CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Pius VI</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12131a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Pope who reigned from 1775 to 1799"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="12131a.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/p.htm">P</a> > Pope Pius VI</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Pope Pius VI</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>(G<font size=-2>IOVANNI</font> A<font size=-2>NGELICO</font> B<font size=-2>RASCHI</font>).</p> <p>Born at <a href="../cathen/03546b.htm">Cesena</a>, 27 December, 1717; elected 15 February, 1775; died at <a href="../cathen/15250a.htm">Valence, France</a>, 29 Aug., 1799. He was of a noble but impoverished <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a>, and was <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">educated</a> at the <a href="../cathen/14081a.htm">Jesuit</a> <a href="../cathen/04107b.htm">College</a> of <a href="../cathen/03546b.htm">Cesena</a> and studied <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">law</a> at <a href="../cathen/06046a.htm">Ferrara</a>. After a diplomatic mission to <a href="../cathen/10683a.htm">Naples</a>, he was appointed <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> secretary and canon of <a href="../cathen/13369b.htm">St. Peter's</a> in 1755. <a href="../cathen/04032a.htm">Clement XIII</a> appointed him treasurer of the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Roman Church</a> in 1766, and <a href="../cathen/04034a.htm">Clement XIV</a> made him a <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm">cardinal</a> in 1775. He then retired to the Abbey of <a href="../cathen/14321a.htm">Subiaco</a>, of which he was <a href="../cathen/04155b.htm">commendatory abbot</a>, until his election as Pius VI.</p> <p><a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>, <a href="../cathen/12297a.htm">Portugal</a>, and <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a> had at first combined to prevent his election, because he was believed to be a friend of the <a href="../cathen/14081a.htm">Jesuits</a>; he was well disposed towards the order, but he dared not <a href="../cathen/13007a.htm">revoke</a> the <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> of their <a href="../cathen/14096a.htm">suppression</a>. Still he ordered the liberation of their general, <a href="../cathen/13033a.htm">Ricci</a>, a <a href="../cathen/12430a.htm">prisoner</a> in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, but the general died before the <a href="../cathen/04670a.htm">decree</a> of liberation arrived. Upon the request of <a href="../cathen/06255a.htm">Frederick II</a> of <a href="../cathen/12519c.htm">Prussia</a> he permitted the <a href="../cathen/14081a.htm">Jesuits</a> to retain their <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">schools</a> in <a href="../cathen/12519c.htm">Prussia</a>; while in <a href="../cathen/13231c.htm">Russia</a>, he permitted an uninterrupted continuation of the order. Soon after his accession he took steps to root out the Gallican <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> supremacy which had been spread in <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a> by <a href="../cathen/07463a.htm">Hontheim</a> (<em>see</em> <a href="../cathen/06023a.htm">F<font size=-2>EBRONIANISM</font></a>. <a href="../cathen/08508b.htm">Joseph II</a> forbade the Austrian <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> to apply to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> for faculties of any kind, and <a href="../cathen/10453a.htm">suppressed</a> innumerable <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a>. Pius VI resolved to go to <a href="../cathen/15417a.htm">Vienna</a>; he left <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> on 27 Feb., 1782, and arrived in <a href="../cathen/15417a.htm">Vienna</a> on 22 March. The emperor received him respectfully, though the minister, <a href="../cathen/08611b.htm">Kaunitz</a>, neglected even the ordinary rules of etiquette. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> remained at <a href="../cathen/15417a.htm">Vienna</a> until 22 April, 1782. All that he obtained from the emperor was the promise that his <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> reforms would not contain any violation of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/05089a.htm">dogmas</a>, or compromise the dignity of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. The emperor accompanied the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> on his return as far as the Monastery of Mariabrunn, and <a href="../cathen/10453a.htm">suppressed</a> this <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> a few hours after the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> had left it. Scarcely had the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> reached <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> when he again saw himself compelled to protest against the emperor's unjustifiable confiscation of <a href="../cathen/12466a.htm">ecclesiastical property</a>. But when <a href="../cathen/08508b.htm">Joseph II</a> filled the vacant See of <a href="../cathen/10298a.htm">Milan</a> of his own authority, Pius solemnly protested, and it was probably at this occasion that he threatened the emperor with <a href="../cathen/05678a.htm">excommunication</a>. On 23 Dec., 1783, the emperor unexpectedly came to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> to return the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> visit. He was determined to continue his <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> reforms, and made known to the Spanish diplomat, Azara, his project of separating the German Church entirely from <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. The latter, however, dissuaded him from taking this fatal step. To avoid worse things, the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> granted him the right of nominating the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> in the Duchies of <a href="../cathen/10298a.htm">Milan</a> and Mantua, in a <a href="../cathen/04196a.htm">concordat</a> <a href="../cathen/04636c.htm">dated</a> 20 Jan., 1784 (see Nussi, "Conventiones de rebus ecclesiasticis et civilibus inter S. Sedem et civilem potestatem", Mainz, 1870, 138-9).