# Joseph Fesch > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Fesch > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joseph_Fesch.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fesch > Source revision: 1331779730 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|French priest and diplomat (1763–1839)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = cardinal | honorific-prefix =[His Most Eminent Highness](/source/His_Most_Eminent_Highness) | name = Joseph Fesch | honorific-suffix = | title = [Cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholicism)), [Archbishop of Lyon](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Lyon)
Sovereign Prince
[Prince of the Empire](/source/Nobility_of_the_First_French_Empire)
[Peer of France](/source/Peer_of_France)
Roman Prince | image =Joseph Fesch.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = 1806 portrait of Fesch by [Charles Meynier](/source/Charles_Meynier) | church = | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = [Lyon](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Lyon) | enthroned = 15 August 1802 | ended = 13 May 1839 | appointed = | other_post = [Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Vittoria](/source/Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria%2C_Rome) (1803–1822); ''[in commendam](/source/in_commendam)'' (1822–1839)
[Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina](/source/San_Lorenzo_in_Lucina)
[Grand Almoner of France](/source/Grand_Almoner_of_France) (1805 - 1814) | ordination = 1787 | ordinated_by = | consecration = 15 August 1802 | consecrated_by = [Giovanni Battista Caprara](/source/Giovanni_Battista_Caprara) | cardinal = 17 January 1803 | created_cardinal_by = [Pius VII](/source/Pius_VII) | rank = Cardinal-Priest |previous_post = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1763|1|3|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Ajaccio](/source/Ajaccio), [Republic of Genoa](/source/Republic_of_Genoa) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1839|5|13|1763|1|3|df=y}} | death_place = [Rome](/source/Rome), [Papal States](/source/Papal_States) | buried = | nationality = [French](/source/France) | religion = [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) | residence = | parents = | occupation = | profession = | alma_mater = | motto = | signature = Signatur Joseph Fesch.PNG | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date = | other = | coat_of_arms = Blason Joseph Fesch.svg }} '''Joseph Cardinal Fesch, Prince of the Empire''' (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French priest and diplomat, who was the maternal half-uncle of [Napoleon Bonaparte](/source/Napoleon_Bonaparte) (half-brother of [Napoleon's mother Laetitia](/source/Letizia_Ramolino)). In the wake of his nephew's rise, he became [Archbishop of Lyon](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Lyon) and [cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholicism)). He was also one of the most famous art collectors of his period, remembered for having established the [Musée Fesch](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_Fesch) in [Ajaccio](/source/Ajaccio), which remains one of the most important Napoleonic collections of art. Born in [Corsica](/source/Corsica), he was the son of Swiss-born Franz Faesch and Angela Maria Pietrasanta, and belonged on his father's side to the [Faesch family](/source/Faesch), one of the most prominent patrician families of [Basel](/source/Basel). He rose to great prominence in France following Napoleon's [coup d'état](/source/coup_d'%C3%A9tat) of 1799. Fesch became Archbishop of Lyon in 1802, a Cardinal in 1803, Ambassador to the [Holy See](/source/Holy_See) in 1804, a French [senator](/source/S%C3%A9nat_conservateur) and [count](/source/count) in 1805, [Grand Almoner of France](/source/Grand_Almoner_of_France) in 1805, a sovereign prince in 1806, [Prince of the Empire](/source/Nobility_of_the_First_French_Empire) ("French Prince") in 1807 (a dignity he shared only with Napoleon's siblings, brother-in-law [Joachim Murat](/source/Joachim_Murat), and adopted son [Eugène de Beauharnais](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_de_Beauharnais)), and [Peer of France](/source/Peer_of_France) in 1815, and was named a Prince of the [Papal States](/source/Papal_States) by the Pope. He was a member of the [Imperial House](/source/Imperial_House_of_France_(First_French_Empire)), and was included in the [order of succession](/source/order_of_succession) to the French imperial throne{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} in accordance with the [French constitution of 