What do you think?
Rate this book
To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII, 1800-1815
In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, and Pope Pius VII shared a common goal: to reconcile the church with the state. But while they were able to work together initially, formalizing an agreement in 1801, relations between them rapidly deteriorated. In 1809, Napoleon ordered the Pope’s arrest.
Ambrogio Caiani provides a pioneering account of the tempestuous relationship between the emperor and his most unyielding opponent. Drawing on original findings in the Vatican and other European archives, Caiani uncovers the nature of Catholic resistance against Napoleon’s empire; charts Napoleon’s approach to Papal power; and reveals how the Emperor attempted to subjugate the church to his vision of modernity. Gripping and vivid, this book shows the struggle for supremacy between two great individuals—and sheds new light on the conflict that would shape relations between the Catholic church and the modern state for centuries to come.
Ambrogio Caiani provides a pioneering account of the tempestuous relationship between the emperor and his most unyielding opponent. Drawing on original findings in the Vatican and other European archives, Caiani uncovers the nature of Catholic resistance against Napoleon’s empire; charts Napoleon’s approach to Papal power; and reveals how the Emperor attempted to subjugate the church to his vision of modernity. Gripping and vivid, this book shows the struggle for supremacy between two great individuals—and sheds new light on the conflict that would shape relations between the Catholic church and the modern state for centuries to come.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 25, 2021
11 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 26, 2025
Mr. Caiani does a great job in telling a fascinating but complex story, bringing to life the intricate relationship between the Pope and Napoleon. His vivid descriptions of both figures make them feel real and dynamic, capturing their personalities, ambitions, and struggles. The depth of historical detail is impressive, yet the narrative remains engaging and accessible.
For those who want to hear more from the author himself, I had the chance to interview Mr. Caiani on my Youtube channel :)
For those who want to hear more from the author himself, I had the chance to interview Mr. Caiani on my Youtube channel :)
November 1, 2023
A harrowing tale of two rivals, whose battle of wills drove a wedge through French society, and Europe as a whole.
Continuing with a series of ecclesiastical biographies (and my obsession with Napoleon), 'To Kidnap a Pope' is the story of Pius VII, the Pope who stood up to Napoleon, and suffered greatly for it. A stark contrast to my previous book on the relatively ineffectual and silent Pius XII, Pius VII feels more like a 19th-century martyr given his (almost) unbroken resolve.
My greatest complaint with the book is honestly that it isn't long enough! As the first major English work on this subject, I can tell it was incredibly we'll-researched, but the gripping drama between these two titans had me finishing the book in a matter of days.
The two men's reconciliation at the end is touching, and adds an extra level of depth to Napoleon's exile on St. Helena. Caiani does Napoleon justice too, perfectly portraying the complicated and cynical nature of the man. Pius VII too is a well-rounded, likeable character who grounds the story extremely well, and contrasts the French Emperor well.
Continuing with a series of ecclesiastical biographies (and my obsession with Napoleon), 'To Kidnap a Pope' is the story of Pius VII, the Pope who stood up to Napoleon, and suffered greatly for it. A stark contrast to my previous book on the relatively ineffectual and silent Pius XII, Pius VII feels more like a 19th-century martyr given his (almost) unbroken resolve.
My greatest complaint with the book is honestly that it isn't long enough! As the first major English work on this subject, I can tell it was incredibly we'll-researched, but the gripping drama between these two titans had me finishing the book in a matter of days.
The two men's reconciliation at the end is touching, and adds an extra level of depth to Napoleon's exile on St. Helena. Caiani does Napoleon justice too, perfectly portraying the complicated and cynical nature of the man. Pius VII too is a well-rounded, likeable character who grounds the story extremely well, and contrasts the French Emperor well.
March 1, 2023
The greatest test in the history of the modern Catholic Church began at 2 a.m. on July 6, 1809. That’s when French troops swarmed the Quirinal Palace in Rome. The midnight arrest of Pope Pius VII at the hands of troops under the ultimate command of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was a watershed event in history, argues Ambrogio A. Caiani in his book “To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII.”“To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII.”
