1801–1814

Napoleon's Concordat and the captivity of Pius VII

In 1801 Napoleon, newly in power, signed a concordat with Pope Pius VII. It recognized Catholicism as the religion of most French people and granted Protestants freedom. In 1804 Pius VII attended his coronation.

In 1806 Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire and created the Confederation of the Rhine, ending Charlemagne's political legacy.

After the Papal States were annexed to the empire, Pius VII excommunicated those responsible. From 1808 to 1814 Napoleon held him under guard in France. On his return, though, the pope forgave his opponents. Paradoxically, papal authority over the French church, and the papacy's standing in Catholic Europe, grew stronger as a result.