A blot on history The arrest of Pope Pius VII on 5 July 1809 WHEN THE EMPEROR PRETENDED TO DISAPPROVE OF THE POPE'S ARREST, WHICH HE HIMSELF HAD ORDERED NAPOLEON I. Letter signed "Napole" to the archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Régis Cambacérès. Palace of Schönbrunn [near Vienna], July 23, 1809. 2/3 p. in-4. "My cousin, I receive your letter of July 17. It is without my orders and against my will that one made leave the Pope of Rome; it is still without my orders and against my will that one makes him enter France. But I am not informed of this until ten or twelve days after it has been carried out. As soon as I know that the Pope is stationary somewhere, and that my intentions can be known in time and carried out, I will see what measures I will have to take...". Napoleon I had "Contre mes ordres" ("Against my orders") corrected to "sans mes ordres" ("Without my orders"), which allowed him to disavow an act without acknowledging insubordination to his power, and to disavow this act without necessarily being obliged to react. A muted then open struggle against the pope who crowned him emperor. Faced with Pius VII's refusal to join in the policy of the continental blockade, and in particular to close ports such as Ancona, Napoleon I launched a series of strikes against the Pope: he occupied part of the Papal States, in particular the ports, had his troops enter Rome on 2 February 1808, and in March had the foreign cardinals expelled from the territory. These disputes continued and culminated in a bull of excommunication issued by Pius VII against all those who had played a role in the violation of the sovereignty of the Papal States - Napoleon I was not mentioned by name but was directly affected by this decision. The emperor reacted violently: he gave clear orders concerning the arrest of the pope's affianced but ambiguous orders concerning the pope himself. On 6 July 1809, General Miollis, Governor of Rome and the Papal States, faced with a quasi-insurrectionary situation, obtained the support of 400 gendarmes sent on Napoleon I's orders. He was ordered to remove the Pope and instructed his chief of police, General Radet, to arrest Pius VII outside the city. The emperor, who had been toying with the idea of deposing the pontiff since 1808, was pleased with the arrest but had to play the game in the eyes of French and international opinion and, while expressing his approval in a letter to General Miollis, publicly expressed his astonishment and irritation at the fait accompli, in particular in this letter to the arch-chancellor, the main piece of state machinery in his absence from Paris. Held in Grenoble, Pius VII was finally sent to Italy on 1 August to be placed under house arrest in Savona. Victorious at Wagram on 5-6 July 1809, Napoleon I remained in Austria to negotiate the peace treaty that would be concluded in October 1809. Napoleon I, Correspondance générale, Paris, Fayard, vol. IX, 2013, no. 21609. An export certificate for a cultural object will be issued with this letter.