power and wealth. Nationalism and secularization meant an end to the corporate nature of the Church ; this was especially divisive for Catholics . For example, when priests took a civil oath of allegiance to the government, they thereby denied the corporate nature of the Church . Monastic orders were dissolved and their inhabitants pensioned off. Most of the monastic and diocesan real estate were confiscated by the government; these steps were taken without any consultation with Rome and with limited discussion with French Church officials. Napoleon resolved all issues through the Concordat of 1801 though many of the agreements were promptly ignored. After the defeat of the Vatican States and their incorporation into France , Pius VII was imprisoned in Savona and the struggle continued. Napoleon wished to settle these questions permanently and prompted his ministers to continue the effort even from the battlefield." Protestants , who had only been given some civil rights by the preRevolutionary Assembly, were also reorganized.
In this period of turmoil and debate during Napoleon ’s reign, Jews were also discussed. Some of Napoleon ’s advisors were friendly to the Jewish population, among them were Beugnot, Ségur and Regnault . Opposed was the highly influential Jean Etienne Marie Portalis (1746-1807), who was responsible for the Code Napoleon . Marshall Kellermann, Fontane, and Mollé were also hostile to Jews ." Jews were seen as different; they were a“nation within the nation” with peculiar customs and a different sex ethos; their primary interest was financial. Of course, they were also Christ killers . The 32,000 Ashkenazic and 3,500 Sephardic Jews were viewed differently. The Sephardim had sought rights beginning in the mid-seventeenth century; though their presence as Marranos had been tolerated, they were only recognized as a Jewish community in 1722. By that time they were well acculturated and they were of sufficient economic significance in Bordeaux and southern France to publicly demand equality. They saw the Jews of eastern France - Alsace and Loraine-. as poor, medieval, and problematic as they were heavily involved in