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Bible Encyclopedias
Pius VI
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or pope of Rome, whose original name was Giovanni Angelo di Braschi, descended from a noble family, and was born at Cesela, Italy, Dec. 27, 1717. He made his reputation very early in life, and was elevated to important ecclesiastical dignities at an unusually early period. In 1766 he was made keeper of the papal exchequer, and in 1773 was honored with the cardinal's hat. In 1775, upon the death of pope Clement XIV, better known as Ganganelli, cardinal Braschi, who had then the reputation of being of a generous disposition, fond of learning and the arts, and had besides the advantages of a handsome person, a graceful demeanor, and easy and affable manners, was chosen successor to the vacant pontifical chair. In his previous office of treasurer he had managed the financial affairs of the country with prudence and disinterestedness. In the first five years of his pontificate he occupied himself largely with public improvements, and displayed the same care and independence. But in his political career pope Pius VI was rather unfortunate. Even at his elevation, feeling that he had not the qualifications of a politician, he predicted himself, to the conclave, an unhappy termination of his reign. Conciliatory in spirit, and determined upon the preservation of unity in the Church, he would frequently make concessions where stern opposition was more in place; then again he would hesitate, often where prompt measures alone would suffice.
Thus in 1777 a serious dispute arose with Leopold I, grand- duke of Tuscany, and Ricci (q.v.), bishop of Pistoja, on the subject of some grave moral offences which had been discovered in several convents. The bishops, to be sure, had taken the liberty to act without papal consent, but the case warranted prompt proceedings, and these were not anticipated from Pius VI. Jealous of his authority in Church affairs, he endeavored to interfere, but without success, and saw himself at last passed by in the Council of Pistoja (q.v.), and when the question of jurisdiction was finally settled in a more satisfactory manner, it yet left a coldness between the courts of Rome and Tuscany. A more important disagreement took place in 1780 with emperor Joseph II. Leopold's brother, who, having control of the reins of power under the emperor's queen, Maria Theresa, was bent on separating the Church from all papal jurisdiction. His first step was to suppress superfluous convents without papal consent, and to emancipate the clergy of his dominions from all papal interference in matters of discipline. It was the same question previously raised in Tuscany by Leopold. Joseph even went further, and took upon himself the nomination of bishops-even of those in Italy, and the pope readily saw in these proposed reforms nothing short of a design to weaken the influence of the see of Rome. Pius VI, not willing to leave unemployed any conciliatory offices at his command, believed that his duty lay in a visit to the emperor, and accordingly he set out for Vienna in 1782, to settle matters by personal arrangement. The step was in itself a novelty. For several centuries no pontiff had ever left Italy. Monti wrote a poem on the remarkable event, entitled 11 Pellegrino Apostolico. At Vienna the pope was received with every honor; yet Pius failed to make any impression on the emperor, and the matter in discussion was referred to a ministry unfavorable to papal claims. It was the same struggle as that of France,' Gallicanism against Ultramontanism, only this time the pope was himself inclined to be the peace-maker between the contending factions in the Church. Pius VI failed utterly in his mission, and returned to Rome disappointed ant dejected, to be reproached for his good intentions, with having lowered the dignity of his office, and encouraged the Gallican tendencies in the Church at large. The troubles doubled upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, and rendered the remaining years of his pontificate gloomy and calamitous. In the early period of that fearful struggle Pius VI had solemnly condemned the abrupt changes made in France concerning the discipline and the property of the clergy, though in all secular matters he had wisely abstained from interference of any sort.
