The Battle of Lodi was fought on 10 May 1796, giving the general of the army of the French Republic, N. Bonaparte, a claim to having routed Austrian forces. The claim was actually established after he won the Battle of Mantua, the battle at the Arcola, and the Battle of Rivoli. On 27 June an armistice was arranged between Napoleon and the papal armies of Pope Pius VI, in which the Pope lost control of the March of Ferrara and Bologna. On 1 February 1797 the city of Imola was occupied by the French. The Bishop of Imola, Cardinal Chiaramonti, was ordered by the Pope not to fall into the hands of the French, and therefore he fled from Imola to Cesena, intending to head for Rome. At Spoleto, however, he received a plea from the French magistrates and Bonapartists in Imola to return, but after writing to the Pope, who pointed out that Chiaramonti had no way of controlling them, he continued on his journey to Rome. In fear of being supplanted on his episcopal throne by some French-sponsored intruder, he obtained papal permission to return.