Which pope presided at Napoleon's coronation as Emperor of the French in 1804? Pius VII.
Pope Pius VII presided at Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation as Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804.
Napoleon invited the pope to give the ceremony religious legitimacy and to strengthen the standing of his new imperial dynasty. The ritual combined Roman Catholic, French royal, Carolingian, and revolutionary elements, making it unlike the traditional coronations of French kings at Reims.
The ceremony also became famous because Napoleon took the crown and placed it on his own head before crowning Joséphine. Pius VII had anointed Napoleon and participated in the liturgy, but Napoleon’s self-coronation emphasized that his authority rested on his own achievement and the will of the French people. This event is sometimes confused with Napoleon’s later coronation as King of Italy in Milan in 1805, when he used the Iron Crown of Lombardy.