his own fault, led to Napoleon's attack on the Papal States. At the Truce of Bologna (25 June, 1796) Napoleon dictated the terms: twenty-one million francs, the release of all political criminals, free access of French ships into the papal harbours, the occupa- tion of the Romagna by French troops etc. At the Peace of Tolentino (19 Feb., 1797) Pius VI was com- pelled to surrender Avignon, Venaissin, Ferrara, Bo- logna, and the Romagna; and to pay fifteen million francs and give up numerous costly works of art and manuscripts. In an attempt to revolutionize Rome the French General Duphot was shot and killed, whereupon the French took Rome on 10 Feb., 1798, and proclaimed the Roman Republic on 15 Feb. Because the pope refused to submit, he was forcibly taken from Rome on the night of 20 Feb., and brought first to Siena and then to Florence. At the end of March, 1799, though seriously ill, he was hurried to Parma, Piacenza, Turin, then over the Alps to Briangon and Grenoble, and finally to Valence, where he succumbed to his sufferings before he could be brought further. He was first buried at Valence, but the remains were transferred to St. Peter's in Rome on 17 Feb., 1802 (see Napoleon I). His statue in a kneehng position by Canova was placed in the Basilica of St. Peter be- fore the crypt of the Prince of the Apostles.
BuUarii Romaiii Cuntinualio, ed. Barberi (Rome, 1842 sq.). V-X; CoUectio Brevium atque InslTuclionum Pii Pava VI qua ad prcEsentes Gallicanarum ecclesiarum calamitates pertinent (2 vols., Augsburg, 1796); Acta Pii VI quibus ecdesiir catholicn calami- tatibus in Gallia consultum est (2 vola., Rome, 1871); BotiRGOiNa. Memoires kistoriques et philosophiques sur Pie VI et son pontificat (2 vols., Paris, 1800) ; Gendrt, Pie VI. Sa vie, son pontificat 1 777- 99, d'apris les archives vaticanes et de nombreux documents inidits (2 vols., Paris, 1907); Wolf, Gesch. der Kath. Kirche unter der Regierung Pius VI (Zurich. 1793-1802). 7 vols. (Josephinistic) ; Beccatini, Storia di Pio VI (4 vols., Venice, 1801-02); Ferrari, Vita Pii VI (Padua, 1802); Bebtrand, Le Pontificat de Pie VI et VAthiisme Revolutionnaire (2 vols., Bar-le-Duc, 1879) ; Samp- son. Pius VI and the French Revolution in Amer. Calh. Quarterly Review (New York. 1906), 220-40. 413-40, 601-31; Pius VI in Catholic World, XIX (New York, 1874), 7,55-64: Tiepoli, Relazi- oni sul conclave per la elezione di papa Pio VI (Venice. 1896) ; K6NIG, Pius VI und die Sdkularisation, Program (Kalkaburg, 1900) ; SCHI-ITTEH. Pius VI und Joseph II von der Riickkehr des Papstes nach Rom bis zum Abschluss des Konkordats, ibid. II (Vienna, 1894); Cordaea, De profectu Pii VI ad aulam Viennen- sem ejusque causis et exitu commentarii, ed. BofiRO (Rome, 1855); Rinieri, Della rovina di una Monarchia. Relazioni storichc tra Pio VI e la Corte di Napoli negli anni 1776-99. secondo documenti inediti dell' Archivio Vaticano (Turin. 1910); Baldasbari. His- toire de V enlevement et de la captivili de Pie VI (Paris, 1839), Ger. tr. Steck (Tubingen, 1844); Madei.in, Pie VI el la premiire coalition in Revue des quest, hist., LXXXI (Paris. 1903), 1-32.
Michael Ott.
Pius VII, Pope (Barnaba Chiaramonti), b. at Cesena in the Pontifical States, 14 Aug., 1740; elected at Venice 14 March, 1800; d. 20 Aug., 1823. His
father was Count Scipione Chiaramonti, and his
mother, of the noble house of Ghini, was a lady of rare
piety who in 1763 entered a convent of Carmelites at
Fano. Here she foretold, in her son's hearing, as Pius
VII himself later related, his elevation to the papacy
and his protracted sufferings. Barnaba received his
early education in the college for nobles at Ravenna.
At the age of sixteen he entered the Benedictine mon-
astery of Santa Maria del Monte, near Cesena, where
he was called Brother Gregory. After the completion
of his philosophical and theological studies, he was
appointed professor at Parma and at Rome in colleges
of his order. He was teaching at the monastery of
San Callisto in the latter city at the accession of Pius
VI, who was a friend of the Chiaramonti family and
subsequently appointed Barnaba abbot of his monas-
tery. The appointment did not meet with the uni-
versal approbation of the inmates, and complaints
were soon lodged with the papal authority against the
new abbot. Investigation, however, proved the
charges to be unfounded, and Pius VI soon raised him
to further dignities. After conferring upon him suc-
cessively the Bishoprics of Tivoli
and Imola he created him cardinal
14 Feb., 1785. When in 1797 the
French invaded northern Italy,
Chiaramonti as Bishop of Imola
addressed to his flock the wise and
practical instruction to refrain from
useless resistance to the overwhelm-
ing and threatening forces of the
enemy. The town of Lugo refused
to submit to the invaders and was de- .
livered up to a pillage which had an ^"^ °^ ^"^ ^"
end only when the prelate, who had counselled subjec-
tion, suppliantly cast himself on his knees before Gen-
eral Augereau . That Chiaramonti could adapt himself
to new situations clearly appears from a Christmas
homily delivered in 1797, in which he advocates sub-
mission to the Cisalpine Republic, as there is no oppo-
sition between a democratic form of government and
the constitution of the Catholic Church. In spite of
this attitude he was repeatedly accused of treasonable
proceedings towards the republic, but always success-
fully vindicated his conduct.
According to an ordinance issued by Pius VI, 13 Nov., 1798, the city where the largest number of car- dinals was to be found at the time of his death was to be the scene of the subsequent election. In conformity with these instructions the cardinals met in conclave, after his death (29 Aug., 1799), in the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio at Venice. The place was agreeable to the emperor, who bore the expense of the election. Thirty-four cardinals were in attendance on the opening day, 30 Nov., 1799; to these was added a few days later Cardinal Herzan, who acted simul- taneously as imperial commissioner. It was not long before the election of Cardinal Bellisomi seemed assured. He was, however, unacceptable to the Austrian party, who favoured Cardinal Mattel. As neither candidate could secure a sufficient number of votes, a third name, that of Cardinal Gerdil, was pro- posed, but his election was vetoed by Austria. At last, after the conclave had lasted three months, some of the neutral cardinals, including Maury, suggested ChiarauKiiili as a suitable canilichite and, with the tactful support of the secretary- of the conclave, Ercole Consalvi, he was elected. The new pope was crowned as Pius VII on 21 March, 1800, at Venice. He then left this city in an Austrian vessel for Rome, where he made his solemn entry on 3 July, amid the universal joy of the populace. Of all-important consequence for his reign was the elevation on 11 Aug., 1800, of P>cole Consalvi, one of the greatest statesmen 0( the nineteenth century, to the college of cardinals and to the ollice of secretary of state. Consalvi retained to the end the confidence of the pope, although the coa-