Caiani points out that the operation that netted the pope used swarm tactics that Napoleon himself would have approved of, yet while Napoleon was a master of battlefields, the pope proved to be an evenly matched political opponent. The two tussled over a fundamental question, one that still haunts European politics — should the state or the church exercise supreme authority?
At first glance, the two men had much in common. Both were of Italian heritage. Napoleon was born in Corsica to a local noble family only a few years after its capture by France. Pope Pius VII was born in Cesena, just 9 miles from the Adriatic Sea in what was then part of the Papal States.
The pope’s carefully controlled captivity, first in Italy and later in France, would last five years. Incredibly, it was the second time in less than a decade that a pope had been kidnapped. His immediate predecessor, Pope Pius VI, had died in captivity at the hands of the French Revolutionary state. Yet, this affront to the Catholic Church had not involved Napoleon. The general of the age was transiting the Mediterranean on his return to France after his campaigns in Egypt and Palestine when Pope Pius VI died.
Napoleon reached center stage following the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Once in power, Napoleon sought to ameliorate the effects of the French civil war. Those who supported the revolution pitted themselves against both royalist and Catholic forces in the Vendée wars, a series of farmer and peasant uprisings partly over the right to practice the Catholic faith. Napoleon sympathized with the peasants in the Vendée region and sought to reconcile the principles of the French Revolution with the Catholic Church.
Lesser men would have found reconciliation impossible, but Napoleon had a respectful, if unorthodox, view of religion. Napoleon boldly committed himself to reconciliation with the church — on his terms. Napoleon would tap Etienne-Alexandre Bernier, a former royalist rebel, as his chief negotiator with the papacy in historic negotiations.
The resulting document, the Concordant of 1801, saw many rights restored to the church. Priests were made employees of a state they swore allegiance to, and the Vatican’s oversight was enshrined, but the fate of priests who had married during the French Revolution would be a lingering concern of the Catholic Church for decades.
While Bernier’s political views were flexible, Napoleon’s own religious views were pragmatic and at times Unitarian.
“It is in making myself Catholic that I have finished the wars of Vendée; in making myself Muslim, I won the heart of Egypt. If I had to govern a nation of Jews, I should re-establish the Temple of Solomon,” he once said.
Above all, Napoleon believed that the church should be subordinate to the state. Thus, we should not be surprised that following the rapprochement, he declared that St. Neopolus — an obscure (and, Caiani suggests, possibly fictitious) early Christian martyr — would be celebrated each Aug. 15. For most Catholics, this was the date of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also, by coincidence, Napoleon’s birthday.
The Concordant agreement was to long outlast Napoleon. Until France’s laïcité law separating church and state would come into effect in 1905, the Concordant was effectively the last word on church-state relations. Napoleon arranged similar agreements with Protestant and Jewish groups in his empire.
Pius VII even attended and anointed Napoleon at his coronation as the emperor in 1804. Pontiffs traditionally crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. At the height of the ceremony, Napoleon took the crown from his hands and placed it on his own head. Some writers have seen this move as a snub.
However, it is Caiani’s argument that Napoleon’s wish to give the ceremony a religious character was largely sincere. Napoleon would take as a personal slight the various cardinals and other figures who refused to attend.
The pope was made a prisoner of Napoleon and spent much of his imprisonment in Savona. Later, after Napoleon seized the Papal States, he brought the pope to Fontainebleau near Paris. That seizure in 1809 was meant to further break the pope’s spirit, the author argues.
Yet even isolated from the Vatican and at times having only limited access to the outside world, the pope refused to crack. Indeed, a spirited Catholic resistance to Napoleon in the Catholic church organized a number of secret societies to undermine Napoleon — what today we would consider civil disobedience.
Caiani skillfully switches between a more academic tone and a journalistic one. This serious work of scholarship, which is the result of hours spent in archives, can occasionally read like a thriller — especially when telling how the pope nearly died during his relocation from Italy to the outskirts of Paris.
At Fontainebleau, the pope and Napoleon again locked horns — this time in person. Yet, the pope largely refused to break down even as rumors spread that Napoleon had struck the pope. The pope himself graciously denied the rumor, saying only that Napoleon had grabbed his shirt during a heated exchange.
