CODRONCHI, ANTONIO. - Bishop, b. at Imola on 8 Aug. 1748, d. at Ravenna on 16 Jan. 1826. Pius VI sent him to Turin in 1777 as internuncio, and on 14 Feb. 1785 appointed him bishop of Ravenna. In 1796 he saved the city from the massacre threatened by the French. He won the esteem of Bonaparte, who in 1801 summoned him to the Consulta of Lyons, where C. was able to obtain the declaration of the Catholic religion as the religion of the Italian Republic (26 Jan. 1802).
Napoleon showered him with honors and offices; but this did not prevent C., during the Council of Paris (June 1811), from affirming that the Italian episcopate, while remaining faithful to the Emperor, in matters concerning religion was bound to keep faith only with God and the Church. This proud attitude cost him Napoleon’s friendship, but, after the fall of the despot and C.’s return to Ravenna (1814), it did not spare him some hostility on the part of the zealots, especially Rivarola.