Unpublished Memoirs of the Revolution

Unpublished Memoirs of the Internuncio at Paris During the Revolution 1790-1801 by Louis-Siffren-Joseph de Salamon, 291 pages

In 1790 the revolutionary government of France enacted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, requiring all priests to swear an oath attributing to the State supreme authority in all religious matters.  In response, Pius VI recalled his nuncio in Paris, appointing Louis-Siffren-Joseph de Salamon, a former member of both the Roman Rota and the Parliament of Paris, as internuncio until such time as friendly relations were restored.  That would take over a decade, during which time the Pope's representative in France would be hunted, imprisoned repeatedly, and tried, narrowly escaping with his life during the September Massacres.

Some sixty years after his death, the personal memoirs of de Salamon were discovered in Rome.  Written as a gift for an aristocratic benefactress, if they are not entirely candid, they are highly personable.  Msgr de Salamon nearly became a martyr, but he was far from being a saint, and he agreeably portrays himself as a typically worldly prelate of the ancien regime, more concerned with courtesy than piety.  He is well aware, with the power of hindsight, that the former did not serve him as well as the latter might have.