HISTORY MATTERS: The Pope Escapes Napoleon: January 23, 1814

HISTORY MATTERS: The Pope Escapes Napoleon: January 23, 1814

Napoleon’s victories and his defeat at Leipzig came as distant rumors to Pope Pius VII at Fontainebleau. Because the pope was undergoing a bitter struggle of his own, he had cared little for such news. In January 1813, nine months before the Battle of Leipzig, the pope had received a sudden visit from Napoleon. The…