of Baden, titular duke of Austria. With his death the Hohenstaufen race became extinct. His remains, with those of Frederick of Baden, still rest in the church of the monastery of Santa Maria del Carmine at Naples, founded by his mother for the good of his soul; and here in 1847 a marble statue, by Thorwaldsen, was erected to his memory by Maximilian, crown prince of Bavaria. In the great 14th century “Manesse” MS. (c) collection of medieval German lyrics, preserved at Heidelberg, there are two songs written by Conradin, and his fate has formed the subject of several dramas.
See F. W. Schirrmacher, Die letzten Hohenstaufen (Göttingen, 1871); K. Hampe, Geschichte Konradins von Hohenstaufen (Berlin, 1893); del Giudice, Il Giudizio e la condanna di Corradino (Naples, 1876); E. Miller, Konradin von Hohenstaufen (Berlin, 1897).
CONRART (or Conrard), VALENTIN (1603–1675), one of the founders of the French Academy, was born in Paris of Calvinist parents. He was educated for a commercial life; but after his father’s death in 1620 he began to come into contact with men of letters, and soon acquired a literary reputation, though he
wrote nothing for many years. He was made councillor and
secretary to the king; and in 1629 his house became the resort of men of letters, who met to talk over literary subjects, and to read and mutually criticize their works. Cardinal Richelieu offered the society his protection, and in this way (1635) the French Academy was created. Its first meetings were held in the house of Conrart, who was unanimously elected secretary, and discharged the duties of his post for forty-three years, till his death on the 23rd of September 1675. The most important of Conrart’s works is his Mémoires sur l’histoire de son temps published by L. J. N. de Monmerqué in 1825.
See also R. Kerviler and Édouard de Barthelemy, Conrart, sa vie et sa correspondance (1881); C. B. Petitot, Mémoires relatifs à l’histoire de France, tome xlviii.; and Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi (19 juillet 1858).
CONSALVI, ERCOLE (1757–1824), Italian cardinal and statesman, was born at Rome on the 8th of June 1757. His grandfather, Gregorio Brunacci, of an ancient family of Pisa, had changed his name in order to become heir to a certain marchese di Consalvi. Ercole, who was the eldest of five children early left orphans, began his education at the Piarist college at Urbino. Removed thence on account of the cruel treatment he and his brother received, he went to the college opened at that time by Cardinal Henry of York at Frascati. Here Consalvi soon became one of the cardinal’s favourite protégés. In 1776 he entered the Academia Ecclesiastica at Rome, in which Pope Pius VI. took a strong personal interest. This led to his being appointed in 1783 camariere segreto to the pope, an office which involved the duty of receiving those who desired an audience. Next year he was made a domestic prelate and shortly afterwards a member of the Congregation del buon governo. His further promotion was rapid; at the instance of Pope Pius, who thought his talents would be best employed at the bar, he became votante di segnatura, and, on the first vacancy, auditor of the Rota for Rome. This last post left him plenty of leisure, which he used for travelling and cultivating the society of interesting people, a taste which earned him the title of Monsignore Ubique. When the outbreak of the French Revolution made a reorganization of the papal army necessary, this was carried out by Consalvi as assessor to the new military Congregation.
In 1798, when the French occupied Rome, Consalvi was imprisoned in the castle of St Angelo, together with other papal officials, in retaliation for the murder of General Duphot; a proposal to whip him through the streets was defeated by the French general in command, but, after three months’ confinement, he was deported with a crowd of galley slaves to Naples, and his property was confiscated as that of “an enemy of the Roman republic.” He managed with difficulty to reach Pius VI., who had sought refuge in the Certosa of the Val d’ Ema, and was present at his death-bed.
As secretary to the conclave which assembled in the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, Consalvi had the difficult task of corresponding with the various governments and organizing the assembly at a time when the Revolution had confused all issues and reduced the individual cardinals to beggary. In this his diplomatic ability was conspicuously evident, and it was also largely owing to his influence that Cardinal Chiaramonte was elected as Pius VII. (March 14, 1800). On the 3rd of June the new pope re-entered Rome; on the 11th of August Consalvi was appointed cardinal-deacon and secretary of state, or prime minister. The appointment was an admirable one; for Consalvi possessed just the qualities necessary to supplement those of Pius. The pope was above all a religious man, of a gentle and contemplative character; the cardinal was pre-eminently a man of affairs. Their personal sympathy for each other continued to the end, though at the outset at least their political views differed. Pius, who had openly expressed sympathy with the new liberties of France, was accused of “Jacobinism”; Consalvi, brought up in the legitimist atmosphere of the entourage of Cardinal York, was a convinced supporter of the divine right of kings generally and of Louis XVIII. in particular. But, though opposed to the principles of the Revolution, Consalvi was far from being a blind obscurantist, and he' recognized the urgent need for reform in the system of papal government. In this, despite bitter opposition, he made many significant changes. He permitted laymen to hold certain public offices, under surveillance of the prelates, organized a guard from 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 Consalvi took the leading part. In June 1801 he arrived in Paris, where his handsome presence, urbane manners, and conspicuous ability made him a general favourite. Even Napoleon, though enraged at the firmness with which he maintained the papal claims, could not resist his personal fascination. It was largely owing to Consalvi’s combined firmness and tact that the Concordat, as ultimately signed, was free from the objectionable clauses on which the First Consul had at first insisted. During the pope’s absence in Paris, at the coronation of Napoleon, Consalvi 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. “Tell Consalvi,” wrote the conqueror, still flushed with Austerlitz, “that if he loves his country he must either resign or do what I demand.” Consalvi did accordingly resign on the 17th of June 1807, and when in 1808 General 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 remarkable interview, received from Napoleon’s own lips 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 attend the ceremony of the emperor’s marriage with Marie Louise. For this display of independence he was imprisoned at Reims, and not released till some three years later, when Napoleon had extorted terms from the captive pope at Fontainebleau. On his release Consalvi hastened to his master’s assistance; and he was soon after allowed to resume his functions under the restored pontificate at Rome.
In 1814 Consalvi went, as the pope’s representative, to England to meet and confer with the allied sovereigns, and later in the year was sent as papal plenipotentiary to the congress of Vienna. Here he was successful in obtaining the restitution to the pope of the Marches (Ancona, Treviso and Fermo) and Legations (Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna), but he failed to prevent Austria from annexing the ancient papal possessions on the left bank of the Po and obtaining the right to garrison Ferrara and Comacchio. This led to his presenting at the close of the congress
