Giovanni Battista Caprara

Italian diplomat
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Quick Facts
Born:
May 29, 1733, Bologna, Papal States
Died:
June 21, 1810, Paris (aged 77)

Giovanni Battista Caprara (born May 29, 1733, Bologna, Papal States—died June 21, 1810, Paris) was a Roman Catholic churchman and diplomat who negotiated between the Vatican and Napoleon Bonaparte. After serving as papal vice legate of Ravenna and nuncio at various places (1767–92), Caprara was named cardinal-priest in 1792 and bishop of Jesi in 1800. Despite his long diplomatic career, Caprara was too timid and pliant to be an effective defender of papal interests in a period of exceptional difficulty, including negotiations with the Holy Roman emperor Joseph II. Knowing Caprara’s weaknesses, Napoleon requested that he be appointed legate in ...(100 of 167 words)