Church and Politics After the French Revolution: Napoleon's Vision for an Imperial Church Under State Control

In the aftermath of the French Revolution's radical assault on religious institutions, Napoleon Bonaparte faced a society torn between revolutionary secularism and traditional faith. Rather than choosing sides in this cultural war, he crafted a brilliant third path-restoring religious institutions while subjecting them to unprecedented state control. This groundbreaking book reveals how the ambitious Corsican general, raised to power amidst the ruins of the Ancien R嶲ime, transformed France's religious landscape with the same strategic genius he displayed on the battlefield.

Drawing on previously untapped archival sources and private correspondence, this book takes readers inside the dramatic negotiations of the Concordat with Pope Pius VII, the secret deliberations of Napoleon's Council of State, and the tense implementation of religious reforms across a rapidly expanding empire. We witness Napoleon personally drafting catechisms, designing religious ceremonies, and orchestrating the Pope's participation in his imperial coronation-only to later imprison the pontiff when spiritual authority challenged imperial will.

From Paris to Rome, from village parishes to conquered territories, this book illuminates how Napoleon's religious settlement extended far beyond pragmatic political maneuvering. It embodied his distinctive vision of modern governance-one that acknowledged religion's social importance while subordinating it to state authority. Readers will discover how Napoleon's "imperial church" synthesized Catholic traditions, Enlightenment reforms, and revolutionary principles into a system that would influence church-state relations throughout Europe for more than a century.