Napoleon was surprised about the pope’s intransigence, as both Protestants and Jews had agreed to abide by Napoleon’s vision, which placed the state at the center of things. Indeed, under Napoleon, many of the deprivations Jews had faced were abolished, and Jews across Italy were permitted to leave the ghettos.
As a result of the Congress of Châtillon, Napoleon agreed to free the pope. Soon their roles would be reversed, with Napoleon a prisone,r on Elba and later St. Helan, and the pope back in control of the Papal States. Caiani argues that the church, not surprisingly, was left embittered, and the church experienced reentrenchment. The Jews were forced to return to the ghettos in Rome, which would remain open until 1870 — the last in Europe until the practice was reintroduced by the Nazis.
Prior to the French Revolution, the Papal States included territory in both France and much of Northern Italy. The whole episode’s history likely influenced another French emperor, Napoleon III, who helped shepherd the unification of Italy that destroyed the Papal States in 1870, when Italy was unified. It would be almost half a century before the Vatican would again gain some form of sovereignty, which would include only a small sliver of modern Rome, a far cry from those who wanted the Vatican to have at least a tiny portion of coastal territory as well.
The pen proving mightier than the sword is the theme of the book. However, the same could be said for Napoleon’s most controversial religious view — that of religious equality. Napoleon’s argument for religious freedom would outlast his empire and become a norm across Europe.
Indeed, the episode sketched in the book is important for any interested in understanding the roots of church-state conflict in Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
Joseph Hammond is a former Fulbright fellow and journalist who has reported extensively from Africa, Eurasia and the Middle East.
Caiani points out that the operation that netted the pope used swarm tactics that Napoleon himself would have approved of, yet while Napoleon was a master of battlefields, the pope proved to be an evenly matched political opponent. The two tussled over a fundamental question, one that still haunts European politics — should the state or the church exercise supreme authority?
At first glance, the two men had much in common. Both were of Italian heritage. Napoleon was born in Corsica to a local noble family only a few years after its capture by France. Pope Pius VII was born in Cesena, just 9 miles from the Adriatic Sea in what was then part of the Papal States.
The pope’s carefully controlled captivity, first in Italy and later in France, would last five years. Incredibly, it was the second time in less than a decade that a pope had been kidnapped. His immediate predecessor, Pope Pius VI, had died in captivity at the hands of the French Revolutionary state. Yet, this affront to the Catholic Church had not involved Napoleon. The general of the age was transiting the Mediterranean on his return to France after his campaigns in Egypt and Palestine when Pope Pius VI died.
Napoleon reached center stage following the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Once in power, Napoleon sought to ameliorate the effects of the French civil war. Those who supported the revolution pitted themselves against both royalist and Catholic forces in the Vendée wars, a series of farmer and peasant uprisings partly over the right to practice the Catholic faith. Napoleon sympathized with the peasants in the Vendée region and sought to reconcile the principles of the French Revolution with the Catholic Church.
Lesser men would have found reconciliation impossible, but Napoleon had a respectful, if unorthodox, view of religion. Napoleon boldly committed himself to reconciliation with the church — on his terms. Napoleon would tap Etienne-Alexandre Bernier, a former royalist rebel, as his chief negotiator with the papacy in historic negotiations.
The resulting document, the Concordant of 1801, saw many rights restored to the church. Priests were made employees of a state they swore allegiance to, and the Vatican’s oversight was enshrined, but the fate of priests who had married during the French Revolution would be a lingering concern of the Catholic Church for decades.
While Bernier’s political views were flexible, Napoleon’s own religious views were pragmatic and at times Unitarian.
“It is in making myself Catholic that I have finished the wars of Vendée; in making myself Muslim, I won the heart of Egypt. If I had to govern a nation of Jews, I should re-establish the Temple of Solomon,” he once said.
Above all, Napoleon believed that the church should be subordinate to the state. Thus, we should not be surprised that following the rapprochement, he declared that St. Neopolus — an obscure (and, Caiani suggests, possibly fictitious) early Christian martyr — would be celebrated each Aug. 15. For most Catholics, this was the date of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also, by coincidence, Napoleon’s birthday.
