Pius VII

Pius VII (1742-1823), pope (1800-1823), who struggled with Napoleon to preserve the traditional prerogatives of the church, which he largely succeeded in restoring after Napoleon's downfall. Born Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti in Cesena, Italy, he became a member of the Benedictines and was made an abbot and cardinal by his relative Pius VI. Soon after his election as pope he negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with Napoleon's government (see Concordat), by the terms of which the church was reestablished in France. In 1804 Pius anointed Napoleon in the ceremony in which the latter declared himself Emperor Napoleon I, but relations between the two deteriorated as Napoleon sought increased control over the French church, leading to the breaking off of diplomatic relations between France and the Papal States. In 1809 Napoleon decreed the Papal States a part of the French Empire and took Pius prisoner, keeping him in Savona, Italy, and later in Fontainebleau, France. The pontiff courageously resisted Napoleon's efforts to make him exercise papal authority in the emperor's political behalf. Indeed, his steadfast resistance to Napoleon did much to restore the prestige and moral stature of the papacy. Pius did not return to the Vatican until the spring of 1814, when military setbacks convinced Napoleon to free him. He subsequently repealed much of the legislation enacted under French occupation, restored the Jesuits, revived the Inquisition, and suppressed the Carbonari, a liberal secret society.