Head of the Catholic Church from 1775 to 1799
Pope Pius VI
(
Italian
:
Pio VI
; born
Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi
, 25 December 1717 – 29 August 1799) was head of the
Catholic Church
and ruler of the
Papal States
from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799.
[2]
[3]
Pius VI condemned the
French Revolution
and the suppression of the
Catholic Church in France
that resulted from it. French troops commanded by
Napoleon Bonaparte
defeated the Papal army and occupied the
Papal States
in 1796. In 1798, upon his refusal to renounce his temporal power, Pius was taken prisoner and transported to France. He died eighteen months later in
Valence
. His reign of over two decades is the
fifth-longest
in papal history.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
Giovanni Angelo Braschi was born in
Cesena
on
Christmas Day
in 1717 as the eldest of eight children to Count Marco Aurelio Tommaso Braschi and Anna Teresa
Bandi
. His siblings were Felice Silvestro, Giulia Francesca, Cornelio Francesco, Maria Olimpia, Anna Maria Costanza, Giuseppe Luigi and Maria Lucia Margherita. His maternal grandmother was Countess
Cornelia Zangheri Bandi
. His uncle was Cardinal
Giovanni Carlo Bandi
.
[4]
He was baptized in Cesena two days later on 27 December and was given the baptismal name of Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio.
[5]
After completing his studies in the
Jesuit
college of Cesena and receiving his doctorate of both
canon
and civil law in 1734, Braschi continued his studies at the
University of Ferrara
.
[6]
The priest
[
edit
]
Braschi became the private secretary of
papal legate
Cardinal
Tommaso Ruffo
,
Bishop of Ostia and Velletri
. Cardinal Ruffo took him as his
conclavist
at the
1740 papal conclave
and when the latter became the
Dean of the College of Cardinals
in 1740, Braschi was appointed as his
auditor
, a post he held until 1753.
[7]
His skill in the conduct of a mission to the
court of Naples
won him the esteem of
Pope Benedict XIV
.
[7]
In 1753, following the death of Cardinal Ruffo, Benedict appointed Braschi one of his own secretaries.
[8]
In 1755, the pope appointed him as a
canon
of St Peter's Basilica.
In 1758, putting an end to an engagement to be married, Braschi was ordained to the priesthood. He was also appointed in 1758
Referendary
of the
Apostolic Signatura
and held that position until the following year. He also became the auditor and secretary to Cardinal
Carlo Rezzonico
, the nephew of
Pope Clement XIII
. In 1766, Clement XIII appointed Braschi treasurer of the
camera apostolica
.
[8]
The cardinal
[
edit
]
Braschi was a conscientious administrator, which was not good news for some. The latter managed to convince
Pope Clement XIV
to curb his zeal by promoting him to the cardinalate and accordingly on 26 April 1773 he was made Cardinal-Priest of
Sant'Onofrio
.
[9]
For a brief period of time this rendered him innocuous to the less scrupulous. Left without any specific task, he retired to the
Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Subiaco
, of which he was
commendatory abbot
.
[6]
Papacy
[
edit
]
Papal election
[
edit
]
Pope Clement XIV died in 1774 and in the ensuing conclave to choose a successor,
Spain
,
France
and
Portugal
dropped all objections to the election of Braschi, who was one of the more moderate opponents of the anti-
Jesuit
stance of the late pope.
[7]
Braschi received support from those who disliked the Jesuits but believed he would continue the policy of Clement XIV and maintain the provisions of Clement's brief
Dominus ac Redemptor
(1773) which had dissolved the order. On the other hand, the pro-Jesuit
Zelanti
faction believed him to be secretly sympathetic towards the order and expected him to remedy the wrongs the Jesuits suffered in the previous pontificate. These various expectations would face Braschi after his election with the virtual impossibility of satisfying either side.
[7]
Cardinal Braschi was elected pope on 15 February 1775 and took the name "Pius VI". He was consecrated bishop on 22 February 1775 by Cardinal
Gian Francesco Albani
and was
crowned
that same day by the Cardinal
Protodeacon
Alessandro Albani
.
First actions
[
edit
]
Pius VI first opened a
jubilee
his predecessor had already convoked, the 1775 Jubilee Year.
[
citation needed
]
The early acts of Pius VI gave fair promise of reformist rule and tackled the problem of corruption in the
Papal States
. He reprimanded Prince Potenziani, the governor of Rome, for failing to adequately deal with corruption in the city, appointed a council of cardinals to remedy the state of the finances and relieve the pressure of
imposts
, called to account
Nicolo Bischi
for the spending of funds intended for the purchase of grain, reduced the annual disbursements by denying pensions to many prominent people, and adopted a reward system to encourage agriculture.
[
citation needed
]
Society of Jesus
[
edit
]
Upon his election, Pius VI ordered the release of
Lorenzo Ricci
,
Superior General of the Society of Jesus
, who was held prisoner in the
Castel Sant'Angelo
, but Ricci died before the decree of liberation arrived.
[6]
It is perhaps due to Pius VI that the Jesuits managed to escape dissolution in
White Ruthenia
and
Silesia
.
