The Politics of Religion in Napoleonic Italy explores the intense cultural conflict created by French rule in Italy at the start of the nineteenth century. Napoleon's desire for cultural conformity struck at the heart of Italian religious life. Yet the reforms imposed by French rule created resentment and resistance across Italy, finally leading to Napoleon's famous quarrel with Pope Pius VII.

In this fascinating study, Mike Broers traces the events leading up to the ex-communication of Napoleon and the Pope's arrest and exile from Rome. Using previously neglected French and Italian archival sources, this book reveals how the alliance between Church and people grew in the face of alien, imperial rule. It exposes the vital role this union played in preventing Italy from being totally assimilated into the French empire.