Mirabeau triumphed, because he was the man of the hour, giving voice to the unavenged wrongs and pent-up passions of millions. Maury fell back, step by step, with his face to the foe, making the conquerors pay dearly for their victory. On 2 November 1789, Catholic Church property that was held for purposes of church revenue was nationalized. On 13 February 1790, monastic vows were forbidden and all ecclesiastical orders and congregations were dissolved. On 12 July 1790 the Civil Constitution of the Clergy became law, provoking a schism between France and the Catholic Church, and the breaking off of diplomatic relations between Rome and Paris. His life was often in danger, and he received a letter from Louis XVI on 3 February 1791, recommending greater circumspection and prudence. But his ready wit always saved him, and it was said that one "bon mot" would preserve him for a month. He finally decided, however, that it was too dangerous for him to remain in France, and in October 1791 he fled to Bruxelles, then Coblenz, and finally Rome. When he did emigrate, he found himself regarded as a martyr to the church and the king. On 17 April 1792 Pope Pius VI appointed Maury to be his Nuncio in Frankfort, where the imperial diet intended to elect Francis II of Austria as Holy Roman Emperor. He appointed him Archbishop of Nicaea "in partibus" (Turkey) on 24 April 1792. He was consecrated in Rome in the Vatican Basilica at the altar of the Chair of Saint Peter on 1 May 1792 by Cardinal Francesco Saverio de Zelada. On 21 February 1794, Maury was named a cardinal by Pope Pius VI, and on 12 September was assigned the titular church of Santissima Trinità dei Monti in Rome. On the day he was named cardinal, he was also made bishop of Montefiascone in Italy. There he settled down, conducted a thorough diocesan visitation, and wrote a detailed report of the status of the diocese for the Sacred Congregation of the Council in Rome (15 November 1796). He held a diocesan synod for the clergy, and made judicious use of the exiled French clergy, improving the teaching at the diocesan seminary by appointing two doctors of the Sorbonne. In 1798, however, the French drove him from his diocese and from the Papal States, and all of his property and benefices were confiscated by order of General Berthier on 12 February 1798.