Editing Pope Pius VI

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1775 to 1799}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Pius VI
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image = Pompeo Batoni - Ritratto di Papa Pio VI (National Gallery of Ireland).jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Pompeo Batoni]], 1775
| birth_name = Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio Braschi
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 15 February 1775
| term_end = 29 August 1799
| predecessor = [[Clement XIV]]
| successor = [[Pius VII]]
| ordination = 1758
| ordinated_by = 
| consecration = 22 February 1775
| consecrated_by = [[Gian Francesco Albani]]
| cardinal = 26 April 1773
| created_cardinal_by = [[Clement XIV]]
| rank = 
| previous_post = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Apostolic Signatura|Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura]] (1758–1759)
* [[Apostolic Camera|General Treasurer of the Apostolic Camera]] (1766–1773)
* Commendatory Abbot of Santa Maria di Valdiponte (1767–1773)
* [[Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Subiaco|Commendatory Abbot of Subiaco]] (1773–1798)
* [[Sant'Onofrio (Rome)|Cardinal-Priest of Sant’Onofrio]] (1773–1775)
}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1717|12|25}}
| birth_place = [[Cesena]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1799|8|29|1717|12|25}}
| death_place = [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]], [[French First Republic|French Republic]]
| motto = ''Floret in Domo Domini'' (It blossoms in the house of God)<ref>{{cite web|title=The Wind was too Strong|url=http://romeartlover.tripod.com/PiusVI.html|publisher=Rome Art Lover|access-date=12 February 2014}}</ref>
| coat_of_arms = C o a Pius VI.svg
| signature = Signature of Pope Pius VI.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| other = Pius
}}

'''Pope Pius VI''' ({{langx|it|Pio VI}}; born '''Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio''' called '''Giovanni Angelo''' or '''Giannangelo Braschi''', 25 December 1717{{spnd}}29 August 1799) was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799.<ref>Many sources indicate that he was born on 27 December 1717 but this is actually the date of his baptism, cf. Pastor, XXXIX, p. 22.</ref><ref>[[Eamon Duffy]], ''Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes'', (Yale University Press, 2001), 254.</ref>

Pius VI condemned the [[French Revolution]] and the suppression of the [[Catholic Church in France]] that resulted from it. French troops commanded by [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] defeated the Papal army and occupied the [[Papal States]] in 1796. In 1798, upon his refusal to renounce his temporal power, Pius was taken prisoner and transported to France. He died eighteen months later in [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]]. His reign of more than twenty-four years is the [[Longest-reigning popes|fifth-longest]] in papal history. He was also the longest-ruling pope of the Papal States.

==Biography==
[[File:IOANNES ANGELUS BRASCHIUS.jpg|thumb|160px|Cardinal Braschi c. 1773]]

===Early years===
Giovanni Angelo Braschi was born in [[Cesena]] on [[Christmas|Christmas Day]] in 1717 as the eldest of eight children to Count Marco Aurelio Tommaso Braschi and Anna Teresa. His uncle was Cardinal [[Giovanni Carlo Bandi]].<ref>[https://popehistory.com/popes/pope-pius-vi/ Pope History website, ''Pope Pius VI'']</ref> His nephew was [[Romoaldo Braschi-Onesti]], the penultimate [[cardinal-nephew]].  

Braschi was baptized in Cesena two days later on 27 December and was given the baptismal name of Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio.<ref name=Miranda>{{cite web|last=Miranda|first=Salvador |title = Braschi, Giovanni Angelo (1717–1799)|url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1773-iii.htm|publisher=Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|access-date=14 April 2015}}</ref> After completing his studies in the [[Jesuit]] college of Cesena and receiving his doctorate of both [[Canon law|canon]] and civil law in 1734, Braschi continued his studies at the [[University of Ferrara]].<ref name=Ott>{{catholic|title=Pope Pius VI|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12131a.htm|last=Ott|first=Michael|volume=12|access-date=30 May 2018|inline=1}}</ref>

