Pope Pius VII, OSB (14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), born Count Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope from 14 March, 1800 to 20 August, 1823.
Chiaramonti was born at Cesena, the son of count Scipione Chiaramonti; his mother, Giovanna Chiaramonti, was the daughter of the marquese Ghini and was related to the Braschi family. He joined the Benedictine order in 1756 at the Abbey of S.Maria del Monte of Cesena and changed his first name t...
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Pope Pius VII, OSB (14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), born Count Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope from 14 March, 1800 to 20 August, 1823.
Chiaramonti was born at Cesena, the son of count Scipione Chiaramonti; his mother, Giovanna Chiaramonti, was the daughter of the marquese Ghini and was related to the Braschi family. He joined the Benedictine order in 1756 at the Abbey of S.Maria del Monte of Cesena and changed his first name to Gregorio. He then became a teacher at Benedictine colleges in Parma and Rome. His career became a series of promotions following the election of a family friend, Giovanni Angelo Braschi, as Pope Pius VI (1775–99). In 1776 Pius VI appointed the 34-year old Barnaba, who had been teaching at the monastery of S. Anselmo in Rome, honorary abbot in commendam of his monastery, to complaints from the brothers. After making him bishop of Tivoli, near Rome, Pius VI made him a Cardinal-Priest of San Callisto and Bishop of Imola in February 1785.
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