Yet another guest post by Dr. A. R. Wallace.

Henry VIII’s difficulties with Papal power are notorious. But few know that Napoleon Bonaparte had some problems of his own with the Pope. And he dealt with these problems in a far more aggressive fashion than the famous English king with six wives.

The French Revolution was a backlash against not only monarchy, but the Catholic church. The new popular government disestablished the Roman Catholic church, culminating in The law of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 1790. There was to be just one bishop for each Department, and in a radical move to democratize the church, the Bishop, like the priests, was to be elected by the people. Furthermore, all clergy were to swear allegiance to the state and king above the Pope. King Louis XVI delayed signing the law, hoping for concessions from Pope Pius VI that might have allowed a dilution of the bill, but eventually signed it on the day after Christmas, 1790.

The Pope repudiated any priests who obeyed the law, France recalled its ambassador to the Vatican, and the Papal Nuncio was recalled from Paris. Anti-Catholic feeling grew, and the revolutionary government, which had deposed the King in 1791, outlawed “ËœSunday’ (dimanche) and all Saint’s Days in 1793, shortly after executing the King. The French Republican Calendar was introduced, with its ten day weeks and ten hour days, but one day off in ten instead of one in seven was not at all popular, and not surprisingly the calendar was abandoned by 1795.

In 1796 French Republican troops under Bonaparte invaded Italy and defeated the papal army. Pius VI sued for peace, but in late December 1797 rioters killed the French Ambassador in Rome. The French marched on Rome, entered it unopposed, and proclaimed a Roman Republic in 1798. They demanded the Pope renounce his temporal authority— when he refused they took him prisoner, along with all his regal regalia. The regalia were melted down, and Pius VI died in captivity seven months later, on August 29, 1799.

Pius VI was embalmed, but not buried until 30 January 1800 as Napoleon attempted to bring the Catholic Church back into France. But no burial service was performed because there were no clergy acceptable to both church and state.

The new pope took the name Pius VII, and had to be crowned with a papier-mâché tiara because Napoleon’s troops had the genuine article, and the institution took place in Venice because the French held Rome. Pius VII and Napoleon Bonaparte continued skirmishing, but fortunately only with words: the Pope wanted the territories of the Papal States returned, while Napoleon wanted Vatican support for his rule. A compromise was eventually reached on all issues: the Papal States were returned in 1800, a covenant was negotiated in 1801, Pius VI was buried at Rome in 1802, and Pius VII attended Napoleon’s coronation in 1804, where he received a tiara with one of the stolen gems from the old collection.

But good relations did not last. The French invaded the Papal States again in 1808, and this time, Pius VII excommunicated Napoleon. This Pope was also captured by the French and remained a captive for more than six years until freed after British victories in Europe. The Papal States were restored, and Pius wrote letters urging leniency for Napoleon, who was eventually exiled to St. Helena in the south Atlantic. Napoleon died there in 1821, and Pius died in 1823.

That’s an anti-papal record that Henry VIII never came close to matching.

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