===The priest===
Braschi became the private secretary of [[papal legate]] [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] [[Tommaso Ruffo]], [[bishop of Ostia|Bishop of Ostia and Velletri]]. Cardinal Ruffo took him as his [[conclavist]] at the [[1740 papal conclave]] and when the latter became the [[Dean of the College of Cardinals]] in 1740, Braschi was appointed as his [[auditor (ecclesiastical)|auditor]], a post he held until 1753.<ref name=EB1911/>

Braschi's skill in the conduct of a mission to the [[Kingdom of Naples|court of Naples]] won him the esteem of [[Pope Benedict XIV]].<ref name=EB1911/> In 1753, following the death of Cardinal Ruffo, Benedict appointed Braschi one of his own secretaries.<ref name=Duffy>Eamon Duffy, ''Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes'', 251.</ref> In 1755, the pope appointed him as a [[canon (priest)|canon]] of St Peter's Basilica.

In 1758, putting an end to an engagement to be married, Braschi was ordained to the priesthood. He was also appointed in 1758 [[Referendary]] of the [[Apostolic Signatura]] and held that position until the following year. He also became the auditor and secretary to  Cardinal [[Carlo Rezzonico (cardinal)|Carlo Rezzonico]], the nephew of [[Pope Clement XIII]]. In 1766, Clement XIII appointed Braschi treasurer of the [[camera apostolica]].<ref name=Duffy/>

===The cardinal===
Braschi was a conscientious administrator, which was not good news for some. The latter managed to convince [[Pope Clement XIV]] to curb his zeal by promoting him to the cardinalate and accordingly on 26 April 1773 he was made Cardinal-Priest of [[Sant'Onofrio, Rome|Sant'Onofrio]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard P. |last=McBrien |title=Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI |location=San Francisco |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofpopespont00mcbr/page/328 328] |isbn=978-0060653033 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/livesofpopespont00mcbr }}</ref>  For a brief period of time this rendered him innocuous to the less scrupulous. Left without any specific task, Braschi retired to the [[Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Subiaco]], of which he was [[commendatory abbot]].<ref name=Ott/>

==Papacy==
===Papal election===
{{main|Papal conclave, 1774–1775}}
{{Infobox popestyles
|image      = C o a Pius VI.svg
|dipstyle   = [[His Holiness]]
|offstyle   = Your Holiness
|relstyle   = Holy Father
|deathstyle = None
|}}
Pope Clement XIV died in 1774 and in the ensuing conclave to choose a successor, [[History of Spain (1700-1808)|Spain]], [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]] dropped all objections to the election of Braschi, who was one of the more moderate opponents of the anti-[[Jesuit]] stance of the late pope.<ref name=EB1911/>

Braschi received support from those who disliked the Jesuits and believed he would continue the policy of Clement XIV and maintain the provisions of  Clement's brief ''[[Dominus ac Redemptor]]'' (1773) which had dissolved the order. On the other hand, the pro-Jesuit [[Zelanti]] faction believed him to be secretly sympathetic towards the order and expected him to remedy the wrongs the Jesuits suffered in the previous pontificate. These various expectations would face Braschi after his election with the virtual impossibility of satisfying either side.<ref name=EB1911/>

Cardinal Braschi was elected pope on 15 February 1775 and took the name "Pius VI". He was consecrated bishop on 22 February 1775 by Cardinal [[Gian Francesco Albani]] and was [[Papal coronation|crowned]] that same day by the Cardinal [[Protodeacon]] [[Alessandro Albani]].

===First actions===
[[Image:branschi-onesti.jpg|thumb|left|155px|Pius VI elevated Romualdo Braschi-Onesti as the penultimate [[cardinal-nephew]].]]

