After his death, Louis Veuillot’s descendants found a series of short studies on the men of his time among his papers. Veuillot had never intended these for publication. The subject of one such profile was Eugène Taconet, the owner of l’Univers until its suppression in 1860. He had saved the paper from … Read more
Having lost L’Univers and proving unable to publish another newspaper in Belgium, Louis Veuillot faced a very gloomy prospect. His family’s livelihood depended on the newspaper. Its suppression threatened them with poverty. He received many job offers. Some were tempting. Nonetheless, he refused them all so he would be free to pursue … Read more
Pope Pius IX’s condemnation of the Count of Montalembert and the Congress of Catholic Scientists (sometimes called the first Mechlin Conference), as well as other measures taken by the Holy See, slowed the momentum of liberal Catholics. The second Mechlin Conference, held in 1864, no longer had such intense liberal hues. Montalembert … Read more
Napoleon III signed the order suppressing l’Univers on January 29, 1860. When the police officer arrived with the order, the editorial staff of l’Univers was assembled in the newspaper’s offices. After the order was read, the editors embraced each other. They promised to remain united until the newspaper could be published again. … Read more
Not content with Napoleon III’s peace treaty with Austria, the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont continued to entangle itself in Italian politics. True, King Vitorio Emanuel had dismissed his Prime Minister, the Count di Cavour. The king also recalled to Turin, the agitators his former minister had distributed throughout Italy. However, on the other … Read more
When the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 was over, the French bishops abandoned the prudent attitude that circumstances had imposed on them. By acts and statements, they began defending the rights of the Holy See, which were threatened by the Emperor’s Italian policy. Napoleon III faced an unexpected difficulty. Initially, he felt encouraged … Read more
After the peace with Austria, the general amnesty granted to the French Government’s enemies in 1859 canceled the two official warnings l’Univers had received up to that time. It also obliged the newspaper and Louis Veuillot to exercise some caution in combating the Emperor’s revolutionary policy. However, Veuillot knew that the advantage … Read more
Napoleon III’s political reversal, which supported the Italian revolutionaries, was carefully prepared in secrecy. At the same time, articles in government newspapers gradually shaped public opinion to accept that radical change. Two episodes suffice to show the Emperor’s disloyalty toward Pope Pius IX. In 1859, an anonymous book titled Emperor Napoleon III … Read more
While the revolutionary tendencies of Napoleon III’s government were becoming increasingly apparent, his attitude towards the Holy See gradually changed. At the beginning of the Second Empire, France protected Pius IX against the Italian Carbonarians. However, after Orsini’s attempted assassination of the Emperor in 1858, the situation changed. Sure of having captured … Read more
The assassination of Paris Archbishop Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour in 1857 and the failure of the pamphlet, L’Univers jugé par lui-même completely changed the nature of the offensive against Veuillot and his newspaper, l’Univers. Its enemies understood that doctrinal disputes would not achieve their goals. For his part, the new Cardinal Archbishop, François-Nicholas-Madeleine Morlot, … Read more