Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/320

290 seized the throne. Innocent IV. now called in the aid of Charles of Anjou, who defeated Manfred, and took posses sion of the crown. But Charles showed favour to none but his own countrymen, and at the entreaty of the Ghibelline leaders, by whom he was acknowledged as emperor, Conradin, now only sixteen, led an army into Italy. After gaining some advantages he was utterly defeated in August 1268, and soon after, being betrayed into the hands of Charles, he was unjustly tried, con demned, and executed in the market-place of Naples, with the consent of the Pope. He left his kingdom by will to Peter of Aragon. See.  CONRART, or (1603-1675), one of the founders of the French Academy, was born at Paris in 1603, and was educated, under Calvinist parents, for a commercial life. After his father s death, however, he turned his attention to literature, made himself proficient in his own language, and in those of Italy and Spain, and being brought into contact with men of letters, soon acquired a reputation, which for many years he did nothing to sup port. He was made councillor and secretary to the king ; and this, together with a benevolent character, a faultless taste, and a certain charm of disposition and conversation, gained him a host of friends in the highest circles. Some, however, refused to join in the applause that everywhere greeted Conrart, and posterity has echoed their verdict. His literary reputation has passed away almost as completely as that of his friend Chapelain ; and a certain distinction of style, recognized by Sainte-Beuve, is all that he is now credited with. In 1629 Conrart s house became the resort of a knot of literary men, who met to talk over professional subjects, and to read for advice and approval such work as they produced. The indiscretion of one of the number led to an involuntary notoriety, and to the influx into the meet ings of the club of many strangers. Among these was Boisrobert, Richelieu s newsmonger and jester, who reported to his patron what he had seen and heard. The cardinal offered the society his protection, and in this way (1634) the French Academy was created. Conrart was unani mously elected secretary, and discharged the duties of his post for forty-three years, till his death in 1675. The in telligence and conscientiousness he displayed in this capacity are perhaps his greatest titles to distinction. To the last he rigidly adhered to his hereditary faith. See,. ; Petitot, Memoires Relatifs ct, VHistoire de France, tome xlviii. ; and Sainte-Beuve, Can- series deLundi, 19 Juillet 1858.  CONSALVI, or (1757-1824), cardinal and statesman, was born at Rome on the 8th of June 1757, of a noble family originally belonging to Pisa. His boyhood was sickly, and presents nothing remarkable. From the college at Urbino, he passed to the Frascati College and the religious academy at Rome, studying theology, politics, music, and literature. Entering the Pontifical court as page in 1783, he rapidly advanced, and in 1797 obtained the office of auditor of the rota, which brought him into public notice. Accused of partici pation in the assassination of Duphot, he was arrested by the French on their seizure of Rome, and after a period of incarceration condemned, like so many of his brethren, to exile. On the death of Pius VI. he succeeded, in con junction with Cardinal Maury, in securing in the conclave at Venice the election of Chiaramonti as Pius VII.; and the new Pope rewarded his devotion by appointing him secretary of state. Though from the beginning an avowed antagonist of the principles of the Revolution, Consalvi was too wise not to know that even Rome required in some degree to acknowledge their influence. He accordingly instituted various reforms, and but for the bitter opposition of the Conservative party his measures would have been more thoroughgoing than they were. He permitted laymen to hold certain public offices, under surveillance of the pre lates, organized a guard fiom among the Roman nobility, decreed a plan for redeeming the base coinage, permitted the communes a certain degree of municipal liberty, and promised the liquidation of the public debt. In the long debates between Rome and France about the Concordat, Qonsalvi was the leading power on the side of the church ; and he fought for the Papal privileges during his visit to Paris, with a pertinacity and spirit that won at once the hatred and respect of Napoleon. Impressed wi th Napoleon s power, and anxious, if possible, to make him subservient to the designs of Rome, he strongly urged the Pope to accede to the conqueror s request that the imperial crown should be placed on his head by the most sacred Imnds in Christendom. During the Pope s absence on this mission he remained as virtual sovereign in Rome ; and his regency was rendered remarkable by a great inundation, caused by the overflow of the Tiber, during which he exposed himself with heroic humanity, for the preservation of the sufferers. Not long after the return of the Pope, the amity between the Vatican and the Tuileries was again broken. Rome was full of anti-Revolutionary and anti-Napoleonic strangers from all parts of Europe. The emperor was irritated ; and his ambassador, Cardinal Fesch, kept up the irritation by perpetual complaints directed more especially against Consalvi himself. &quot; Tell Consalvi,&quot; wrote the conqueror, still flushed with Austerlitz, &quot; that if he loves his country he must either resign or do what I demand.&quot; Consalvi did accordingly resign on the 17th June 1807, and was followed in rapid succession by Casoni, Doria, Gabrielli, and Pacca. When in 1808 Miollis entered Rome, and the temporal power of the Pope was formally abolished, he broke off all relations with the French, though several of them were his intimate friends. In 1809 he was at Paris, and, in a re markable interview, of which he has left a graphic account in his memoirs, he received from Napoleon s own lips what was practically an apology for the treatment he had received. With unbending dignity, however, he retained his antagonism ; and shortly afterwards he was one of the thirteen cardinals who refused to recognize the marriage of Marie Louise. The result, as is well known, was a con finement at Rheims which only terminated about three years afterwards, when Napoleon had extorted what terms he pleased from the half-captive Pope at Fontainebleau. On his release Consalvi hastened to his master s assistance ; and he was soon after permitted to resume his functions under the restored pontificate at Rome. Despatched to England to meet the allied sovereigns, he was well received both by king and people ; and at the Congress of Vienna he obtained the restitution of the Marches (Ancona, Treviso, and Fermo) and the Legations (Bologna, Ferrara, and Ravenna). The rest of his life was spent in the work of reorganizing the States of the Church, and bringing back the allegiance of Europe to the Papal throne. He was practically governor of Rome; and Pius was so much under his control that &quot; Pasquin &quot; said the Pope would have to wait at the gates of paradise till the cardinal came from purgatory with the keys. In his foreign policy he was actuated mainly by antagonism to Austria ; in his domestic policy he imitated the centralizing system of France. In all essentials a most rigid churchman, he was disposed to yield in minor matters, and obtained the praise of many Protestant visitors to Rome for his affability and liberality. Science, literature, and especially the fine arts received his most abundant patronage ; the ancient buildings of Rome were excavated and preserved by his direction ; chairs of natural science and archseology were founded in the univer sity ; and extensive purchases were made for the Vatican Museum, which was augmented by the addition of the 