Editing Pope Pius VII (section)

===Early life===
[[File:Pope Pius VII by Antonio Canova 1805, Albertinum, Dresden.jpg|thumb|upright|Pope Pius VII by [[Antonio Canova]] 1805, [[Albertinum]], Dresden]]
[[File:Cesena, casa natale di papa pio VII chiaramonti 01.JPG|thumb|left|140px|The birthplace of Pius VII]]
Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti was born in [[Cesena]] in 1742, the youngest son of [[Count]] Scipione Chiaramonti (30 April 1698 – 13 September 1750). His mother, Giovanna Coronata (? - 22 November 1777), was the daughter of the [[Marquess]] Ghini. Though his family was of noble status, they were not wealthy but rather, were of middle-class stock.

Barnaba attended the Collegio dei Nobili in [[Ravenna]] but decided to join the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] at the age of 14 on 2 October 1756 as a novice at the [[Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte]] in Cesena. Two years after this on 20 August 1758, he became a professed member and assumed the name of ''Gregorio''.<ref name=Montor>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bqgbUCHi8OkC&dq=Abbey+of+St+Maria+del+Monte&pg=PA538 Artaud de Montor, ''The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontifs, from St. Peter to Pius IX'', Volume 2, D. & J. Sadlier, 1866, p. 538]</ref> He taught at Benedictine colleges in [[Parma]] and [[Rome]], and was [[Holy orders (Catholic Church)|ordained]] a [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] on 21 September 1765.