M5 Assignment 1: Primary and Secondary Source Worksheet Instructions (2nd half)
Jane Doe
HIST 111 May 30, 2017
Primary and Secondary Source Comparison
The Concordat of 1801
The primary source selected for this comparison was The Concordat of 1801 between
Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. This source was first published in 1801, went into effect
in 1802, and remained in place until 1905. The audience was French Catholics and clerics, as
well as other European rulers. It was an agreement between the French government and the
Roman Catholic Church on how the Church would operate in France. During the Revolutionary
Period (the 1790s), revolutionaries dismantled and banned the Catholic Church, seized its
properties, forced clerics to marry, invaded Rome, replaced the papal government of Rome with
a secular republic, and imprisoned Pope Pius VI in France until his death. (Films Media Group,
1997). After his ascent to the Consulship, Bonaparte recognized the benefits of allying with the
new Pope. The negotiations took place in Paris, France between Bonaparte and representatives of
Pope Pius VII. The final agreement began with the recognition “that the Roman, Catholic and
Apostolic religion is the religion of the great majority of French citizens” (Concordat, 1801,
para. 1). It reaffirmed some of the Revolutionary reforms to the Church: the French government
continued to pay salaries for clerics, clerics swore an Oath of Fidelity to France, non-worship
buildings seized from the Church would not be returned, the French government authorized
Church decrees before the Church could implement them in France, and the French leader
appointed bishops and archbishops (Concordat, 1801). In return, France returned all worship
buildings, bishops appointed cures, dioceses could possess seminaries, and the pope became
Choose a primary source
from the list provided in
the instructions.
relevant in France again (Concordat, 1801; Films Media Group, 1997). The authors’ biases are
apparent as well. The agreement heavily favored French interests and the government’s
oversight of the Catholic Church in France. The impact of the primary
source on history was immense. It defined the relationship between the
French government and the Catholic Church for the next 100 years, as well
as changed the role of the papacy (Films Media Group, 1997).
The secondary source selected was a scholarly journal article published in The Catholic
Historical Review. Its author was Sr. M. Barbara, who was a Catholic nun. The audience for
this article would be students, faculty and/or history lovers trying to understand the relationship
between the French and the Roman Catholic Church. Barbara explains her thesis, “a
retrospective survey should be taken of the periods in which contending and far-reaching
forces began to act against the Church in France” (Barbara, 1926, p. 1). The article was
published in 1926, making it irrefutably a secondary source. The article summarizes the
reasons for the Church’s declining popularity during the 18th century: one third of the land in
France belonged to the Church, the Church was tax-exempt, and France faced an economic
crisis (Barbara, 1926). It claims the Concordat and its re-establishment of Catholicism ensured
100 years of peace in France (Barbara, 1926). Prior to reading this article, I understood the
revolutionaries were anti-Church but I did not understand why.
When you read the Concordat, you realize it favors the French. On its face, it does not
make sense why the Pope agreed to it. By reading the secondary source, the historical context
becomes clear. Barbara summarizes the rise of anti-Catholic sentiment throughout the 18th
century. Her focus on Pope Pius VI’s imprisonment, and the consequent feeling in Europe that
the papacy was irrelevant, really brought the Concordat into focus. You see Bonaparte concretize
The
secondary
source is
identified
and the
questions
listed in
item 5 of
the
instructions
are
thoroughly
answered
in regard to
the source.
The
primary
source is
identified
and the
questions
listed in
item 5 of
the
instructions
are
thoroughly
answered
in regard to
the source.
One secondary source
article is selected for
comparison on a
similar topic (See 2 on
instructions).
the Revolutionary period reforms while he acknowledged most French citizens were Catholic.
Yet he gives some concessions to the Pope that were largely symbolic: return of urban centers of
worship and limited shared power over ecclesiastical matters. Through Pius VII’s agreement, he
reinvigorated the role of the papacy in a post-revolutionary and increasingly secularized world.
To truly understand the perspectives of history it is necessary to read and consider a primary
source such as The Concordat of 1801 in context. This is where reading secondary sources are
most helpful
A paragraph summarizing what you
learned by comparing the primary
source with your selected secondary
source. This is not just a summary of
the sources, but what you learned
about different source types.
Works Cited
Barbara, M. Sr. (1926). Napoleon Bonaparte and the restoration of Catholicism in France. The
Catholic Historical Review 12(2). Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America
Press.
Durnham, R. (Ed.) (n.d.). The Concordat of 1801. The Napoleon Series. Retrieved May 30, 2017,
from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/diplomatic/c_concordat.html
The pope and the people: Saints and sinners – the history of the Popes [Video file]. (1997).
Retrieved May 30, 2017 from
https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?xtid=55048&loid=213622&tScript=0
Include a properly formatted bibliography that includes your chosen primary source, the
video clip associated with it on the Assignment Sheet, and the secondary source you chose
about your primary source. This is in APA format, but you may also use MLA or Chicago
style for Humanities. In this example, the Microsoft Word reference tool was used to create
an APA Works Cited page.