Ercole Consalvi

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Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi
Johann Baptist Lampi the Elder : Cardinal Ercole Consalvi (1814/15)

Ercole Consalvi (born June 8, 1757 in Rome , † January 24, 1824 ibid) was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Papal States. He negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with Napoleon Bonaparte and took part in the Congress of Vienna in 1814 as chief diplomat of the Papal States .

Life

The son of Marchese Gregorio Consalvi di Roma and Marquesa Claudia Carandini di Modena attended the College of the Piarists in Urbino from 1766 to 1771 and the seminary in Frascati from 1771 to 1776 , where he devoted himself to theological, political and literary studies. After studying law in Rome from 1776 to 1782, he was promoted to Dr. jur. utr. PhD . Pope Pius VI awarded him the title of private treasurer in April 1783 and that of house prelate in July 1784.

As a member of various congregations, including the Apostolic Signature , the Rota Romana and the Military Commission, he fought the ideas of the French Revolution . The French banned him after the occupation of the Papal States (1798); but Pius VII , who owed his election to the Venice conclave in 1799 mainly to Consalvi, elevated him to cardinal deacon of Sant'Agata dei Goti in 1800 and soon afterwards to state secretary when he signed the 1801 Concordat with Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris in 1801 negotiated, whereby he showed himself skillful and at the same time pliable and yielding (cf. Consalvi paradox ). On December 21, 1801, Pope Pius VII ordained him as a deacon . Consalvi refrained from ordaining a priest .

In 1806 Consalvi had to resign as Secretary of State due to his rapprochement with Napoleon.
When the dispute broke out between the Pope and Napoleon in 1809, he did not approve of the former's bull of excommunication , but remained loyal to him and was therefore deposed and interned by the Emperor. As papal envoy to the Congress of Vienna , he gained favor with monarchs, including non-Catholics, through moderation and prudence. He played a key role in the restoration of the Papal States and was again appointed Cardinal Secretary of State by Pius VII. He held the post until 1823.

Law of the Papal States

Consalvi regulated the internal administration of the Papal States by the uniformity of the police state producing Motu Proprio of July 6, 1816; He also introduced a new code of civil procedure and a new commercial code, simplified the financial administration and also tried hard to counteract the robbery in the provinces. He supported the sciences, but especially the arts. The concordats of the Curia with Russia , Poland , Prussia , Bavaria , Württemberg , Sardinia , Spain and Geneva were his work.

After Pius VII's death in 1823 Consalvi withdrew from the business. In the same year he was made an honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . Consalvi died in his hometown on January 24, 1824, at the age of 66. His body was buried in the family crypt in S. Marcello al Corso, his heart in a tomb designed by Thorwaldsen in the Pantheon .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The grandfather Gregorio Consalvi changed his name. Born and baptized as Gregorio Brunaccio di Toscanella , he inherited the male line of the Consalvi of Rome and, on the basis of the will, he also took the name of the testator. So then Ercole's father was the Marquis Giuseppe Consalvi di Roma.
  2. ↑ Hubert Wolf : Crypt. Suppressed Traditions of Church History . CH Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-67547-8 , p. 56.

literature

  • Johann L. Bartholdy: Features from the life of the cardinal Consalvis . Cotta, Stuttgart 1824 (its authenticity has been doubted).
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Consalvi, Ercole. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 1117-1119.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Jacques A. Crétineau-Joly: Mémoires du Cardinal Consalvi . Bonne Press, Paris 1895.
  • Jacques A. Crétineau-Joly: Bonaparte, le concordat de 1801 et le cardinal Consalvi . Plon, Paris 1869.
  • Ernest Daudet : Diplomates et hommes d'État contemporains. Le cardinal Consalvi . Lévy, Paris 1866.
  • Leopold von Ranke : The History of the Popes. the Roman Popes for the past four centuries. Cardinal Consalvi and his state administration . Vollmer, Wiesbaden 1957 (12 vols .; here especially vol. 2)
  • John Martin Robinson: Cardinal Consalvi 1757-1824 . The Bodley Head, London 1987.
  • Richard Wichterich: His fate was Napoleon. Life u. Time d. Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi 1757-1824 . Kerle, Heidelberg 1951.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Francesco Cardinal Fontana Prefect of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide
1822 - 1824 		Giulio Maria Cardinal della Somaglia
personal data
SURNAME Consalvi, Ercole
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 1824
Place of death Rome