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In this week's letter
we bring you our painting of the month by Pierre Paul Prud'hon; an alluring and instantly recognisable portrait of the Empress Josephine. Next, there are some fascinating links to the history of Britain's first POW camp at Norman Cross in Huntingdonshire, where thousands of prisoners were detained over the course of the Napoleonic wars and many died. This week's '200 years ago' is a little-known article from the 1970s which sheds interesting light on the assumption about the re-organisation of the Comédie Française by the 'Decree of Moscow'... or should that be Paris? A look at the week's Moniteur in ‘150 years ago' reveals a lot about philanthropy in the Second Empire, and the establishment of micro-financing for the poor under the aegis of the Société du Prince Imperial. On the right hand side, there's a review of a newly published book on naval caricatures and in ‘Seen on the web', there's an engaging discussion of the role of history today, a podcast for you to download about the origins of meritocracy in Britain, and a talk on Napoleon in Russia in Pordenone (Italy). Enjoy!
Postscriptum
I would just like to take this opportunity to welcome Andrew Miles to the Napoleon.org team in this his first bulletin. We at the Fondation look forward to working with him on the site and at our new home in Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire. Bienvenue!
Peter Hicks
International Affairs Manager
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Painting of the Month
The Empress Josephine in the Park at Malmaison, by Pierre Paul Prud'hon
Little is known about the commission for this painting. Apparently, the initial idea came from Guillaume Constantin, curator of the Empress's collections at Malmaison, and from the painter Isabey. Probably begun in 1805, the work was not to be finished until the end of 1809. Prud'hon was most likely slowed up by his work on the painting Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing Crime. Many sketches are known, which reveal the path the painter took before finally coming to the definitive portrait. Indeed, this picture was to become the most celebrated image of the empress Josephine - an idealised figure, lost in her thoughts.
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Seen on the web
The Norman Cross Depot for Prisoners of War, the world's first prisoner of war camp...
Between 1793 and 1815, 200,000 prisoners of war were brought to Britain as a result of the Napoleonic wars. By 1796, the hulks and designated prisons where these captives were sent were full, and Sir Ralph Abercrombie's news that he would be sending 4,000 prisoners of war from the West Indies necessitated the construction of the world's first ever prisoner of war camp at Norman Cross near Peterborough. The location was ideal as it was near the ports of Lynn and Yarmouth and far enough away from London to prevent an effective revolt.
Occupying 42 hectares, the camp had capacity for 500 guards and 7,000 inmates, who were composed of men and women as well as children as young as 12; their nationalities representing the breadth of the European conflict, with French prisoners alongside those from Germany, Holland and Spain. A full history of the POW camp can read online here (external link). The Norman Cross preservation society has an excellent web site (external link) and for once, so does Wikipedia. And in addition to the return of the eagle organised by the society the site was the project of a Time Team dig in 2009, which unearthed the some of the graves of victims of a typhoid epidemic which swept the camp in 1800-1801, as well as revealing the efforts of the prisoners' more quotidien pastime: figurines made of wood and bone which they were encouraged to make and sell, a fascinating collection of which can be seen at Peterborough Museum. Photos of their finds can be seen here online (external link).
The camp was closed in 1814 as part of the Treaty of Paris and subsequently disassembled. In 1914 a statue of an eagle was erected to commemorate the 1,770 prisoners who died at the camp. In 2005, a service commemorating those who died was held between the Friends of Norman Cross and Le Souvenir Français at which the Duke of Wellington inaugurated the restored memorial.
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200 Years Ago
La Comédie Française: founded in Moscow?
The Comédie Française was founded in 1680 and closed in 1793 for a ‘subversive' production of Pamela. Re-opened by the Directory in 1799, it's accepted belief that the decree concerning the imperial re-organisation of the Comédie Française was signed by Napoleon on 15 October, 1812 at Moscow. In commemoration of this bicentenary, the Fondation brings you an aberrant spin on the events by legal historian Tony Sauvel, who asserts that rather than being signed on those last days in Russia, the decree was actually signed in Paris in early 1813. Get the full story here.
Of related interest is this article by Peter Hicks on Napoleon's relationship with the theatre.
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150 Years Ago
‘Micro-credits' for the deserving poor…
Through the week 13th-18th October, 1862, the Moniteur Universel printed daily lists of donors to the Société du Prince Imperial, Prêts d'Enfance au Travail detailing the names of benevolent donors and the amount donated.
Both the Emperor (under the influence of Saint-Simonism) and Empress were committed to improving the lot of the poor. This Société du Prince Imperial, founded by Empress Eugenie in April 1862 and named after her six-year-old son was yet another extension of her philanthropic interests. In a way not dissimilar to micro-financing common in developing countries today, the society aimed to help the working class establish and develop their commercial interests by providing them with micro-loans funded by donations. Not quite free of 19th century sentimentalism, the society's membership was composed of those under the age of 18; essentially, the children of the great and the good, who pledged to give 10 centimes a week to help their less fortunate counterparts through funding the industry of their parents. As well as the edifying sense that they were helping the poor with their ‘widow's mite', the children-members were also invited to a party held at the Tuileries on 8th May, 1863. This figurative use of children in philanthropy stemmed from the Empress' interest in the association of the Saint-Enfance, though it nevertheless relied on large cash subscriptions from its governing members and on donors, whose philanthropy was in turn publicised in the Moniteur, such as various members of the manufacture d'armes de Châtellerault on 17th October 1862.
Though power of appointments was reserved by the Empress, the society was represented at a community level by committees responsible for the allocation of loans. Founding members of the society included the Princess Marie-Clotilde, with Baroness Haussmann as treasurer, as well as the chief Rabbi of Paris. Between its foundation in 1862 and its decommission due to the war of 1870, the society had loaned a total of 7,280,118.25 francs to 25,600 recipients.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Andrew Miles
Historians and web editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N0 641, 12 - 18 OCTOBER 2012
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© 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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MAGAZINE
Just published
- Broadsides: Caricatures and the Navy 1756-1815,
by James Davey and Richard Johns
Read more here
Seen on the web (external links)
- A Point Of View: What is history's role in society?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19844685
- Podcast: 'The Origins of a Coming Ideal: Meritocracy in Britain 1750-1850'
http://ihrprojects.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/1176/
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
- Ernesto Damiani "In Russia con Napoleone: Memorie di un ufficiale italiano."
Biblioteca Civica, Pordenone (Italy) [09.11.12]
Full details
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