1804](/source/Constitution_of_the_Year_XII) (Title III, Article 9, "The Imperial Family"). He was Napoleon's most important diplomat in regard to [Pope Pius VII](/source/Pope_Pius_VII), but Napoleon's relationship with his uncle deteriorated as his relationship with the Pope soured. Nevertheless, Napoleon remained loyal to his uncle. Fesch wed his nephew to [Joséphine de Beauharnais](/source/Jos%C3%A9phine_de_Beauharnais) in Paris in 1804, the day before Bonaparte was crowned as [Emperor of the French](/source/Emperor_of_the_French), Compare: {{cite book | year = 1884 | editor1-last = Bingham | editor1-first = Denis Arthur | title = A Selection from the Letters and Despatches of the First Napoleon: With Explanatory Notes | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8oJ7LyE_KssC | series = Cambridge Library Collection - European History | volume = 3 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | publication-date = 2010 | page = 5 | isbn = 9781108023429 | access-date = 2014-11-29 | quote = [I]t is still a matter of doubt whether Napoleon and Josephine were ever married at the altar. There is not a scrap of evidence to prove it. The official account relates that on the eve of the coronation, the Pope refused to officiate unless the Emperor made Josephine his wife, the Church not recognising the[ir] civil marriage. To avoid a scandal, Napoleon consented, and the religious ceremony was secretly performed at the Tuileries by Cardinal Fesch, with the consent of the Pope, and in the presence of Duroc, Berthier, and Talleyrand, on the night of the 1st December, 1804. }} in 1810 he wed Napoleon to [Marie Louise of Austria](/source/Marie_Louise%2C_Duchess_of_Parma), and in 1811 baptized the Emperor's son [Napoleon II](/source/Napoleon_II). After the end of the French Empire in 1815, he was banished from France in 1815, like the rest of the Imperial House. He relocated to [Rome](/source/Rome) with his half-sister Laetitia, and took up residence at the [Palazzo Falconieri](/source/Palazzo_Falconieri), dedicating himself to art and to beneficence. ==Biography== thumb|left|Cardinal Joseph Fesch. Fesch was born at [Ajaccio](/source/Ajaccio) in [Corsica](/source/Corsica). His father was Franz [Faesch](/source/Faesch), a [Swiss](/source/Switzerland) officer in the service of the [Republic of Genoa](/source/Republic_of_Genoa), whose family belonged to the [Basel](/source/Basel) [patriciate](/source/patrician_(post-Roman_Europe)) and had been ennobled in the [Holy Roman Empire](/source/Holy_Roman_Empire) in 1562. His mother was ''Nobile'' Angela Maria Pietrasanta. His mother had previously been married to Captain Giovanni Geronimo Ramolino, and he had an elder half-sister, [Letizia Ramolino](/source/Letizia_Ramolino), later the mother of Napoleon. With the support of [Luciano Buonaparte](/source/Luciano_Buonaparte_(archdeacon)) (1718–1791), archdeacon of Ajaccio, he entered the seminary at [Aix-en-Provence](/source/Aix-en-Provence) in 1781.{{cn|date= June 2025}} He was ordained as a priest in 1785, and at 24 years old, he became the archdeacon of Ajaccio.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} After the 1791 death of Luciano Buonaparte, he became for a time the protector and patron of his sister's family. In 1789, when the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution) broke out, he felt, like the majority of the Corsicans, repugnance for many of the acts of the French government during that period; in particular, he protested against the application to Corsica of the act known as the [Civil Constitution of the Clergy](/source/Civil_Constitution_of_the_Clergy) (July 1790). As provost of the "chapter" in that city, he directly felt the pressure of events; for on the suppression of religious orders and corporations, he was constrained to retire into private life.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=292}} [[File:Ajaccio-Palais Fesch.jpg|thumb|left|Palais Fesch, [Ajaccio](/source/Ajaccio), now houses the Musée Fesch]] Thereafter, he shared the fortunes of the Bonaparte family in the intrigues and strifes which ensued. Drawn gradually into espousing the French cause against [Pasquale Paoli](/source/Pasquale_Paoli) and the Anglophiles, he was forced to leave Corsica and to proceed with Laetitia and her son to [Toulon](/source/Toulon), in early autumn, 1793. Failing to find clerical duties at that time (the [Reign of Terror](/source/Reign_of_Terror)), he took several posts in civil life, until on the appointment of Napoleon Bonaparte to the command of the French "[Army of Italy](/source/Army_of_Italy_(France))" he became a commissary attached to that army. This part of