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Concordat of 1801
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Date:
July 15, 1801
Participants:
France
papacy
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Concordat of 1801

French religious history
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Concordat of 1801, agreement reached on July 15, 1801, between Napoleon Bonaparte and papal and clerical representatives in both Rome and Paris, defining the status of the Roman Catholic Church in France and ending the breach caused by the church reforms and confiscations enacted during the French Revolution. The Concordat was formally promulgated on Easter day, 1802.

In the agreement the first consul (Napoleon) was given the right to nominate bishops; the bishoprics and parishes were redistributed; and the establishment of seminaries was allowed. The pope (Pius VII) condoned the actions of those who had acquired church property, and by way of compensation the government engaged to give the bishops and curés suitable salaries. The government added to it unilateral provisions of Gallican tendencies, which were known as the Organic Articles. After having been the law of the church of France for a century, it was denounced by the French government in 1905, when by the “Separation Law” church and state were sundered.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John M. Cunningham.
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