In 1792, the pope considered the universal re-establishment of the
Society of Jesus
as a bulwark against the ideas of the
French Revolution
, but did not carry this through.
[10]
Gallican and Febronian protests
[
edit
]
Besides facing dissatisfaction with this temporising policy, Pius VI also faced elements of
Enlightenment
thinking which sought to limit papal authority.
Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim
, since 1749 bishop of Myriophiri
in partibus
and auxiliary bishop and vicar-general to the archbishop-
elector of Mainz
, wrote under the pseudonym of "Febronius", expounding
Gallican
ideas of national Catholic Churches. Although Hontheim was himself induced (not without public controversy) publicly to retract his positions, they were nevertheless adopted in
Austria
. There the social and ecclesiastical reforms which had been undertaken by Emperor
Joseph II
and his minister
Kaunitz
, as a way of influencing appointments within the Catholic hierarchy, were seen as such a threat touched to papal authority that Pius VI adopted the exceptional course of travelling in person to
Vienna
.
[11]
[7]
The Pope set out from Rome on 27 February 1782 and,
[6]
though magnificently received by the Emperor, his mission proved a failure. Nevertheless, not many years later he did succeed in curbing the attempts of several German
archbishops
at the
Congress of Ems
in 1786 to win greater independence.
[7]
Liberal opposition
[
edit
]
In the
Kingdom of Naples
the liberal minister
Bernardo Tanucci
agitated for certain concessions regarding
feudal homage
due to the papacy and some concessions were made. More serious disagreements arose with
Leopold II
, later emperor, and
Scipione de' Ricci
,
bishop of Pistoia and Prato
, upon the questions of proposed liberal reforms to the Church in the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
. The papal bull
Auctorem fidei
, issued on 28 August 1794, is a condemnation of the Gallican and
Jansenist
propositions and tendencies of the
Synod of Pistoia
(1786).
[7]
Other activities
[
edit
]
On 17 August 1775, Pope Pius VI promulgated with a Papal Decree the authenticity of
Our Lady of ?iluva
.
[12]
Pius VI saw the development of the Catholic Church in the
United States of America
. He released the American clergy from the jurisdiction of the
Vicar Apostolic
in England,
[13]
and erected the first American episcopal see, the
Diocese of Baltimore
in November 1789.
Pius VI elevated 73 cardinals in 23 consistories. He canonized no saints during his pontificate but beatified a total of 39 individuals that included
Lawrence of Brindisi
and
Amato Ronconi
.
The pope also set the Papal States' finances on much steadier ground. Pius is best remembered in connection with the expansion of the
Pio-Clementine Museum
, which was begun at the suggestion of his predecessor
Clement XIV
; and with an attempt to drain the
Pontine Marshes
,
[7]
but Pius VI did successfully drain the marshes near
Citta della Pieve
,
Perugia
, and
Spoleto
. He also restored the
Via Appia
.
[11]
Pius VI also deepened and expanded the harbors of
Terracina
and Porto d'Anzio, a major center of Pontifical trade. Pius was a great patron of the arts and humanities; he also added a new sacristy to
Saint Peter's Basilica
.
[6]
French Revolution
[
edit
]
At the outbreak of the
French Revolution
in 1789, Pius VI witnessed the suppression of the old
Gallican Church
as well as the confiscation of pontifical and ecclesiastical possessions in France. He saw the events as a sign of opposition against the social order ordained by God and also viewed it as a conspiracy against the church. The pope condemned both the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
and the
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
and supported a league against the revolution. He issued two briefs ?
Quod aliquantum
(1791) and
Caritas
(1791) ? to condemn the ecclesiastical reforms that were proposed.
1791 marked the end of diplomatic relations with France and the papal
nuncio
, Antonio Dugnani, was recalled to Rome as a result.
[5]
One of the reasons for the breach was the seizure by the revolutionaries of the
Comtat Venaissin
, ending 516 years of Papal rule in Avignon.
King
Louis XVI of France
was
executed
via
guillotine
on 21 January 1793, and his daughter
Marie Therese
petitioned Rome for the canonization of her father. Pius VI hailed the late king as a martyr on 17 June 1793 in a meeting with cardinals, giving hope to a potential possibility of sainthood. In 1820, two decades following the death of Pius VI, the
Congregation of Rites
put an end to the possible sainthood since it was impossible to prove the king died for religious reasons rather than political ones. Pius VI argued that the main thrust of the revolution was against the Catholic religion and Louis XVI himself.
[14]
He also wrote that the French revolutionaries abolished "the monarchy, the best of all governments".
[15]
[16]
Arrest and death under Napoleon
[
edit
]
In 1796,
French Republican
troops under the command of
Napoleon Bonaparte
invaded Italy and defeated the Papal troops. The French occupied
Ancona
and
Loreto
. Pius VI sued for peace which was granted at
Tolentino
on 19 February 1797; but on 28 December 1797, in a riot blamed by papal forces on some Italian and French revolutionists, the popular brigadier-general Mathurin-
Leonard Duphot
, who had gone to Rome with
Joseph Bonaparte
as part of the French embassy, was killed and a new pretext was furnished for invasion.