The Concordant agreement was to long outlast Napoleon. Until France’s laïcité law separating church and state would come into effect in 1905, the Concordant was effectively the last word on church-state relations. Napoleon arranged similar agreements with Protestant and Jewish groups in his empire.
Pius VII even attended and anointed Napoleon at his coronation as the emperor in 1804. Pontiffs traditionally crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. At the height of the ceremony, Napoleon took the crown from his hands and placed it on his own head. Some writers have seen this move as a snub.
However, it is Caiani’s argument that Napoleon’s wish to give the ceremony a religious character was largely sincere. Napoleon would take as a personal slight the various cardinals and other figures who refused to attend.
The pope was made a prisoner of Napoleon and spent much of his imprisonment in Savona. Later, after Napoleon seized the Papal States, he brought the pope to Fontainebleau near Paris. That seizure in 1809 was meant to further break the pope’s spirit, the author argues.
Yet even isolated from the Vatican and at times having only limited access to the outside world, the pope refused to crack. Indeed, a spirited Catholic resistance to Napoleon in the Catholic church organized a number of secret societies to undermine Napoleon — what today we would consider civil disobedience.
Caiani skillfully switches between a more academic tone and a journalistic one. This serious work of scholarship, which is the result of hours spent in archives, can occasionally read like a thriller — especially when telling how the pope nearly died during his relocation from Italy to the outskirts of Paris.
At Fontainebleau, the pope and Napoleon again locked horns — this time in person. Yet, the pope largely refused to break down even as rumors spread that Napoleon had struck the pope. The pope himself graciously denied the rumor, saying only that Napoleon had grabbed his shirt during a heated exchange.
Napoleon was surprised about the pope’s intransigence, as both Protestants and Jews had agreed to abide by Napoleon’s vision, which placed the state at the center of things. Indeed, under Napoleon, many of the deprivations Jews had faced were abolished, and Jews across Italy were permitted to leave the ghettos.
As a result of the Congress of Châtillon, Napoleon agreed to free the pope. Soon their roles would be reversed, with Napoleon a prisone,r on Elba and later St. Helan, and the pope back in control of the Papal States. Caiani argues that the church, not surprisingly, was left embittered, and the church experienced reentrenchment. The Jews were forced to return to the ghettos in Rome, which would remain open until 1870 — the last in Europe until the practice was reintroduced by the Nazis.
Prior to the French Revolution, the Papal States included territory in both France and much of Northern Italy. The whole episode’s history likely influenced another French emperor, Napoleon III, who helped shepherd the unification of Italy that destroyed the Papal States in 1870, when Italy was unified. It would be almost half a century before the Vatican would again gain some form of sovereignty, which would include only a small sliver of modern Rome, a far cry from those who wanted the Vatican to have at least a tiny portion of coastal territory as well.
The pen proving mightier than the sword is the theme of the book. However, the same could be said for Napoleon’s most controversial religious view — that of religious equality. Napoleon’s argument for religious freedom would outlast his empire and become a norm across Europe.
Indeed, the episode sketched in the book is important for any interested in understanding the roots of church-state conflict in Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
Joseph Hammond is a former Fulbright fellow and journalist who has reported extensively from Africa, Eurasia and the Middle East.
February 5, 2023
Fascinating account of Napoleon's attempt to control the catholic church and bend to his will and views in the same way he tried to force all the countries and political institutions of Europe to bend to his wishes and conform to what he thought right and best. Of course he failed with the catholic church just as he, largely, failed with his other ambitions (though of course while he may have failed in terms of the Napoleonic Empire and dynasty(ies) he tried to establish he did change Europe utterly. Although the years after his downfall are referred to as 'the restoration' it was nothing of the sort). Napoleon was not easy man to disagree with, he was a bully as well as an outrageous liar who convinced that whatever he wanted at any time was what was right and what he had always wanted. That the catholic church emerged from its battles with Napoleon a stronger more resilient institution owes much to pope Pius VII, one of the most unknown but best pope's of the past 200 years. His actions and behaviour during his struggle with Napoleon all reflect well on him and show up Napoleon's actions as shameful bullying.
