Historedia
EuropeEvent

Treaty of Tolentino

When
1797–1798
Where
Tolentino, Papal States; Papal Romagna region; Italy
Episodes
3

The Treaty of Tolentino, signed on 19 February 1797, imposed harsh surrender terms on the Papal States after a French invasion of the Romagna, ending nine months of negotiations during the War of the First Coalition.

Episodes

  1. February 1797 · Papal Romagna regionFrench Invasion of the Romagna

    In February 1797, 9,000 French soldiers invaded the Papal Romagna region, compelling the Pope to accept French terms.

  2. 19 February 1797 · Tolentino, Papal StatesSigning of the Treaty of Tolentino

    Revolutionary France and the Papal States signed a peace treaty at Tolentino on 19 February 1797, imposing surrender terms on the Papal side.

  3. 1798 · ItalyExtension of Treaty Provisions to Italy

    In 1798, part of the treaty's provisions was extended to apply to all of Italy through treaties with other Italian states.

Background and detail

Background. The treaty emerged from the Italian campaign of 1796–1797 during the War of the First Coalition. After nine months of negotiations between France and the Papal States, 9,000 French soldiers invaded the Papal Romagna region in February 1797, leaving the Pope no choice but to accept the French terms.

Terms of the Treaty. The treaty confirmed the harsh terms of the preceding armistice signed at Bologna, adding 15 million livre to an indemnity of 21 millions previously extracted from the Papal States, for a total of 36 million. It also imposed terms of surrender on the Papal side.

Aftermath and Opposition. Part of the treaty's provisions was extended to apply to all of Italy in 1798 through treaties with other Italian states. Opposition to the removal of artworks had earlier been voiced by Quatremère de Quincy, whose 1796 pamphlet Letters in Miranda argued that eradicating a work's context irreparably impairs its legibility.

Sources

  1. Treaty of Tolentino Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-14

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.