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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN N°684, 4 - 10 OCTOBER, 2013
EDITORIAL > "In the beginning was Napoleon"
Our Napoleonic period is liminal. Liminal from the Latin word Limen meaning not only a boundary ‘not to be crossed' (such as the famous ‘limen' or frontier keeping the barbarians out of the Roman Empire) but also a threshold or doorway, the step you have to take in order to enter a new world. Whilst Napoleon thought he was placing a French limen against barbarians on the Roman model “wider still and wider”, he was in fact (here echoing the well-known words of German historian Thomas Nipperdey ‘in the beginning was Napoleon') acting as necessary threshold through which the German-speaking lands of the early 19th century had to pass. In Prussia and in Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, and the other lands of the Confederation of the Rhine, the influence was indirect – but the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed, and with it disappeared the bishoprics, free towns and palatinates of the old world, to be replaced by a federation of a middle Germany ready for change and modernity. On the other hand, in Westphalia, in Hannover and in the Rhineland, territories under direct French rule, the soldiers of the Grande Armée and the administrators of the Grand Empire, as they installed the apparatus of the Napoleonic state machine, injected not only the seductive ideas of the French Revolution, but also provided opportunities for the middle classes in these regions to leap the structural log jam typified by the ancien régime state structures, enabling the latter to reach previously unimaginable heights of employment, influence and wealth on the (largely) even playing fields of law (via the Code) and administration (via the prefectures and courts) in the departments. Though these lands would in the end reject Napoleon and with him French hegemony, the structures that hegemony left behind would in fact transcend the unification not only of Germany but also of Europe. As a result of this, in two weeks' time, the site of one of the Napoleonic period's bloodiest encounters, Leipzig, will be celebrating that Europe of security, legality and fairness which was the goal (if not the result) of that child of the Napoleonic period, Vienna Congress in 1815, and which remains ‘work in progress'. The 60-page pamphlet of events at Leipzig on its own is proof enough of the critical importance of the study of the Napoleonic moment for the creation of Europe today.
Peter Hicks, International Relations Manager
FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS > "Mother and baby doing well"
We are delighted to announce the birth of Victoria, daughter of Pauline Bulot, the person in charge of the collection at the Fondation Napoleon. We wish the mother, father and baby all the best!
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BOOK OF THE MONTH > Steve Benson and Ron Toelke: Waterways of War: The War of 1812, Seaway Trail, Inc., 2013
This historical atlas is a traveller's guide to the War of 1812 forts, battlefields, and historic sites along America's byways in New York and Pennsylvania. Packed full of beautiful illustrations, the guidebook comprises three main sections: an overview of the war as a whole; a more detailed look at the war across the Great Lakes; and a focus on the significant events that occurred along the present-day Great Lakes Seaway Trail. It contains period maps, period and contemporary artwork, and recent photographs from a variety of public & private sources.
> Our French Book of the Month is Patrice Guéniffey's excellent biography of Bonaparte, Paris: NRF Gallimard, 2013 (soon to be available in English).
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WHAT'S ON
The Battle of Leipzig bicentenary, the Fondation Napoléon's opera offer (Paris), the War of 1812 and the Masséna Society call for papers.
LEIPZIG >
> Exhibition “Heroes Made to Measure”, on the myth of the founding of Germany, mainly based on the 1813 events. Until 5 January, 2014.
> Exhibition "Bicentenary of the Battle of Nations in Leipzig". Until 26 October 2013.
> Commemorative day of the Battle of Nations at the local museum of Rötha on 12 October.
Full programme of the multiplicity of commemorative events of the Battle of Nations in Leipzig
PARIS OPERA OFFER > La Vestale by Spontini
The Fondation Napoléon is pleased to announce a special partnership with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris regarding the new production of Napoleon's allegedly favourite opera: La Vestale by Gaspare Spontini. 160 years after it was last performed in Paris, do not miss this 2013 production if you can. There is a 30% discount on normal ticket prices for readers of this Bulletin. Simply call the box-office and use the special offer word "Napoleon". Book early as there are only a limited number of tickets available. The famous mezzo-soprano will perform the title-role. Click on the title for full performance details (in French).
This is the second time that the Fondation Napoleon has been a partner in a performance of works by Spontini. Ten years ago at the Cathédrale St-Louis des Invalides in Paris, the Fondation Napoléon sponsored the first performance since 1850 of Spontini's opera Fernand Cortez ou la conquête du Mexique (in French) which Napoleon I had commissioned.
WAR OF 1812 >
> 5 October – As part of the War of 1812 commemorative events, there will be a ceremony on Saturday to unveil a plaque for the Battle of Moraviantown at the Tecumseh monument in Chatham, Ontario (Canada).
> Also on 5 October, day-long commemorative events and several concerts will take place for the bicentenary of the Battle of the River Raisin during the War of 1812 in River Raisin Battlefield, Monroe County (USA).
> 6 October – Still on the subject of the War of 1812, Neil O'Brien will give a talk entitled “Battle of Lake Erie” in Allen County at the Fort Wayne History Center (USA) on Sunday 6 October.
> 9 October – Another series of lectures on the War of 1812 is taking place in Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada). On Monday 9 October, historian Sherman Zavitz will talk about “The Canadian Niagara Portage” from 7 to 8:30pm.
MASSÉNA SOCIETY CALL FOR PAPERS >
> And don't forget! If you are a graduate student, there is still time to send your paper proposal to the Masséna Society, Inc. for the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era – the deadline is on 15 October.
