History of the Catholic Church
France remained basically Catholic. The Revolution failed to destroy the Catholic Church, and Napoleon's concordat of 1801 restored its status. The return of the Bourbons in 1814 brought back many rich nobles and landowners who supported the Church. However, few new priests were trained in the 1790–1814 period, and many left the church. The result was that the number of parish clergy plunged from 60,000 in 1790 to 25,000 in 1815, many of them elderly. Entire regions, especially around Paris, were left with few priests. On the other hand, some traditional regions held fast to the faith, led by local nobles and historic families. The comeback was slow—very slow in the larger cities and industrial areas. With systematic missionary work and support from Napoleon III, there was a comeback. Conservative Catholics held control of the national government, 1820–1830. However, most often played secondary political roles or had to fight the assault from republicans, liberals, socialists and seculars.