Revolution and Papacy: 1769–1846

By E. E. Y. Hales Revolution and Papacy offers a lucid account of the relationship between the popes and the kings, emperors, and peoples of the fledgling modern age. Extracting a compelling chronicle from the many events and intrigues of 1769 to 1846, E. E. Y. Hales presents a measured interpretation of Pope Clement XVI and the Jesuits’ suppression; Pope Pius VI and the catastrophic French Revolution; Pope Pius VII and the Napoleonic saga; Pope Leo XII and the attempted reformation of the papal states; and Pope Gregory XIV and the condemnation of liberalism at the nadir of the papacy’s temporal power and status. In, amongst, and against these major players moves a fascinating secondary dramatis personae, ecclesial and secular, indispensable in forging an age of both rampant apostasy and resilient faith. Let every soul be subject to higher powers. For there is no power but from God, and those that are, are ordained of God. (Rom. 13:1) We have often confused the spiritual with the temporal, sacrificing the former in the endeavor to maintain the latter, and we have thereby lost them both. (Cardinal Giuseppe Sala, 1815) With this “informative and interesting account of the years when the papacy reached its lowest ebb since the Protestant Reformation,” Hales reveals the roots of the papacy and the revolutions which arose towards and around it in the three-quarters of a century before the papacy of Pope Pius IX. As do Hales’s works devoted to that latter epoch in Church history, so also does Revolution and Papacy recount the past: with both exactness and eminent readability. * * * E. E. Y. Hales (1908–1986) was an English Catholic historian and author. After a brief professorship at Yale University, he served as an Inspector of Schools for Britain, retiring as a Commander of the British Empire. In 1949, he converted to Catholicism. His best-known books include Pio Nono and The Catholic Church in the Modern World. Paperback & E-book: 312pp. E-book: Immediately following purchase, an .epub file and a .mobi (Kindle) file are available for download. ISBN: 978-1685950606