Consalvi, Ercole (1757-1824)

Italian cardinal and secretary of state from 1880, under Pope Pius VII. He negotiated the concordat with France in 1801, regulating relations between the papacy and the secular government of Napoleon. After Napoleon's abdication, he secured the recovery of most of the papal territory seized by the French.

Consalvi was born in Rome, educated at Urbino, Frascati, and the Accademia Ecclesiastica in Rome, and became privy chamberlain to Pius VI in 1783. In 1797, when Rome was occupied by the French, he was arrested, but reprieved. As secretary of the conclave 1799-1800, he did much to secure the election of Pius VII.

Following the deportation of the Pope, Consalvi went into exile in France. He returned to Rome in 1814 and resumed his position as secretary of state. In this capacity he abolished aristocratic privileges in the Italian cities, reformed civil and criminal law, reorganized the educational system, and provided for the needs of the poor. He was also a patron of the arts, and restored the ancient monuments of Rome, ordered excavations, and enriched the Vatican collections.