«Conservare la più perfetta neutralità». La Santa Sede e il conflitto franco-britannico negli anni del primo Impero

Historiography dedicated to papal diplomacy has often identified the Congresses of Ljubljana (1821) and Verona (1822) as a pivotal moment in the development of the concept of the 'perfect neutrality' of the Holy See in times of conflict, underlining how this principle influenced the actions of the papacy throughout the 19th century, a period marked by repeated tensions across the European continent. Through an analysis of extensive, previously unpublished documentation preserved in French and Vatican archives, the paper backdates the elaboration of the concept to the period of the First Empire, identifying its full affirmation in the responses offered by the Holy See to the repeated demands advanced by Napoleon to involve Pope Pius VII in the conflict between France and Britain.