Ambrogio Caiani

Dr. Ambrogio Caiani is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Kent, specializing in Revolutionary France, Napoleonic Italy, and the history of Catholicism. He holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge (2009) and has taught at the Universities of Greenwich, York, and Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford) before joining Kent in 2013. His research examines the intersection of political power, religion, and monarchy in early modern Europe, with a focus on the French Revolution, Napoleon’s empire, and post-revolutionary Catholic renewal.

• Affiliations: Centre for the Study of Global Cultures and Encounters at the University of Kent
• Key Projects: Organized international conferences on the European Restorations (2016) and authored To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII 1800-1815 (2021)

Research interests include the conceptualization of the Ancien Régime, the politics of religion during the Age of Revolutions, and the role of diplomacy in imperial systems. His recent work explores the Catholic Church’s adaptation to revolutionary and democratic changes from 1700–1903, culminating in his 2023 book Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World.

Publications span journals like Historical Journal, English Historical Review, and Journal of Ecclesiastical History, with a focus on Napoleon’s relationship with the papacy, post-restoration statecraft, and the cultural legacy of monarchical symbolism.