Pius VI first opened a [[Jubilee in the Catholic Church|jubilee]] his predecessor had already convoked, the 1775 Jubilee Year.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The early acts of Pius VI gave fair promise of reformist rule and tackled the problem of corruption in the [[Papal States]]. He reprimanded Prince Potenziani, the governor of Rome, for failing to adequately deal with corruption in the city, appointed a council of cardinals to remedy the state of the finances and relieve the pressure of [[Tax#Tariff|imposts]], called to account [[Nicolò Bischi]] for the spending of funds intended for the purchase of grain, reduced the annual disbursements by denying pensions to many prominent people, and adopted a reward system to encourage agriculture.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

===Society of Jesus===
Upon his election, Pius VI ordered the release of [[Lorenzo Ricci]], [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]], who was held prisoner in the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], but Ricci died before the decree of liberation arrived.<ref name=Ott/> It is perhaps due to Pius VI that the Jesuits managed to escape dissolution in [[White Ruthenia]] and [[Silesia]].
In 1792, the pope considered the universal re-establishment of the [[Society of Jesus]] as a bulwark against the ideas of the [[French Revolution]], but  did not carry this through.<ref>{{cite web|title = Braschi, Giovanni Angelo (1717–1799)|url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1773-iii.htm|publisher=Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|access-date=14 April 2015}}</ref>

===Gallican and Febronian protests===
[[File:Pius VI, Pont.Max. engraving BNF Gallica.jpg|thumb|170px|right|Pius VI]]
Besides facing dissatisfaction with this temporising policy, Pius VI also faced elements of [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinking which sought to limit papal authority. [[Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim]], since 1749 bishop of Myriophiri ''in partibus'' and auxiliary bishop and vicar-general to the archbishop-[[elector of Mainz]], wrote under the pseudonym of "Febronius", expounding [[Gallicanism|Gallican]] ideas of national Catholic Churches. Although Hontheim was himself induced (not without public controversy) publicly to retract his positions, they were nevertheless adopted in [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]]. There the social and ecclesiastical reforms which had been undertaken by Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] and his minister [[Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg|Kaunitz]], as a way of influencing appointments within the Catholic hierarchy, were seen as such a threat touched to papal authority that Pius VI adopted the exceptional course of travelling in person to [[Vienna]].<ref name=Berkley>{{Cite web |url=https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/pope-pius-vi |title=Pope Pius VI|publisher=Berkley Center, Georgetown University |access-date=30 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127094240/https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/pope-pius-vi |archive-date=27 January 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=EB1911/>

The Pope set out from Rome on 27 February 1782 and,<ref name=Ott/> though magnificently received by the Emperor, his mission proved a failure. Nevertheless, not many years later he did succeed in curbing the attempts of several German [[archbishop]]s at the [[Congress of Ems]] in 1786 to win greater independence.<ref name=EB1911/>

===Liberal opposition===
In the [[Kingdom of Naples]] the liberal minister [[Bernardo Tanucci]] agitated for certain concessions regarding [[Chinea|feudal homage]] due to the papacy and some concessions were made. More serious disagreements arose with [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]], later emperor, and [[Scipione de' Ricci]], [[bishop of Pistoia and Prato]], upon the questions of proposed liberal reforms to the Church in the [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]. The papal bull ''[[Auctorem fidei]]'', issued on 28 August 1794, is a condemnation of the Gallican and [[Jansenism|Jansenist]] propositions and tendencies of the [[Synod of Pistoia]] (1786).<ref name=EB1911/>

===Other activities===
{{main|Cardinals created by Pius VI}}
[[File:PIE VI, PAPE (1717-1799) – unframed.jpg|thumb|right|Pope Pius VI, {{circa|1775–76}}]]
On 17 August 1775, Pope Pius VI promulgated with a Papal Decree the authenticity of [[Our Lady of Šiluva]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://zenit.org/articles/envoy-named-for-centenary-of-lithuania-apparitions/| title = 'Envoy Named for Centenary of Lithuania Apparitions', ''Zenit''|date=August 22, 2008| access-date = 29 May 2018| archive-date = 1 June 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180601155729/https://zenit.org/articles/envoy-named-for-centenary-of-lithuania-apparitions/| url-status = dead}}</ref>

Pius VI saw the development of the Catholic Church in the [[United States of America]]. He released the American clergy from the jurisdiction of the [[Apostolic vicariate|Vicar Apostolic]] in England,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://catholicsaints.info/new-catholic-dictionary-pope-pius-vi/| title = 'Pope Pius VI'. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 2 June 2017}}</ref> and erected the first American episcopal see, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|Diocese of Baltimore]] in November 1789.

