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EDITORIAL
2011 is looking good…
Welcome back to napoleon.org. We hope you agree with us when we say that this coming year is packed with Napoleonic delights.
As for First Empire commemorations, we've got the bicentenary of the birth of the King of Rome, son of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise. We'll be putting together a focus on him on the site around his birthday (20 March) as a prelude to the Souvenir Napoléonien's conference (in partnership with the Fondation) dedicated entirely to the lad, to be held in Paris at the Ecole Militaire on 11 April, 2011.
Then on the political side, 1811 was a year in which Russia and France finally dropped their masks and slid towards open hostility, in the Iberian Peninsula, events still remained critical, with Britain pressing French troops hard in many places, and even further afield Simon Bolivar liberated Venezuela. We'll be bringing you details of all that, and also more specifically French subjects such as the founding of Paris' first Fire Brigade, brought by the by the emperor's role as proto-fireman during the fire of the Austrian embassy in Paris the previous year.
Nor will the Second Empire period be forgotten. 1861 saw the final triumphal vindication of the Risorgimento and the unification of Italy, and the other side of the Atlantic saw the launch of the French invasion of Mexico.
Furthermore, we too will be making history with the publication of volume 8 of the Correspondance générale de Napoléon for the year 1808, and two further volumes of Napoleon's memoirs (Tallandier).
And so while we, the Fondation Napoléon team, get stuck in to the year, we thank all 8,500 or so* of you all for your continued support (indeed, we'll be asking for more in a special letter next week, but you'll have to wait and see what that's about…) and we wish you an excellent 2011!
* The number of recipients of the Bulletin. The site for the second year running totalled 3.3 million sessions.
NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON
Trustee appointments and co-optations:
Several modifications have been made to the composition of the Board of the Trustees of the Fondation Napoléon. The Souvenir Napoléonien has appointed Dr Jacques Palombo as a replacement for Dr Maurice Bernard-Catinat, whose term of office had come to an end. On the other hand, Gérard Moyaux, whose term of office had also come to an end, was voted in a second time.
The Board also co-opted two «qualified personalities», simultaneously renewing the mandate of Victor-André Masséna, Prince d'Essling, and bringing in Olivier Fouquet, section president at the French Conseil d'Etat, to fill the seat vacated by the Baron Gourgaud.
Election of a new Steering Committee
At its sitting of 6 January, 2011, the Board of Trustees elected a new steering committee. Victor-André Masséna was re-elected president. He will be assisted by Christian Fileaux, President of the Souvenir Napoléonien (Vice-President), Gérard Moyaux (secretary), Comte Nicolas Walewski (treasurer) and Olivier Fouquet (Deputy Treasurer).
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BOOK OF THE MONTH
Napoleon: His Life, His Battles, His Empire, by David Chanteranne & Emmanuelle Papot
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of history's greatest leaders. Famed for his outstanding success on the battlefield, which saw France become the greatest continental imperial power since that of Rome, his enduring influence extends far beyond the military sphere, shaping the Europe we know today. Napoleon: His Life, His Battles, His Empire includes twenty items of painstakingly researched facsimile memorabilia which give an insight into the mind of this extraordinary man who, from modest beginnings on the small island of Corsica, became Emperor of France and its vast empire. It examines the battles which made him a legend - Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Wagram - and looks at his social and political reforms which revolutionized the western world. And one of the authors is a colleague from the French side of the side. Bravo Emmanuelle!
NAPOLEON.ORG
Digital library update
There are now over 5,000 references available through the Fondation Napoléon's digital library, including more than 1,500 consultable articles.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Biography: Marie-Joseph-Blaise Chénier, litterateur and legislator
Marie-Joseph Chénier was born in Constantinople (modern day Turkey) on 28 August, 1764 and died in Paris on 11 January, 1811. He began his career in the army as a sous-lieutenant in the regiment Lescure-Dragons in Niort, but he soon give this up to become a writer; one of his first works, a play entitled Azémire, proved a failure not only at the Théâtre-Français in Paris but also later at the court theatre in Fontainebleau. On 4 November, 1789, another of his plays, Charles IX et la Saint Barthélémy, was performed at the Théâtre-Français. This time he was to meet with extraordinary success, despite the troubled contemporary political circumstances. Indeed, it was to fix Marie-Joseph in the public's imagination, and he became an overnight star with the populace.