This is a book that throws new and important light on area of Napoleon's rule that has previously received little coverage in English and is very readable.
This is a book that throws new and important light on area of Napoleon's rule that has previously received little coverage in English and is very readable.
August 1, 2021
What an amazing read & articulated with great clarity
August 7, 2025
This is the most invigorating book I’ve read. It reads like a thriller. There’s espionage, negotiations, secret societies, underground communication systems, betrayal, and so much more. The portrayal of Napoleon and the Church during this period is written in a way that has never been written before (that I know of).
My opinion on Napoleon went from “he seems like a chill dude” to “why is he so stubborn” to “I HATE HIM” to “No way he’s actually doing that” to finally, “I hope he found the peace he longed for”.
As a Catholic myself, reading the strength the Church and Pope Pius VII maintained throughout this persecution is extremely admirable. The emotional torture that Pope Pius VII endured in his 5 years of exile was devastating to learn. Not only did Pope Pius VII endure such trauma, so did his two most faithful supporters Cardinal Consalvi and Cardinal Pacca, as well as the 13 “black Cardinals”.
If it weren’t for these devout holy men, who knows what the Catholic Church would look like today.
“Secretly, the pope closed his doors for three days and personally celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Quirinal, in memory of the man who had signed the Concordat of 1801. On this occasion, the pope wanted to be a model of forgiveness and magnanimity. In death only the virtues of Bonaparte were remembered, and not his persecution of the church.” P.286
My opinion on Napoleon went from “he seems like a chill dude” to “why is he so stubborn” to “I HATE HIM” to “No way he’s actually doing that” to finally, “I hope he found the peace he longed for”.
As a Catholic myself, reading the strength the Church and Pope Pius VII maintained throughout this persecution is extremely admirable. The emotional torture that Pope Pius VII endured in his 5 years of exile was devastating to learn. Not only did Pope Pius VII endure such trauma, so did his two most faithful supporters Cardinal Consalvi and Cardinal Pacca, as well as the 13 “black Cardinals”.
If it weren’t for these devout holy men, who knows what the Catholic Church would look like today.
“Secretly, the pope closed his doors for three days and personally celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Quirinal, in memory of the man who had signed the Concordat of 1801. On this occasion, the pope wanted to be a model of forgiveness and magnanimity. In death only the virtues of Bonaparte were remembered, and not his persecution of the church.” P.286
February 18, 2023
A thoroughly engaging account of the relationship between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII. The author has researched the material thoroughly, and challenges some of the accepted assumptions about both men and the manner in which they handled the conflict that emerged between them. Contrary to some interpretations, Buonaparte was not per-se anti-Catholic. He wanted to reach a rapprochement with the Catholic Church, and saw it as part of French life - however, he wanted one on his terms. Essentially, Buonaparte wanted the Church to be subservient to his state and agenda. Pius VII is an admirable figure, particularly in the manner in which he stood up to the dictatorial Napoleon. However, his beliefs about the rights of the church and his desire to see its pre-revolutionary status restored informed his vision. Hence, a clash was inevitable. Napoleon's kidnapping of Pius VII in 1809, and holding him prisoner until 1814 essentially failed to bend Pius to his will. This was a work I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and cannot recommend it highly enough.
August 17, 2023
I gave this book two stars not because it is below par. The subject matter is extremely well-researched. It's just that rather than a lay historical explanation of the tangled power struggle between Napoleon and Pope Pius XII, we are given a graduate student's text on the subject. There are precious few instances where the book proved spellbinding. To Kidnap a Pope becomes an overly meticulous approach that as a non-historian I found difficult to digest.
January 17, 2022
Thrilling and beautiful in equal measure. A great read.
January 28, 2022
A pioneering history of the relationship between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon. The key thread was that Napoleon wanted to use the church to support his imperial ambitions.
February 16, 2023
Extremely captivating from start to finish. Didn’t put it down. Will be reading again. Perfect for any session and occasion. Absolute perfection!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews