"Was Napoleon III a Catholic champion? " Topic

"Few people, even, or perhaps especially, monarchists would think of a Bonaparte as a religious crusader. Napoleon Bonaparte supported the violently anti-clerical French Revolution and though he ultimately made his peace with the Church, none could forget that he had looted Rome, annexed the Papal States and even took the Pope prisoner at one point. Devout Catholic monarchists were always among his most bitter of enemies. Yet, his nephew and eventual successor, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually Emperor Napoleon III, had a reign which, on the face of it, would suggest to the casual viewer of history the character of a champion of Catholicism. Is this a case of appearances being deceiving? On the other hand, the Catholic Church has a history of strange relationships with those regarded as her most ardent defenders. Two men widely regarded as Catholic champions were Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his son King Philip II of Spain. Both actually waged war against the Pope, the Emperor inadvertently unleashing the most savage and vicious brutalization of the city of Rome that ancient city has ever experienced. Emperor Napoleon III never did such a thing, in fact causing himself considerable trouble by his commitment to defending the Pope. Yet, Napoleon III remains less than highly regarded in virtually any of the wide variety of Catholic circles.

The reasons for this odd relationship owe something to the man himself, the Bonaparte president who made himself "Emperor of the French" as well as to the times in which he lived, his family name, which was both a blessing and a curse, and the changes in the nature of Catholic sentiment from what it had been in centuries past. What is undeniable is that Napoleon III did many things in the name of defending Catholicism and it is just as evident that it did him little good personally. Certainly, his past plays a part in his public image. Early on, no one would have taken Louis Napoleon Bonaparte to be a future protector of the Catholic Church. He joined a revolutionary secret society in Italy that made him a wanted criminal by both the Papal government and that of the Austrian Empire. His life-long goal, of course, was a return to political power in France for the Bonaparte name and in that he did manage to put himself alongside many Catholics. They may not have been in favor of the same thing but they were opposed to the same thing; the popular monarchy of King Louis-Philippe. Eventually, after numerous failures and exiles, Louis was successful in rising to power in the wake of the downfall of the last King to reign over France and he became President of the Second French Republic.

Almost immediately, the "Prince-President" as he was known, came charging to the rescue of the temporal power of the Catholic Church. In the Revolutions of 1848 radicals led by Giuseppe Mazzini had driven Pope Pius IX from the Eternal City and declared the birth of the Roman Republic. The French government sent troops to wipe out this new regime and, of course, increase French influence in Italy as well. However, as they marched on Rome they were defeated by the veteran Italian guerilla fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi. Louis Napoleon sent reinforcements and the Roman Republic was crushed in a second attack. From that time until the end of his rule, French troops would remain in Rome to suppress dissent and uphold the political power of Pope Pius IX. This earned Louis-Napoleon some popularity with French Catholics. However, while approving of his actions, not all approved of him and particularly worrying was the large presence of Catholic French monarchists in the international volunteer army Pope Pius IX assembled to defend the political power of the papacy. For those men, who were obviously ardent Catholics and just as ardent legitimist French monarchists, Napoleon III was a usurper who they would never respect or support regardless of what his policies happened to be…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks Tango I did not know that about Emperor Charles V or King Philip will have to look into that.

He also agitated for war against Russia over what was, initially, a dispute about Catholic vs. Orthodox privileges in the Holy Land.

Of course there was a LOT more to it than that.

Glad you enjoyed it my friend. (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

yes certainly…but at the end "la raison politique" or better "la raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure"…while if the sudden advent of French-German War of 1870 was the official reason/explanation for the Imperial France withdrawing their military support for the Pontifical cause..in reality, from 1867 victorious year (Mentana) progressivly the Emperor Napoleon III began to cut his diplomatic and military support to the Eternal City….in favour of the Anti-Catholic Liberal Piedmontese/Italian Government….Not to say about their promised military support to the Neapolitan Royal Cause…a very Catholic Monarchy..which was not honoured in order not to fight Vs the very Massons, British influenced Red Shirts led by the bandit Garibaldi….just the badly conceived and worstly executed battle plan's draft for the imminent Battle of Volturno, conceived by French General Staff, reached the Neapolitans…same equivocal behaviour directed the operations of some french frigates that feinted to oppose the Piedmontese fleet in front of Gaeta without shooting a grenade..during the last battle of the Risorgimento in the South….So , in my opinion just a "Napoleon le Petit" as sentenced by Victor Hugo…