But in January 1793, a complication arose of a most serious nature. A young man, Hugo Basseville, an agent of the French republican party, while on his way to Naples, where he was to be secretary of embassy, stopped in the Eternal City, and made a foolish demonstration in the Corso, apparently to sound the opinions of the people. He appeared in a carriage with several tricolored flags, and distributed revolutionary tracts, vociferating something about liberty and against tyrants; but a mob collected; he was dragged out of his carriage, and mortally stabbed in several places by the populace. The military arrived too late, and though some of the murderers were arrested and tried, the French government charged the papal authorities with having been a party to the crime. The result was that the breach widened, and that finally the pope joined the league of the sovereigns against France. In 1796, when Bonaparte invaded Northern Italy, he took possession of the legations, but at the same time offered to the pope conditions of peace. These, however, it was impossible for Pius to accept, and the papal troops were marched against the French. The defeat of the papacy followed, and after the possession of Ancona and Loreto, peace was established at Campo Formio in October 1797. The condition's of peace were very onerous, and added vexation to vexation against the unfortunate pope, who, old and infirm, was unequal to the difficulties which crowded upon him. Heavy contributions were imposed by the French Directory, and Ferrara, Romagna, and the Bolognese were incorporated with the newly founded Cisalpine republic; the price of peace, in fine, was the revocation of the papal edicts launched against the. Jansenists, and the acknowledgment of the civil constitution of the French clergy. To make bad matters worse, some disorders in Rome between the French and Italians, in the course of which the French general Duphot was shot, gave a pretext to the French Directory for the expedition of Berthier, who arrived in Rome on February 10, and occupied the Vatican. Pius VI, forsaken by most of the cardinals, who had escaped, remained in the Vatican. On the 15th a tree of liberty was raised in the Campo Vaccino, and Rome was formally declared a republic. Berthier afterwards sent an officer to intimate to the pope that he must renounce his temporal sovereignty. Pius answered that he had received it from God and by the free election of men, and could not renounce it; that he was eighty years old, and his troubles could not be of long duration, but that he was determined to do nothing derogatory to his high office. Next came the commissary-general of the French army, who, after taking an inventory of all the valuables that still remained in the papal residence, ordered Pius to prepare to set out in two days. The pope said he could not oppose force, but protested against this new act of violence.
On Feb. 20 Pius VI left the Vatican with a few attendants, and, escorted by a strong detachment of cavalry, took the road to Florence. He was lodged at first in a convent near Siena, and afterwards in the Carthusian convent near Florence, where he remained till the following year, when the French, having driven out of Tuscany the grand-duke Ferdinand, and being threatened by the Austro-Russians who were advancing to the Adige, ordered the pope to be transferred to France. He was taken to Grenoble, and afterwards to Valence, on the Rhone, where he died in August of that year (1799). Just before his death the Roman republic had ceased to exist, the French being driven out of Italy by the Austro-Russians, and Rome was occupied by Austrian and Neapolitan troops. In the year 1802, after the restoration of the papal government, the remains of Pius VI were transferred to Rome by leave of the first consul Bonaparte, at the request of his successor, Pius VII, and deposited with solemn pomp in the church of St. Peter. The bulls published by Pius VI are in Bullar. Romlan. contin. summimor. Pontif: Clementis 13 Clem. 14, Pii VI constitutiones, etc., quas Coll. Btarbieri, opp. et stud. R. Segredi (Rom. 1835, f. t. 7-10); cent. constit. Pii VI. Pius VI greatly enlarged the museum of the Vatican, which he made one of the richest in Europe in works of sculpture, vases, precious marbles, and other remains of antiquity; and he caused a splendid set of engravings of the objects in this museum to be published, under the title of Museo Pio Clementino. He made additions to the church of St. Peter, and embellished Rome with new palaces, fountains, and other structures. His internal administration was liberal and mild, an unusual freedom of opinion and speech prevailed at Rome, and a number of learned men gathered thither from other parts of Italy. Many foreigners came to settle in that capital, the fine arts were encouraged by the pope and several of the cardinals, and modern Rome was reviving the brilliant period of Leo X when the struggle with the French Directory darkened the scene. See, besides the memoirs by Becattine (Venice, 1801,4 vols.); Tavanti (Flor. 1804, 3 vols. 4to); Gesch. des Papstes Pius VI (Vienna, 1799); Bourgoing's Memoires de Pie VI (Par. 1799); Ferrari, Vita Pii VI (Patav. 1802); Novaes, Sommi Pontifici, vol. 16. 17; Artaud, Hist. des souv. Pontif: Rom. (Par. 1849), vol. 8; Wolff, Gesch. der kathol. Kirche unter Pius VI (Zurich, 1797-1802, 7 vols. 8vo).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Pius VI'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/pius-vi.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
