France had always been a predominantly Catholic country. Even though there were pockets of Huguenots throughout the country, the monarch of France was always Catholic. Even Henri VI (Henri of Navarre) who had fought for Protestantism converted to Catholicism so he could become king of France, stating “Paris is well worth a mass.”
During the French Revolution the Catholic Church lost most of its power and influence, no longer occupying the second estate of the Estates General. Church lands were confiscated, some of them going to peasant farmers. At the National Assembly, an anti-clerical legislation was adopted.
Napoleon and the Catholic Church
Napoleon was not a religious man, never professing a preference of Catholism or Protestantism.
“I do not see in religion the mystery of the Incarnation, but the mystery of the social order. Religion attaches to heaven an idea of equality which prevents the rich man from being murdered by the poor.” (May p.241).
An oath was asked by all clergy members, in which they renounced all claims to properties that were confiscated during the French Revolution. By 1800, the French clergy remained staunchly divided by who took the oath to Napoleon’s government and those who hadn’t. Napoleon, a brilliant strategist, recognized the influence and power the Catholic Church had over most of the citizens of France. He knew a united church would serve France better than a fragmented one.
Napoleon and Pope Pius VII
In 1801 Napoleon met with Pope Pius VII (1800 - 1823) to discuss the role of the church in France. The came to an agreement in which Napoleon would pay the clergy and nominate the bishops. In essence, the Concordat brought the church into secular matters, much the way it had been in the middle ages, before Pope Gregory VII made the first of many sweeping reforms.
Now the church clergy sand praises of Napoleon, even revising catechisms and prescribed prayers that taught that military service and payment of taxes were a sacred duty, not just a secular issue.
Napoleon is Excommunicated
While Napoleon was most pleased with the Concordat of 1801, Pope Pius was not. Eventually he excommunicated Napoleon. Napoleon in turn had the Pope imprisoned. This did not sit well with French Catholics- the very people Napoleon was trying to placate in the first place. Napoleon always claimed that the “Concordat of 1801 was my worst mistake.” (May p.241). He should have cut ties with the Vatican and embraced Calvinism and the Huguenots.
Sources:
Lang, Sean. European History For Dummies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, LTD. 2006.
May, Arthur J. A History of Civilization: Second Edition. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1964.
Mckay, Hill, Buckler. A History of World Societies: Volume II Since 1500. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1992.
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