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KIDS' CORNER
Toys during the Second Empire
During the Second Empire, toys were still on the whole considered a rare and expensive luxury available only to the richest of families. These toys were very expensive to make because they were still being made by hand. However, toys such as flutes, small trumpets and pinwheels were cheaper to produce and could thus offer children from poorer families hours of fun. There were not many toys in the countryside either, and children would often make their own playthings from bits of wood, straw, rags and other objects found about the house.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
"Chess 1812": Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander I on the chessboard
2010 may have been France-Russia year, but with 2012 not far away and preparations in full-swing for the bicentenary of Napoleon's Russian campaign, Anna Nova, a Russian jewellery house, has posted images of its "Chess 1812" set, featuring figures from the general staffs of the two rulers playing the roles of chess pieces on the board (including Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander I as the respective white and black kings).
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WHAT'S ON
Napoleonic talks in London
Coming up in the next couple of weeks are two Napoleonic talks. The first, taking place on 13 January at 12.30pm at the National Army Museum in London (UK) is Mick Crumplin's talk entitled "Support for Wellington's Army: Medical Aspects of the Peninsular War". The second, the University of Bristol's Dr Kirsty Reid on "Medical authority afloat: Royal Naval surgeons on convict ships, c. 1815–68", takes place on 25 January at 5.15pm at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London (UK). Both talks are free.
200 YEARS AGO
The Palais du Roi de Rome
On 13 January, 1811, Napoleon visited the montagne de Chaillot, a hill today part of Paris' 16th arrondissement, which was to be the site for the Palais du Roi de Rome. In embryonic form since June 1810, when the idea of a grand palace erected at the summit of the hill was implanted in the emperor's brain, the construction project, work on which began in February 1811, dragged on as Napoleon's concerns regarding its cost and design features ("I want a little chapel, a small theatre [...] and above all else, [...] no stagnant water surrounding the palace") resulted in Fontaine, the architect in charge, redrawing his plans. Intended, as the name suggests, for Napoleon's son (born on 20 March, 1811), the conflicts of the coming years - the Russian campaign and the War of the Sixth Coalition - were to put an end to the project. The French emperor was said to have mused once to his entourage, in tones that would prove prophetic:
"How is it that in France there are so many great works started and so few finished?"
"It is because France has never had a man like you," [came the answer].
"No, replied Napoleon, it is because France, ever the envy of her neighbours, has always had wars to support: funds are needed to build and war has allowed none of her kings the time or the means to do so." [Recorded in Résidences de souverains: parallèle entre plusieurs résidences de souverains de France, d'Allemagne, de Suède, de Russie, d'Espagne, et d'Italie, C. Percier and P. F. L. Fontaine, 1833]
Napoleon was to prove no exception to this trend.
150 YEARS AGO
Europe's leaders eye each other warily...
As 1860 rolled into 1861, Europe's rulers were to enjoy little respite from the political uncertainty that had held sway the previous year. Distrust continued to dominate, with Lord Clarendon remarking in a letter dated 7 January, 1861, to Lord Cowley, British Ambassador to France:
"The Queen is uneasy, I understand, and thinks that some fresh Italian scheme is brewing, but if this is so, it is only known to the two Liberators..." [p. 215, The Paris Embassy during the Second Empire]
Victor Emmanuel II's New Year's Day speech, delivered during a reception of the Piedmontese municipal body, probably did little to assuage these fears:
"The progress of public affairs, especially those concerning Italy, has been satisfactory, but the greatest care and above all the upmost harmony will be needed to triumph over such obstacles that still remain to be vanquished."
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 566, 7 - 13 January, 2011
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation?
© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
STATISTIC OF THE WEEK
For the second year in a row, napoleon.org received 3.3 million hits over the course of 2010.
MAGAZINE
Just published
- Palmerston, by Dave Brown
Press review
- French History, vol. 24, n° 4, December 2010
- BBC History Magazine: "Napoleon's Jews: a law unto themselves"
- First Empire, issue n° 116, January/February 2011
- The Telegraph online: book review of Palmerston, by David Brown
- History Today January 2011
- "Chess 1812": Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander I square up on the chess board
Seen on the web (external links)
- Plan, map and view of the Palais du Roi de Rome (three images)
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Talks
- "Support for Wellington's Army: Medical Aspects of the Peninsular War", London, UK [13/01/2011]
Full details
- "Medical authority afloat: Royal Naval surgeons on convict ships, c. 1815–68", London, UK [25/01/2011]
Full details
NAPOLEON.ORG
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
NAPOLEONICA.LA REVUE
Available free on Cairn.info
NAPOLEONICA ARCHIVES ONLINE
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Winter opening hours
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