his career is obscure, but his fortunes rose rapidly when Napoleon became First Consul, after the ''[coup d'état](/source/coup_d'%C3%A9tat)'' of [18 Brumaire](/source/18_Brumaire) (November 1799). When the restoration of the [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) religion was in the mind of the First Consul, Fesch resumed his clerical vocation and took an active part in the complex negotiations which led to the signing of the [Concordat](/source/Concordat_of_1801) with the [Holy See](/source/Holy_See) on 15 July 1801. His reward came in being made [Archbishop of Lyon](/source/Archbishop_of_Lyon) in August 1802. Six months later, he received a further reward for his past services, being raised to the dignity of cardinal.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=292}} Appointed by Napoleon on 4 April 1803 to succeed [François Cacault](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Cacault) on the latter's retirement from the position of French ambassador at [Rome](/source/Rome),Goyau, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. Fesch was assisted by [Chateaubriand](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_de_Chateaubriand), but soon sharply differed with him on many questions. Towards the close of 1804, Napoleon entrusted to Fesch the difficult task of securing the presence of [Pope Pius VII](/source/Pope_Pius_VII) at the forthcoming coronation of the emperor at [Notre Dame](/source/Notre-Dame_de_Paris), [Paris](/source/Paris) (2 December 1804). His tact in overcoming the reluctance of the pope (it was only eight months after the execution of the [duc d'Enghien](/source/Louis-Antoine-Henri_de_Bourbon-Cond%C3%A9)) received further recognition. He received the ''grand cordon'' of the [Legion d'Honneur](/source/Legion_d'Honneur), became grand-almoner of the empire and had a seat in the French senate. He was to receive further honours. In 1806, one of the most influential of the German clerics, [Karl von Dalberg](/source/Karl_von_Dalberg), then [prince-bishop of Regensburg](/source/prince-bishop_of_Regensburg), chose him to be his coadjutor and designated him as his successor.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=292}} Subsequent events damaged his prospects. In the course of the years 1806-1807, Napoleon came into sharp collision with the pope on various matters, both political and religious. Fesch sought in vain to reconcile them. Napoleon was inexorable in his demands, and Pius VII refused to give way where the discipline and vital interests of the church seemed to be threatened. The emperor several times rebuked Fesch for what he thought to be weakness and ingratitude. It is clear, however, that the cardinal went as far as possible in counselling the submission of the spiritual to the civil power. For a time, he was not on speaking terms with the pope, and Napoleon recalled him from Rome.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=292–293}} Affairs came to a crisis in the year 1809, when Napoleon issued at [Vienna](/source/Vienna) the decree of 17 May, ordering the annexation of the [Papal States](/source/Papal_States) to the French empire. In that year, Napoleon conferred on Fesch the [archbishopric of Paris](/source/archbishopric_of_Paris), but he refused the honour. Fesch did, however, consent to take part in an ecclesiastical commission formed by the emperor from among the dignitaries of the [Gallican Church](/source/Catholic_Church_in_France), but in 1810 the commission was dissolved. The hopes of Fesch with respect to Regensburg were also damped by an arrangement of the year 1810 whereby Regensburg was absorbed in [Bavaria](/source/Bavaria). [[File:Napoleon Marie Louise Marriage1.jpeg|thumb|''[The Wedding of Napoleon and Marie Louise](/source/The_Wedding_of_Napoleon_and_Marie_Louise)'' by [Georges Rouget](/source/Georges_Rouget), 1810]] In the year 1811, the emperor convoked a [national council of Gallican clerics](/source/national_council_of_Gallican_clerics) for the discussion of church affairs, and Fesch was appointed to preside over their deliberations. Here again, however, he failed to satisfy the inflexible emperor and was dismissed to his [diocese](/source/diocese). The friction between uncle and nephew became more acute in the following year. In June 1812, Pius VII was brought from his first place of detention, [Savona](/source/Savona), to [Fontainebleau](/source/Fontainebleau), where he was kept under surveillance in the hope that he would give way in certain matters relating to the Concordat and in other clerical affairs. Fesch ventured to write to the aged pontiff a letter which came into the hands of the emperor. His anger against Fesch was such that he stopped the sum of 150,000 florins which had been accorded to him.