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Articles

Over a thousand articles about the First and Second Empires, available here online free, including transcriptions of historical documents and exclusive English translations of scholarly articles. Search by author below or by key word using the search button above.

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Articles : 1379

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Talking Point with Peter Hicks: Napoleon, the bust of his son, the store ship captain, and his celebrated letters

In May 1817, three store ships bringing supplies to the island of St Helena anchored off Jamestown. First to arrive on circa 22 May was Ocean (under Captain Johnson), then came Experiment (commanded by Captain Dacre) and finally Baring (whose skipper was Captain Lamb). Owing…
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Talking point with Rebecca Young: All eyes on France – the Bicentenary in the international media

As you know, here at the Fondation we’ve been working towards this Bicentenary for many months! Our “2021 Année Napoléon” label now has over a hundred partners, naturally mostly in France but also internationally, places and institutions closely connected to Napoleon or to France. We…
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A private visit to the Maison Chaumet, October 2020

In October 2020, the Fondation Napoléon team visited the recently renovated salons at the Maison Chaumet at 12 Place Vendôme, where we were taken “backstage” to see some of the rarely displayed treasures created by Nitot for the Imperial family that will be part of the…
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[2021 Année Napoléon] A look back in pictures and videos at the ceremonies of 5 May 2021, in Paris and on St Helena

Here are some images and videos of the ceremonies held on 5 May, at the Dôme des Invalides and at the Institut de France in Paris, as well as those which took place on 5, 6 and 9 May at the French Domains on St…
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Talking Point with Thierry Lentz: A national tribute? Check! Now the Année Napoléon can really take off

And so it was, on 5 May 2021, that the head of the French State in person paid a double tribute to Napoleon I: firstly, in his speech at the Institut de France, and secondly, in his presence at the Invalides. That being said, it…
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Who was present at Napoleon’s death?

Servants, the Companions, their wives and children, the doctors, British officers or priest… This factfile is a key to all the people represented in Steuben’s famous picture of Napoleon’s death at Longwood House on st Helena. Click here to read about this famous painting by Baron…
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[2021 Année Napoléon] 5 May 1921, the centenary of Napoleon’s death

As we commemorate the bicentenary of Napoleon’s death in 2021, the 5th of May 1921, the 100th anniversary of the Emperor’s death, comes to mind, a commemoration that took place in the aftermath of World War One. What follows here describes the events of one hundred…
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“Four, for the gospel makers” – The eye-witness memoirs of Napoleon on St Helena

Not all those who were part of Napoleon’s life on St Helena wrote about it, not all were still there at his death and indeed those that did give accounts did not do so under the same conditions (some were diaries kept on a regular…
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Extract from Letter from Hudson Lowe to Lord Bathurst 14 May 1821 describing the construction of Napoleon’s tomb on St Helena

This transcription of part of a letter* from Sir Hudson Lowe to British Minister for War and the Colonies, Lord Bathurst, dated 14 May 1821, five days after Napoleon’s burial, is a detailed description of the interior structure of Napoleon’s tomb in the Sane Valley…
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Talking Point with Peter Hicks > Keeping an eye on Boney (April 2021)

An interesting document held in the Lowe Papers at the British Library in London sheds light on the broader surveillance methods used on St Helena at the time of Napoleon’s captivity. In the manuscript Mss. Add. 20,204, two period documents (fols 72 ff and 92…