be a way for the increasingly marginalized papal state to "find relevance in a new system of bloc state power relationships". This position was first articulated by Consalvi at the time of the 1821 Neapolitan revolt against Austria. Consalvi wrote, "The Holy Father, because of his position as Visible head of the Church, and as an essentially peaceful sovereign, will continue to maintain ...a perfect neutrality toward all nations".<ref>Brady, Joseph H., Rome and the Neapolitan Revolution of 1820-1821: A Study in Papal Neutrality", New York. Columbia University Press, 1937, p. 108</ref> For the remainder of the pontificate of Pius VII, Consalvi was the virtual ruler of Rome. Consalvi went on to reform the administration of Rome and to some extent modernized the city. He was said to be so much in control of the pope that Pius would have to wait at the gates of paradise until the cardinal came from purgatory with the keys. He concluded another Concordat with France in 1817 and in 1818 was instrumental in the re-establishment of the English College. He retired when Pius died in 1823. At the time of his own death the following year, he headed the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith to which he had just been appointed a few days prior. Although a consummate diplomat and man of the world, Consalvi has been called "one of the purest glories of the Church of Rome". He secured the Protestant artist Thorwaldsen's right to create the burial monument for Pope Pius VII in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Consalvi died in 1824 and is buried in the Church of San Marcello al Corso. Works Decisiones Sacrae Romanae Rotae coram R.P.D. Hercule Consalvi, ejusdem Sacrae Rotae auditore, nunc S.R.E. Diacono Cardinali tituli S. Mariae ad Martyres, S[anctis]s[i]mi D.N. Papae Pii VII. Status, Breviumque a secretis by Ercole Consalvi; Alexander Spetia; Catholic Church. Rota Romana. Romae : Typis Bernardini Olivieri typographi Archigymnasii Romani, 1822. Mémoires Paris : Henri Plon, 1864 Mémoires Paris : Second Edition with considerable augmentation and notes by Jacques Crétineau-Joly, 1866 Memorie del Cardinale Ercole Consalvi, Mario Nasalli Rocca, Roma : A. Signorelli 1950 Memoiren des Cardinals Hercules Consalvi, Staatssecretair Sr. Heiligkeit Pius VII Paderborn : Dr. u. V. der Junfermann'schen Buchh. (J. C. Page, Wittwe), 1870 Biography Cenni biografici sul cardinale Ercole Consalvi Venezia, 1824 References Further reading Ellis, John Tracy. Cardinal Consalvi and Anglo-Papal Relations, 1814-1824