Pius VI elevated 73 cardinals in 23 consistories. He canonized no saints during his pontificate but beatified a total of 39 individuals that included [[Lawrence of Brindisi]] and [[Amato Ronconi]].

The pope also set the Papal States' finances on much steadier ground. Pius is best remembered in connection with the expansion of the [[Vatican Museums|Pio-Clementine Museum]], which was begun at the suggestion of his predecessor [[Pope Clement XIV|Clement XIV]]; and with an attempt to drain the [[Pontine Marshes]],<ref name=EB1911/> but Pius VI did successfully drain the marshes near [[Città della Pieve]], [[Perugia]], and [[Spoleto]]. He also restored the [[Via Appia]].<ref name=Berkley/> Pius VI also deepened and expanded the harbors of [[Terracina]] and Porto d'Anzio, a major center of Pontifical trade. Pius was a great patron of the arts and humanities; he also added a new sacristy to [[Saint Peter's Basilica]].<ref name=Ott/>

===French Revolution===
{{main|French Revolution}}
[[File:Morte di S. S. Pio VI.jpg|thumb|170px|left|The death of Pope Pius VI]]
At the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] in 1789, Pius VI witnessed the suppression of the old [[Catholic Church in France|Gallican Church]] as well as the confiscation of pontifical and ecclesiastical possessions in France. He saw the events as a sign of opposition against the social order ordained by God and also viewed it as a conspiracy against the church. The pope condemned both the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] and the [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy]] and supported a league against the revolution. He issued two briefs – ''[[Quod aliquantum]]'' (1791) and ''[[Charitas (papal encyclical)|Caritas]]'' (1791) – to condemn the ecclesiastical reforms that were proposed.

1791 marked the end of diplomatic relations with France and the papal [[nuncio]], Antonio Dugnani, was recalled to Rome as a result.<ref name=Miranda/> One of the reasons for the breach was the seizure by the revolutionaries of the [[Comtat Venaissin]], ending 516 years of Papal rule in Avignon.

King [[Louis XVI of France]] was [[Execution of Louis XVI|executed]] via [[guillotine]] on 21 January 1793, and his daughter [[Marie Thérèse of France|Marie Thérèse]] petitioned Rome for the canonization of her father. Pius VI hailed the late king as a martyr on 17 June 1793 in a meeting with cardinals, giving hope to a potential possibility of sainthood. In 1820, two decades following the death of Pius VI, the [[Congregation of Rites]] put an end to the possible sainthood since it was impossible to prove the king died for religious reasons rather than political ones. Pius VI argued that the main thrust of the revolution was against the Catholic religion and Louis XVI himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thejosias.com/2015/01/29/pius-vi-quare-lacrymae/|title=Pius VI: Quare Lacrymae|date=29 January 2015|access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref> He also wrote that the French revolutionaries abolished "the monarchy, the best of all governments".<ref>Pius VI, ''Pourquoi Notre Voix''</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Coulombe|first=Charles A.|title=A History of the Popes: Vicars of Christ|publisher=MJF Books|year=2003|page=392}}</ref>

===Arrest and death under Napoleon===
{{Main|Napoleon and the Catholic Church}}
In 1796, [[First French Republic|French Republican]] troops under the command of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Italy and defeated the Papal troops. The French occupied [[Ancona]] and [[Loreto, Marche|Loreto]]. Pius VI sued for peace which was granted at [[Tolentino]] on 19 February 1797; but on 28 December 1797, in a riot blamed by papal forces on some Italian and French revolutionists, the popular brigadier-general Mathurin-[[Léonard Duphot]], who had gone to Rome with [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as part of the French embassy, was killed and a new pretext was furnished for invasion.<ref name=EB1911/>

General [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]] marched to Rome, entered it unopposed on 10 February 1798, and, proclaiming a [[Roman Republic (18th century)|Roman Republic]], demanded of the pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.<ref name=EB1911/>

Upon his refusal, Pius was taken prisoner,<ref name=Berkley/> and on 20 February was escorted from the Vatican to [[Siena]], and thence to the [[Certosa del Galluzzo|Certosa]] near [[Florence]]. The French declaration of war against [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]] led to his removal (he was escorted by the Spaniard [[Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador]]) by way of [[Parma]], [[Piacenza]], [[Turin]] and [[Grenoble]] to the citadel of [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]], the chief town of [[Drôme]] where he died six weeks after his arrival, on 29 August 1799,<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Pius|inline=1}}</ref> having then [[List of 10 longest-reigning Popes|reigned longer than any pope since Saint Peter]].

