As commander-in-chief of the French army, Napoleon subjugated most of Western and Central Europe. His France professed Catholicism, but the emperor's relationship with the Pope – who wanted to retain influence over the French clergy – was complicated.
In 1809, the Papal States were annexed. Pope Pius VII was kidnapped from his residence in the Quirinal Palace in Rome and taken to France, where he remained Napoleon's prisoner until 1814.
However, according to a handwritten letter to the nobleman Jean-Jacques-Regis Cambaceres, the emperor had nothing to do with the matter.
"It was without my orders and my will that the Pope was taken away from Rome; it is once again without my orders and my will that he is being taken to France", the letter states, signed "Napole".
Napoleon claims that he was informed only ten to twelve days after the abduction.
"From the moment I learn that the Pope is residing in a fixed place, and my intentions can be made known in time and carried out, I will consider what measures I must take...", he writes.
On Sunday, the day after Pope Francis is laid to rest, the letter will be auctioned off. It is expected to fetch between 12,000 and 15,000 euros when it is sold in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, where Pius VII was held prisoner.
