Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI reigned for nearly a quarter of a century and died a prisoner of the French Republic. Born Giovanni Angelo Braschi in Cesena in 1717, he trained in law, served as papal treasurer, and was made a cardinal in 1773. He was elected in 1775. His early pontificate was one of building and administration. He undertook the draining of the Pontine Marshes, an ancient project he pursued at great expense with partial success, restored the Appian Way, built the sacristy of St Peter's, and expanded the Vatican museums. He faced the Enlightenment reforms of Catholic monarchs. Joseph II of Austria dissolved contemplative monasteries, subjected seminaries to the state and restricted papal jurisdiction; Pius travelled to Vienna in person in 1782 — the first pope to leave Italy in centuries — and was received courteously and given nothing. The French Revolution destroyed him. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 1790 made bishops and priests elected salaried officials of the state and required an oath; Pius condemned it in 1791, which split the French church into juring and refractory clergy and made the papacy an enemy of the Revolution. Church lands were confiscated, Avignon annexed, and in 1796 Napoleon invaded Italy. The Treaty of Tolentino in 1797 stripped the Papal States of territory, money and art. After a French general was killed in Rome, French troops occupied the city in February 1798, proclaimed a republic, and demanded that Pius renounce temporal power. He refused and was carried off, moved repeatedly across Italy and into France despite illness, and died at Valence in August 1799.
- Lived: 1717 CE – 1799 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: pope, cleric