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EXHIBITION >"Napoleon's Sisters" at the Musée Marmottan in Paris
The Marmottan Museum is currently presenting an exceptional exhibition on "Napoleon's Sisters". It is a unique opportunity to admire portraits of the Bonaparte family, together with objects, furniture, jewels and clothes which belonged to Elisa, Pauline, Caroline, and their children. The exhibition shows the rise to power of the whole family, as Napoleon himself climbed the social ladder, and includes works of art from private family collections and from French and Italian National Museums. If you are in Paris in the near future, don't miss it! Exhibition closes on 26 January, 2014.
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PRESS REVIEW SPECIAL > A Portrait of Napoleon attributed to Jacques-Louis David
You may have read that a painting of Napoleon, formerly identified as a copy, has recently been attributed by an English expert to Jacques-Louis David himself. Of course, if this were the case, the painting's value would soar. However, not everyone agrees that the attribution is correct. The French newspaper, Le Figaro, has recently presented a very different view of the painting. Indeed the underpaint bears the signature of David's assistant, David Rouget.
Read the articles in our Press Review and see what you think.
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DIGITAL LIBRARY > Ferogio and Girard: Funérailles de l'Empereur, 1841
This week, we recommend you peruse the extraordinary album of lithographies illustrating all of the events surrounding the repatriation of Napoleon's mortal remains to France and the ceremonies that accompanied this extraordinary journey, which ended at Les Invalides in Paris on 15 December, 1840.
200 YEARS AGO > 8 October: Bavaria joined the coalition with the Treaty of Ried
Bavaria found itself in an increasingly difficult position in the first days of October. With the allied armies on her doorstep and Napoleon unable, and perhaps unwilling, to send her help against her traditional enemy Austria, Bavaria as a close ally of France and key member of the Confederation of the Rhine was facing military defeat and then territorial dismantlement. Though attempts were made in the negotiations by Bavarian negotiator Wrede (advised by Montgelas and King Maximilian Joseph) to maintain strict neutrality, in the end Bavaria came over into the coalition as Austria's ally, with Austria guaranteeing Bavaria's sovereignty and independence and promising complete compensation in contiguous German territory in return for the lands it would have to hand over to Austria at the peace. Furthermore, 36,000 troops were also placed at Austria's disposal. This defection from the French cause led directly to that of Würtemmberg and the collapse of the Confederation of the Rhine.
8-11 October: Napoleon fails to catch and defeats Blücher's army at Düben
Having managed to inveigle Bernadotte into collaborating thoroughly with his forces, Blücher and von Bülow (with their respective North German and Silesian armies) had crossed the Elbe and were stationed around Düben. News of Blücher's movements had reached the Emperor on 5 October, and the latter hoped to catch and defeat Blücher in the south before Schwartzenberg's 200,000 could reach Leipzig. Blücher and Bernadotte however retreated west away from Napoleon's forces, crossing the Saale river and finally reaching Halle. Despite French pursuit of the allies along the right bank of the Elbe, their attempts in the end came to nothing. Napoleon was forced to leave Düben and to fall back to Leipzig.
150 YEARS AGO > Nadar's aerostat
On 4 October, 1863, Nadar, the famous French Second-Empire photographer, launched an invention which the Moniteur described a day later as the biggest aerostatic balloon in the world. Indeed, it was much more than a mere hot-air balloon: it comprised two superimposed balloons, 90 metres in circumference, a compensating balloon, and a two-storey basket. It was made of 20,000 metres of silk and could carry a payload of up to nine tons. The Moniteur reported how the crowd marvelled at the take-off and wondered where the aerostat would land. When the paper went to press, journalists imagined that The Giant could have crossed into Germany. In fact the balloon quickly lost height and landed, on the very same day, about forty kilometres east of Paris near the town of Meaux. Undismayed, Nadar was to repeat the experiment three weeks later, this time in Germany and with his wife. The balloon however landed badly and was dragged along the ground for 16 kilometres, seriously injuring both husband and wife, the latter spending the rest of her life in semi-paralysis. Unable to attract sufficient numbers of paying passengers, Nadar was finally forced to abandon his commercial balloon project. Jules Verne was so inspired by the invention that he used it, ten years later, as the central motif of his novel Five Weeks in a Balloon.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 684, 4-10 OCTOBER, 2013
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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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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced the prolongation of its international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon. org.
You can still donate online to the project via the Friends of the Fondation de France in the US here.
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MAGAZINE
JUST PUBLISHED
- Macau Arts Museum: Napoleon and the Decorative Arts: Treasures of the Imperial Palaces
- Rendez-vous in Princetown, Bicentenary 1809-2009, by Alain and Monique Sibiril, and Trevor James
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EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, see our What's on listings.
PRESS REVIEW
- “Napoleon's Imperial Palace on the Isle of Elba recovers its identity and presents itself to France in its Imperial Splendour” by Roberta Martinelli
SEEN ON THE WEB
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- Restored Waterloo Room once again open to the public! (Windsor Castle, UK)
- Chicken Marengo recipe in a cooking blog – why not compare it with our own historically-informed version of the recipe?
- Battle of Nations in Leipzig: a German documentary presents the re-enactment events currently taking place to commemorate this historical battle (in German).
- War of 1812 (Canada) - Archaelogical digs in Tecumseh Park, Chatham, Ontario, searching for the graves of two Kentucky soldiers - with video
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CBS Connecticut
The Courant
- War of 1812 (USA) – Wareham Summer of Celebration 2014 seeks volunteers, sponsors (Massachussets)
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