Cannons boomed across the docks in a fifteen-gun salute. Then the orchestra struck up the solemn Te Deum.
Church officials led by Archbishop Giovio of Avignon stood respectfully to the left of the red carpet. To the right, Louis XVI's nephew, the Duke of Berry, stood with a host of nobles on behalf of the French Royal Family.
Then came the customary rites: kissing the cross, sprinkling holy water, and receiving the nobles' bows one by one. The more than two hundred citizens of Marseille who had come to welcome him looked no less devout.
Only then did Pius VI finally breathe a sigh of relief.
On the ship to Marseille Port, Archbishop Antonelli and the others had warned him that they might be placed under strict watch once they reached France. The French would then likely force them to vote at the Sacred Congregation and hand control of the Holy See to the French Church. "His Majesty the King and His Highness the Regent will welcome you in Avignon, Holy Father," the Duke of Berry said respectfully as he opened the carriage door for the Pope himself. "His Highness was concerned that the journey would tire you, so he arranged a train especially for you."
Pius VI smiled and nodded, then turned to give Archbishop Antonelli a glare.
The French might be forceful in politics, but when the Holy See was in danger, they had devoutly taken up their role as its protectors. He had even prepared himself to go to Paris as a "prisoner."
But the Duke of Berry had just told him plainly that their destination was Avignon.
That was the Holy See's territory. Though it lay in southern France, the entire city's laws, administration, and taxes had always been managed by officials appointed by the Holy