1799 - Religion

Religion

French forces take Pope Pius VI to France in March (see politics, 1798); a seizure deprives the pontiff of the use of his legs, he reaches Valence in southeastern France July 14, and he dies there August 29 at age 81 after a 24-year reign that has seen the decline of the ancien régime in France, a French invasion of Italy, and the rise of incredulity in Europe's Enlightenment (see 1800). The French sack the Benedictine abbey and monastery of Monte Cassino outside Naples, but it will be rebuilt as it has been many times before.

Roman Catholic missionary Pierre Pigneau de Béhaine dies at Qi Nhon, central Vietnam, October 9 at age 57 and is buried with full military honors at Saigon, having befriended the imperial heir Nguyen Phuc Anh but failed to convert him.