PIUS
133
PIUS
flict with Napoleon forced him out of office for several
years.
With no country was Pius VII more concerned dur- ing his reign than with France, where the revolution had destroyed the old order in religion no less than in poUtics. Bonaparte, as first consul, signified his readi- ness to enter into negotiations tending to the settle- ment of the religious question. These advances led to the conclusion of the historic Concordat of 1801, which for over a hundred years governed the relations of the French Church with Rome (on this compact; the jour- ney of Pius VII to Paris for the imperial coronation; his captivity and restoration, see Concordat; Con- SALVi; and Napoleon I). After the fall of Napoleon a new concordat was negotiated between Pius VII and Louis XVIII. It provided for an additional number of French bishoprics and abrogated the Organic Articles. But liberal and Galilean opposition to it was so strong that it could never be carried out. One of its objects was later realized when in 1822 the circumscription Bull "Paternffi Caritatis" erected thirty new episcopal sees.
At the Peace of Luncville in 1801, some German princes lost their hereditary rights and dominions through the cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France. When it became known that they contem- plated compensating their loss by the secularization of ecclesiastical lands, Pius VII instructed Dalberg, Elec- tor of Mainz, on 2 Oct., 1802, to use all his influence for the protection of the rights of the Church. Dalberg, however, displayed more ardour for his own advance- ment than zeal in the defence of religious interests, and the seizure of ecclesiastical property was permit- ted in 1803 by the Imperial Deputation at Ratisbon. The measure resulted in enormous loss for the Church, but the pope was powerless to resist its execution. The ecclesiastical reorganization of Germany now be- came a pressing need. Bavaria soon opened negotia- tions in view of a concordat and was shortly after fol- lowed by Wiirtemburg. But Rome would rather treat with the central imperial government than with indi- vidual states, and after the suppression of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Napoleon's aim was to obtain a uniform concordat for the whole Confederation of the Rhine. Subsequent events prevented any agree- ment before Napoleon's downfall. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) Consalvi in vain advocated the restoration of the former ecclesiastical organization. Soon after this event the individual German States separately entered into negotiations with Rome and the first concordat was concluded with Bavaria in 1817. In 1821 Pius VII promulgated in the Bull "De salute animarum" the agreement concluded with Prussia, and the same year another Bull, "Provida Solersque",made afresh distribution of dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine. An ar- rangement with Rome based on mutual concessions was likewise contemplated in England in regard to Irish ecclesiastical affairs, notably episcopal nomina- tions (the veto). The papal administration favoured the project the more readily seeing that common re- sistance to Napoleon had brought the Holy See and the British Government more closely together, and that it still stood in need of the assistance of English might and diplomacy. But Irish opposition to the scheme was so determined that nothing could be done, and the Irish clergy remained free from all state control. Similar freedom prevailed in the growing Church of the T'uitccl States, in which country Pius VII erected in LSOS the Dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Hardstown, with Baltimore as the metropolitan see. To these dioceses were added those of Charleston and Richmond in 1820, and that of Cincinnati in 1821.
One of the most remarkable .successes of his pontifi- cate was the restoration of the Pontifical States, se- cured at the Congress of Vienna by the papal represen-
Pius VII
, St. Peter's, Rome
tative Consalvi. Only a small strip of land remained
in the power of Austria, and this usurpation was pro-
tested. In the temporal administration of these states
some of the features making for uniformity and effi-
ciency introduced by the French were judiciously
retained, the feudal rights of the nobility were abol-
ished, and the ancient privileges of the municipali-
ties suppressed. Considerable opposition developed
against these measures, and the Carbonari even threat-
ened rebellion; but Consalvi had their leaders prose-
cuted and on 13
Sept., 1821, Pius
VII condemned
their principles.
Of a more serious
nature was the
revolution which
in 1820 broke out
in Spain and
which, owing to
its anticlerical
character, gave
great concern to
the papacy. It
restricted the au-
thority of ecclesi-
astical courts (26
Sept., 1830); de-
creed (23 Oct.)
the suppression
of a large number
of monasteries,
and prohibited
(14 April, 1821)
the forwarding of
financial contri-
butions to Rome.
It also secured the
appointment of Canon Villanueva, a public advocate of
the abolition of the papacy, as Spanish ambassador to
Rome, and, upon the refusal of Pius VII to accept him,
broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in
1823. This same year, however, the armed interven-
tion of France suppressed the revolution and King
Ferdinand VII repealed the anti-Catholic laws.
During the latter part of the reign of Pius VII, the prestige of the papacy was enhanced by the presence in Rome of several European rulers. The Emperor and Empress of Austria, accompanied by their daugh- ter, made an official visit to the pope in 1819. "The King of Naples visited Rome in 1821 and was followed in 1822 by the King of Prussia. The blind Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy, and King Charles IV of Spain and his queen, permanently resided in the Eternal City. Far more glorious to Pius VII personally is the fact that, after the downfall of his persecutor Napoleon, he gladly offered a refuge in his capital to the members of the Bonaparte family. Princess Letitia, the deposed emperor's mother, lived there; likewise did his broth- ers Lueien and Louis and his uncle. Cardinal Fesch. So forgiving was Pius that upon hearing of the severe captivity in which the imperial prisoner was held at St. Helena, he requested Cardinal Consalvi to plead for leniency with the Prince-Regent of England. When he was informed of Napoleon's desire for the ministrations of a Catholic priest, he sent him the Abbe Vignali as chaplain.
Under Pius's reign Rome was also the favourite abode of artists. Among these it suffices to cite the illustrious names of the Venetian Canova, the Dane Thorwaldsen, the Austrian Fiihrich, and the Germans Overbeck, Pforr, Schadow, and Cornelius. Pius VII added numerous manuscripts and jirinted volumes to the Vatican Library; reopened the English, Scottish, and German Colleges at Rome, and established new chairs in the Roman College. He reorganized theCon- gregation of the Propaganda, and condemned the Bible