Pius VI's body was embalmed, but was not buried until 30 January 1800 after [[Napoleon]] saw political advantage to burying the deceased Pope in efforts to bring the Catholic Church back into France. His entourage insisted for some time that his last wishes were to be buried in Rome, then behind the Austrian lines. They also prevented a [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy|Constitutional]] bishop from presiding at the burial, as the laws of France then required, so no burial service was held. This return of the [[investiture]] conflict was settled by the [[Concordat of 1801]].

Pius VI's body was removed from Valence on 24 December 1801 and buried at Rome 19 February 1802, when Pius VI was given a Catholic funeral, attended by [[Pope Pius VII]], his successor.
[[File:Tomb of Pius VI.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Tomb of Pope Pius VI]]

===Reburial===
By decree of [[Pope Pius XII]] in 1949, the remains of Pius VI were moved to the Chapel of the Madonna below St. Peter's in the [[Vatican Grottoes]]. His remains were placed in an ancient marble sarcophagus. The inscription on the wall above the container reads:

"The mortal remains of Pius VI, consumed in unjust exile,
by order of Pius XII were placed fittingly here
and decorated by a marble ornament most excellent for its art and history
in 1949".

==Representation in literature==
A long audience with Pius VI is one of the most extensive scenes in the [[Marquis de Sade]]'s narrative ''[[Juliette (novel)|Juliette]]'', published in 1798. Juliette shows off her learning to the Pope (whom she most often addresses as "Braschi") with a verbal catalogue of alleged immoralities committed by his predecessors.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlYrDQQvPSwC |year=2007|publisher=Open Road + Grove/Atlantic|isbn=9780802199027|language=en|first=Marquis |last=de Sade |title=Juliette}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cardinals created by Pius VI]]
* [[List of popes]]
* [[Luis Ignatius Peñalver y Cárdenas]]
* [[Palazzo Ghini]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Browne-Olf, Lillian. ''Their Name Is Pius'' (1941) pp 3–58  [https://archive.org/details/TheirNameIsPius online]
* Collins, Jeffrey. ''Papacy and politics in eighteenth-century Rome: Pius VI and the arts'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004).
* Hales, E.E.Y. ''Revolution and Papacy, 1769–1846'' (Hanover House, 1960).
*[[Ludwig von Pastor|Pastor, Ludwig von]], 1952. ''The History of the Popes from the close of the Middle Ages,'' (St. Louis : Herder) vols. [https://archive.org/details/historyofpopesfr39past XXXIX] and [https://archive.org/details/historyofpopesfr40past XL].
* Sampson, Donat.  [https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic31philuoft#page/220/mode/2up "Pius VI and the French Revolution,”] ''The American Catholic Quarterly Review'' 31, January – October 1906; [https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic31philuoft#page/n433/mode/2up Part II], Ibid., p.&nbsp;413; [https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic31philuoft#page/n625/mode/2up Part III], p.&nbsp;601; [https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic32philuoft#page/94/mode/2up Part IV] and Ibid., Vol. 32, N°. 125, p.&nbsp;94, January 1907; [https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic32philuoft#page/312/mode/2up Part V], Ibid., p.&nbsp;313.
* Souvay, Charles L. "The French Papal States during the Revolution." ''Catholic Historical Review'' 8.4 (1923): 485–496. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25011902.pdf online]

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Pius VI}}
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
*{{wikiquote-inline}}
*[http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1773-iii.htm Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church:] Giovanni Angelo Cardinal Braschi
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928030319/http://www.damian-hungs.de/Papst%20Pius%20VI..html Pope Pius VI] on Damian-hungs.de {{in lang|de}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Clement XIV]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=15 February 1775 – 29 August 1799}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pius VII]]}}
{{s-end}}

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