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=293}} The disasters of the years 1812-1813 brought Napoleon to treat Pius VII more leniently, and the position of Fesch thus became for a time less difficult. However, on the first abdication of Napoleon (11 April 1814) and the restoration of the [Bourbon](/source/House_of_Bourbon)s, he retired to Rome, where he received a welcome. The events of the [Hundred Days](/source/Hundred_Days) (March–June 1815) brought him back to France; he resumed his archepiscopal duties at [Lyon](/source/Lyon) and was further named a member of the senate and a [peer of France](/source/peer_of_France). On the second abdication of the emperor (22 June 1815), Fesch retired to Rome along with his older sister Letizia. There he spent the rest of his days in dignified ease, surrounded by numerous masterpieces of art, many of which he bequeathed to the cities of Lyon and Ajaccio. He died in Rome in 1839.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=293}} ==Coat of arms== thumb|Coat of arms of Cardinal Joseph Fesch As a member of the imperial family of France, he was given a new [coat of arms](/source/coat_of_arms) based on the imperial coat of arms of France (cf. [House of Bonaparte](/source/House_of_Bonaparte)). The [Faesch](/source/Faesch) family traditionally used a different coat of arms. ==Paintings owned by Fesch== The Fesch collection included almost 16,000 paintings (not all at the same time). The core was Italian works of the Renaissance to the 18th century, but Fesch also had a number of [Dutch Golden Age painting](/source/Dutch_Golden_Age_painting)s and contemporary French works,[http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/whats_on/files/fesch_ajaccio_june2007.asp Cardinal Fesch and the art of his time, exhibition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928050916/http://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/whats_on/files/fesch_ajaccio_june2007.asp |date=2011-09-28 }} as well as a number of classical sculptures. Fesch was a fairly early collector of [Quattrocento](/source/Quattrocento) paintings, or "Italian Primitives". The [Musée Fesch](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_Fesch), Ajaccio, contains much of Fesch's collection, including works by [Botticelli](/source/Botticelli), [Giovanni Bellini](/source/Giovanni_Bellini), [Titian](/source/Titian) and others. Some of his collection is contained in the [Hôtel de Ville](/source/H%C3%B4tel_de_Ville%2C_Ajaccio) in Ajaccio.{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6532264g/f7.item.texteImage |title=Catalogue des tableaux, statues, bustes, médailles, meubles |first= François |last=Peraldi|publisher= Musée de l'Hôtel de ville d'Ajaccio|date=1 July 1900|page=3}} Another part, including the works considered most important, was sold by auction in 1845. Paintings not in Lyons or Ajaccio include:{{cite web|url=http://piprod.getty.edu/starweb/pi/servlet.starweb|title=Standard STAR Web Error Page}} * ''[The Entombment](/source/The_Entombment_(Michelangelo))'', [Michelangelo](/source/Michelangelo), [National Gallery, London](/source/National_Gallery%2C_London) * [''The Dream of Saint Joseph''](/source/The_Dream_of_Saint_Joseph_(Champaigne)), by [Philippe de Champaigne](/source/Philippe_de_Champaigne), National Gallery, London * ''[Saint Jerome in the Wilderness](/source/Saint_Jerome_in_the_Wilderness_(Leonardo))'', [Leonardo da Vinci](/source/Leonardo_da_Vinci), [Vatican Museums](/source/Vatican_Museums) * ''[Adoration of the Shepherds](/source/Adoration_of_the_Shepherds_(Giorgione))'', [Giorgione](/source/Giorgione), [NGA, Washington](/source/NGA%2C_Washington), who also have a ''Nativity'' by [Perino del Vaga](/source/Perino_del_Vaga), ''Saint Martin Dividing His Cloak'' by [Jan Boeckhorst](/source/Jan_Boeckhorst) and ''The Larder'' by [Antonio Maria Vassallo](/source/Antonio_Maria_Vassallo).