</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Joseph's example was followed in <a href="../cathen/15103b.htm">Tuscany</a> by his brother, the Grand Duke Leopold II and Bishop Scipio Ricci of Pistoia. Here the antipapal reforms culminated in the <a href="../cathen/12116c.htm">Synod of Pistoia</a> in 1786, where the doctrines of <a href="../cathen/08285a.htm">Jansenius</a> and <a href="../cathen/12601c.htm">Quesnel</a> were sanctioned, and the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> supremacy was eliminated. In his <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> <a href="../cathen/02068b.htm">"Auctorem fidei"</a> of 28 Aug., 1794, the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> condemned the acts, and in particular eighty-five propositions of this synod. In <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a> the three <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> Electors of <a href="../cathen/09550a.htm">Mainz</a>, <a href="../cathen/15042a.htm">Trier</a>, and Cologne, and the <a href="../cathen/01691a.htm">Archbishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/13411b.htm">Salzburg</a> attempted to curtail the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> authority by convening a congress at Ems (q.v.). With <a href="../cathen/12297a.htm">Portugal</a> the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> relations became very friendly after the accession of Maria I in 1777, and a satisfactory <a href="../cathen/04196a.htm">concordat</a> was concluded in 1778 (Nussi, loc. cit., 138-39). In <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>, <a href="../cathen/13473b.htm">Sardinia</a>, and <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venice</a> the Governments to a great extent followed in the footsteps of <a href="../cathen/08508b.htm">Joseph II</a>. But the most sweeping anti-ecclesiastical reforms were carried out in the Two Sicilies. Ferdinand IV refused the <a href="../cathen/05707a.htm">exequatur</a> to all <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">papal briefs</a> that were obtained without the royal permission, and claimed the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">right</a> to <a href="../cathen/11093a.htm">nominate</a> all <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> beneficiaries. Pius VI refused to accept the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> that were nominated by the king and, as a result, there were in 1784 thirty vacant sees in the <a href="../cathen/10683a.htm">Kingdom of Naples</a> alone, which number had increased to sixty in 1798. The king, moreover, refused to acknowledge the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> suzerainty which had existed for eight hundred years. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> repeatedly made overtures, but the king persisted in nominating to all the vacant <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">sees</a>. In April, 1791, when more than half the sees in the <a href="../cathen/10683a.htm">Kingdom of Naples</a> were vacant, a temporary compromise was reached and in that year sixty-two vacant sees were filled (Rinieri, loc. cit., infra).</p> <p>In response to the <a href="../cathen/11777a.htm">application</a> of the <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> of the <a href="../cathen/15156a.htm">United States</a>, the <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> of April, 1788, erected the <a href="../cathen/02228a.htm">See of Baltimore</a>.</p> <p>Pius VI put the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> finances on a firmer basis; drained the marshy lands near Città della Pieve, <a href="../cathen/11736a.htm">Perugia</a>, <a href="../cathen/14232b.htm">Spoleto</a>, and Trevi; deepened the harbours of Porto d'Anzio and <a href="../cathen/14518c.htm">Terracina</a>; added a new <a href="../cathen/13322b.htm">sacristy</a> to the <a href="../cathen/13369b.htm">Basilica of St. Peter</a>; completed the Musee Pio-Clementino, and enriched it with many costly pieces of art; restored the Via Appia; and drained the greater part of the Pontine Marshes.</p> <p>After the <a href="../cathen/13009a.htm">French Revolution</a>, Pius rejected the "Constitution civile du clergé" on 13 March, 1791, suspended the <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priests</a> that accepted it, provided as well as he could for the banished <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a> and protested against the execution of Louis XVI. <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">France</a> retaliated by annexing the small <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> territories of <a href="../cathen/02158a.htm">Avignon</a> and Venaissin. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope's</a> co-operation with the Allies against the French Republic, and the <a href="../cathen/07441a.htm">murder</a> of the French attaché, Basseville, at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, brought on by his own fault, led to <a href="../cathen/10687a.htm">Napoleon's</a> attack on the <a href="../cathen/14257a.htm">Papal States</a>. At the Truce of Bologna (25 June, 1796) <a href="../cathen/10687a.htm">Napoleon</a> dictated the terms: twenty-one million francs, the release of all political criminals, free access of French ships into the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> harbours, the occupation of the Romagna by French troops etc. At the Peace of Tolentino (19 Feb., 1797) Pius VI was compelled to surrender <a href="../cathen/02158a.htm">Avignon</a>, Venaissin, <a href="../cathen/06046a.htm">Ferrara</a>, Bologna, and the Romagna; and to pay fifteen million francs and give up numerous costly works of art and <a href="../cathen/09614b.htm">manuscripts</a>. In an attempt to revolutionize <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> the French General Duphot was shot and killed, whereupon the French took <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> on 10 Feb., 1798, and proclaimed the Roman Republic on 15 Feb. Because the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> refused to submit, he was forcibly taken from <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> on the night of 20 Feb., and brought first to <a href="../cathen/13779a.htm">Siena</a> and then to Florence. At the end of March, 1799, though seriously ill, he was hurried to <a href="../cathen/11505a.htm">Parma</a>, <a href="../cathen/12069a.htm">Piacenza</a>, <a href="../cathen/15092d.htm">Turin</a>, then over the Alps to Briançon and Grenoble, and finally to <a href="../cathen/15250a.htm">Valence</a>, where he succumbed to his sufferings before he could be brought further. He was first buried at <a href="../cathen/15250a.htm">Valence</a>, but the remains were transferred to <a href="../cathen/13369b.htm">St. Peter's</a> in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> on 17 Feb., 1802 (see <a href="../cathen/10687a.htm">N<font size=-2>APOLEON</font> I</a>). His <a href="../cathen/13641b.htm">statue</a> in a kneeling position by <a href="../cathen/03298b.htm">Canova</a> was placed in the <a href="../cathen/13369b.htm">Basilica of St. Peter</a> before the <a href="../cathen/04558a.htm">crypt</a> of the <a href="../cathen/11744a.htm">Prince of the Apostles</a>.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes"><em>Bullarii Romani Continuatio,</em> ed. BARBERI (Rome, 1842 sq.), V-X; <em>Collectio Brevium atque Instructionem Pii Papæ VI quæ ad præsentes Gallicanarum ecclesiarum calamitates pertinent</em> (2 vols., Augsburg, 1796); <em>Acta Pii VI quibus ecclesia catholica calamitatibus in Gallia consultum est</em> (2 vols., Rome, 1871); BOURGOING, <em>Mémoires historiques et philosophiques sur Pie VI et son pontificat</em> (2 vols., Paris, 1900); GENDRY, <em>Pie VI. Sa vie, son pontificat 1777-99, d'après des archives vaticanes et de nombreux documents inédits</em> (2 vols., Paris, 1907); WOLF, <em>Gesch. der Kath. Kirche unter der Regierung Pius VI</em> (Zürich, 1793- 1802), 7 vols. (Josephinistic); BECCATINI, <em>Storia di Pio VI</em> (4 vols., Venice, 1801-02); FERRARI, <em>Vita Pii VI</em> (Padua, 1802); BERTRAND, <em>Le Pontificat de Pie VI et l'Athéisme Révolutionnaire</em> (2 vols., BarleDuc, 1879); SAMPSON, <em>Pius VI and the French Revolution</em> in <em>Amer. Cath. Quarterly Review</em> (New York, 1907), 220-40, 413-40, 601-31; <em>Pius VI</em> in <em>Catholic World,</em> XIX (New York, 1874), 755-64; TIEPOLI, <em>Relazioni sul conclave per la elezioni di papa Pio VI</em> (Venice, 1896); KÖNIG, <em>Pius VI und die Säkularisation, Program</em> (Kalksburg, 1900); SCHLITTER, <em>Pius VI und Joseph II von der Rückkehr des Papstes nach Rom bis zum Abschluss des Konkordats, ibid. II</em> (Vienna, 1894); CORDARA, <em>De profectu Pii VI ad aulam Viennensem ejusque causis et exitu commentarii,</em> ed. BOËRO (Rome, 1855); RINIERI, <em>Della rovina di una Monarchia, Relazioni storiche tra inediti dell' Archivo Vaticano</em> (Turin, 1910); BALDASSARI, <em>Histoire de l'enlèvement et de la captivité de Pie VI</em> (Paris, 1839), Ger. tr. STECK (Tübingen, 1844); MADELIN, <em>Pie VI et la première coalition</em> in <em>Revue des quest. hist.,</em> LXXXI (Paris, 1903), 1-32.</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Ott, M.</span> <span id="apayear">(1911).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Pope Pius VI.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12131a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Ott, Michael.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Pope Pius VI."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 12.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1911.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12131a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by WGKofron.</span> <span id="dedication">With thanks to St. Mary's Church, Akron, Ohio.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.</strong></center></td></tr></table><p align="center"><a href="../utility/contactus.htm">CONTACT US</a> | <a href="https://cleanmedia.net/p/?psid=491-308-20180429T2217479770">ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT</a></p></div> <ins class="CANBMDDisplayAD" data-bmd-ad-unit="30849120210203T1734389107AB67D35C03D4A318731A4F337F60B3E" style="display:block"></ins> <script src="https://secureaddisplay.com/au/bmd/"></script>  <ins class="CMAdExcludeArticles"></ins> </body> </html>