[7]
General
Louis-Alexandre Berthier
marched to Rome, entered it unopposed on 10 February 1798, and, proclaiming a
Roman Republic
, demanded of the pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.
[7]
Upon his refusal, Pius was taken prisoner,
[11]
and on 20 February was escorted from the Vatican to
Siena
, and thence to the
Certosa
near
Florence
. The French declaration of war against
Tuscany
led to his removal (he was escorted by the Spaniard
Pedro Gomez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador
) by way of
Parma
,
Piacenza
,
Turin
and
Grenoble
to the citadel of
Valence
, the chief town of
Drome
where he died six weeks after his arrival, on 29 August 1799,
[7]
having then
reigned longer than any pope since Saint Peter
.
Pius VI's body was embalmed, but was not buried until 30 January 1800 after
Napoleon
saw political advantage to burying the deceased Pope in efforts to bring the Catholic Church back into France. His entourage insisted for some time that his last wishes were to be buried in Rome, then behind the Austrian lines. They also prevented a
Constitutional
bishop from presiding at the burial, as the laws of France then required, so no burial service was held. This return of the
investiture
conflict was settled by the
Concordat of 1801
.
Pius VI's body was removed from Valence on 24 December 1801 and buried at Rome 19 February 1802, when Pius VI was given a Catholic funeral, attended by
Pope Pius VII
, his successor.
Reburial
[
edit
]
By decree of
Pope Pius XII
in 1949, the remains of Pius VI were moved to the Chapel of the Madonna below St. Peter's in the
Vatican Grottoes
. His remains were placed in an ancient marble sarcophagus. The inscription on the wall above the container reads:
"The mortal remains of Pius VI, consumed in unjust exile,
by order of Pius XII were placed fittingly here
and decorated by a marble ornament most excellent for its art and history
in 1949".
Representation in literature
[
edit
]
A long audience with Pius VI is one of the most extensive scenes in the
Marquis de Sade
's narrative
Juliette
, published in 1798. Juliette shows off her learning to the Pope (whom she most often addresses as "Braschi") with a verbal catalogue of alleged immoralities committed by his predecessors.
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"The Wind was too Strong"
. Rome Art Lover
. Retrieved
12 February
2014
.
- ^
Many sources indicate that he was born on 27 December 1717 but this is actually the date of his baptism, cf. Pastor, XXXIX, p. 22.
- ^
Eamon Duffy
,
Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes
, (Yale University Press, 2001), 254.
- ^
Pope History website,
Pope Pius VI
- ^
a
b
Miranda, Salvador.
"Braschi, Giovanni Angelo (1717?1799)"
. Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
. Retrieved
14 April
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Ott, Michael (1911).
"Pope Pius VI"
. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
Catholic Encyclopedia
. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company
. Retrieved
30 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Pius
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^
a
b
Eamon Duffy,
Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes
, 251.
- ^
McBrien, Richard P. (1997).
Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI
. San Francisco: HarperCollins. p.
328
.
ISBN
978-0060653033
.
- ^
"Braschi, Giovanni Angelo (1717?1799)"
. Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
. Retrieved
14 April
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Pope Pius VI"
. Berkley Center, Georgetown University. Archived from
the original
on 27 January 2019
. Retrieved
30 May
2018
.
- ^
"
'Envoy Named for Centenary of Lithuania Apparitions',
Zenit
"
. 22 August 2008. Archived from
the original
on 1 June 2018
. Retrieved
29 May
2018
.
- ^
"
'Pope Pius VI'. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 2 June 2017"
.
- ^
"Pius VI: Quare Lacrymae"
. 29 January 2015
. Retrieved
20 April
2015
.
- ^
Pius VI,
Pourquoi Notre Voix
- ^
Coulombe, Charles A. (2003).
A History of the Popes: Vicars of Christ
. MJF Books. p. 392.
- ^
de Sade, Marquis (2007).
Juliette
. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic.
ISBN
9780802199027
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Browne-Olf, Lillian.
Their Name Is Pius
(1941) pp 3?58
online
- Collins, Jeffrey.
Papacy and politics in eighteenth-century Rome: Pius VI and the arts
(Cambridge University Press, 2004).
- Hales, E.E.Y.
Revolution and Papacy, 1769?1846
(Hanover House, 1960).
- Pastor, Ludwig von
, 1952.
The History of the Popes from the close of the Middle Ages,
(St. Louis : Herder) vols.
XXXIX
and
XL
.
- Sampson, Donat.
"Pius VI and the French Revolution,”
The American Catholic Quarterly Review
31, January ? October 1906;
Part II
, Ibid., p. 413;
Part III
, p. 601;
Part IV
and Ibid., Vol. 32, N°. 125, p. 94, January 1907;
Part V
, Ibid., p. 313.
- Souvay, Charles L. "The French Papal States during the Revolution."
Catholic Historical Review
8.4 (1923): 485?496.
online
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
1st?4th centuries
| |
---|
5th?8th centuries
| |
---|
9th?12th centuries
| |
---|
13th?16th centuries
| |
---|
17th?21st centuries
| |
---|
History of the papacy
| |
---|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|