76 The Concordat of 1801
23.1.9: The Concordat of 1801
The Concordat of 1801 sought national reconciliation between revolutionaries and Catholics and solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France. But while it restored France’s ties to the papacy, it was largely in favor of the state.
Learning Objective
Evaluate the significance of the Concordat of 1801
Key Points
- During the French Revolution, the National Assembly took Church properties and issued the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which made the Church a department of the state, effectively removing it from papal authority. These and other decisions that aimed to weaken the position of the Catholic Church in France triggered some social unrest.
- The Concordat was designed to regulate relations between Napoleon’s France and the Catholic Church. It was drawn up by a commission with three representatives from each party and signed in 1801 in Paris. It sought national reconciliation between revolutionaries and Catholics and solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France, with most of its civil status restored.
- While the Concordat restored some ties to the papacy, it was largely in favor of the state. It wielded greater power of the state vis-à-vis the Pope than previous French regimes, and church lands lost during the Revolution were not returned. Napoleon understood the utility of religion as a factor of social cohesion, and his approach was utilitarian. He could now win favor with French Catholics while also controlling Rome in a political sense.
- Napoleon looked for recognition by the Church of the disposition of its property and geographical reorganization of bishoprics, while Rome sought the protection of Catholics and the recognition of a special status of the Catholic Church in the French State.
- As a part of the Concordat, Napoleon presented another set of laws called the Organic Articles. They were published as a unilateral addition to the Concordat in 1802. Presenting the Organic Articles was Napoleon’s method of granting the Tribunate and the legislative body partial control of the Concordat in order to help the state monitor any politically harmful Catholic or Protestant movements or activities.
- The hostility of devout Catholics against the state was now largely resolved. The Concordat did not restore the vast church lands and endowments that were seized during the revolution and sold off. Catholic clergy returned from exile or hiding and resumed their traditional positions in their traditional churches. While the Concordat restored much power to the papacy, the balance of church-state relations tilted firmly in Napoleon’s favor.
Key Terms
- Civil Constitution of the Clergy
- A law passed in July 1790 during the French Revolution that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government.
- The Concordat of 1801
- An agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII signed in July 1801 in Paris that remained in ef