[http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tsearch?ownerid=22022 NGA Fesch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509064821/http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tsearch?ownerid=22022 |date=2009-05-09 }} * ''[Mond Crucifixion](/source/Mond_Crucifixion)'', [Raphael](/source/Raphael), National Gallery, London * ''[Portrait of a Seated Woman with a Handkerchief](/source/Portrait_of_a_Seated_Woman_with_a_Handkerchief)'', now attributed to [Carel Fabritius](/source/Carel_Fabritius) rather than [Rembrandt](/source/Rembrandt), [Art Gallery of Ontario](/source/Art_Gallery_of_Ontario), Toronto. * ''Adoration of the Magi'', [Bramantino](/source/Bramantino), National Gallery, London, who have other works including a [Vincenzo Foppa](/source/Vincenzo_Foppa) & a Botticelli. * ''Last Judgement'' [Fra Angelico](/source/Fra_Angelico), in the [Gemäldegalerie, Berlin](/source/Gem%C3%A4ldegalerie%2C_Berlin). * ''The Broken Mirror'', [Greuze](/source/Greuze), [Wallace Collection](/source/Wallace_Collection), London, who have another Greuze, an [Anthony van Dyck](/source/Anthony_van_Dyck) ''Virgin and Child'', a Philippe de Champaigne ''Annunciation'', and a [Hobbema](/source/Meindert_Hobbema). * ''Hunting in the Lagoon'', [Vittore Carpaccio](/source/Vittore_Carpaccio), [Getty Museum](/source/Getty_Museum), originally part of the same composition as his ''[Two Venetian Ladies](/source/Two_Venetian_Ladies)'' * Saints George and Dominic, side panels from an altarpiece, [Carlo Crivelli](/source/Carlo_Crivelli), [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art).{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/european_paintings/saint_george_carlo_crivelli/objectview.aspx?OID=110003397&collID=11&dd1=11|title=Carlo Crivelli - Saint George - The Met|work=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum}} * ''Lamentation of Christ'', [Scipione Pulzone](/source/Scipione_Pulzone), MMA. * ''The Visitation'', [Sebastiano del Piombo](/source/Sebastiano_del_Piombo), [Duke of Northumberland](/source/Duke_of_Northumberland)'s collection at [Alnwick Castle](/source/Alnwick_Castle). ==Honours== * Great Eagle (Grand Cross) of the [Legion of Honour](/source/Legion_of_Honour).{{cite book|title=Almanach Du Département de L'Escaut Pour L'an 1809-1815, Volume 1;Volume 1809|publisher=lA.B. Stéven|page=6}} * Knight of the [Order of the Golden Spur](/source/Order_of_the_Golden_Spur) (1802) * Knight of the [Order of the Golden Fleece](/source/Order_of_the_Golden_Fleece) (1805) ==See also== * [François Carlo Antommarchi](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Carlo_Antommarchi) * [Napoleon and the Catholic Church](/source/Napoleon_and_the_Catholic_Church) ==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== * {{EB1911 |wstitle=Fesch, Joseph |volume=10|pages=292–293}}The following references are given for the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article on Joseph Fesch: ** [Jean Baptiste Lyonnet](/source/Jean_Baptiste_Lyonnet), ''Le Cardinal Fesch'' (2 vols., Lyon, 1841) ** [Louis Gustave Ricard](/source/Louis_Gustave_Ricard), ''Le Cardinal Fesch'' (Paris, 1893) ** [Henri Welschinger](/source/Henri_Welschinger), ''Le Pape et l'empereur, 1804–1815'' (Paris, 1905) ** [Frédéric Masson](/source/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Masson), ''Napoleon et sa famille'' (4 vols., Paris, 1897–1900) * {{CathEncy|wstitle=Joseph Fesch|author=Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges Goyau}} ==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category-inline}} * ''[http://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/12622/rec/1 The Age of Napoleon]'', which includes an entire chapter on Fesch * {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Fesch, Joseph|year=1920 |short=x}} * [http://www.newberry.org/collections/FindingAids/spencernapoleonica/SpencerNapoleonica.html Spencer Napoleonica Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121205060758/http://www.newberry.org/collections/FindingAids/spencernapoleonica/SpencerNapoleonica.html |date=5 December 2012 }} at [Newberry Library](/source/Newberry_Library) {{French Revolution navbox}} {{Imperial House of France (First French Empire)|state=collapsed}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= France}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fesch, Joseph}} Category:1763 births Category:1839 deaths Category:French princes Category:Princes of the Papal States Category:Members of the Sénat conservateur Category:Ambassadors of France to Italy Category:Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days Category:19th-century French cardinals Joseph Category:First French Empire Category:Archbishops of Lyon Category:People from Ajaccio Category:French people of Swiss descent Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Category:House of Bonaparte Category:French art collectors Category:Museum founders Category:Cardinals created by Pope Pius VII Category:Participants in the Council of Paris (1811) Category:French recipients of the Legion of Honour --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Fesch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fesch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fesch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.