1809 AD
On May 5, 1809, Napoleon Bonaparte declared the Papal States annexed to the French Empire and sent troops to occupy Rome. Pope Pius VII, who had initially cooperated with Napoleon (agreeing to the Concordat of 1801), had become increasingly opposed to Napoleon's policies, particularly his divorce from JosΓ©phine and his attempt to control the Church in France through the 'Organic Articles.'
Pius VII excommunicated those responsible for the occupation of Rome, and Napoleon retaliated by arresting the Pope and imprisoning him first in Savona and then in Fontainebleau. The Pope endured harsh treatment, including being forced to travel in a storm without an overcoat. Napoleon offered to restore the Papal States if Pius would sign a concordat giving Napoleon control over the French Church, but the Pope refused.
Pius VII was released in 1814 after Napoleon's defeat and returned to Rome to a hero's welcome. His resistance to Napoleon became a symbol of the Church's independence from secular power. Key Sources: Cardinal Consalvi, Memoirs; Pope Pius VII's diary; Napoleon's correspondence