| |
|
|
|
|
| |
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL
We the team at the Fondation Napoléon thank you for you continued support and interest in the site napoleon.org and send you the very best of the Season's Greetings. Wishing you an excellent 2003.
Virtual Napoleonic Christmas Cards
Why not send your Christmas and New Year wishes to your family and friends with one of our Napoleonic ecards: portraits of Bonaparte and Napoléon, the imperial family, caricatures, etc: send as many as you want!
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO
In the last days of December, the rumour (hope?) began to spread that the Republican calendar was about to be abolished and that "the old names for the months would be used again, starting from 1 January" (sic!).
Report from the Prefecture de police, 9 Nivôse, An XI
[Created on 6 October, 1793, the Republican Calendar used in France until 1 January, 1806, it having been abolished by Napoleon the preceding year. Having trouble working out what the 'real' date for 18 Brumaire, An VIII? Use our special calendar convertor!]
5 Nivôse, An XI (26 December, 1802), courses in Oriental languages opened at the Bibliothèque nationale: courses in Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Modern Greek.
Journal des débats, 3 Nivôse, An XI
6 Nivôse, An XI (27 December, 1802), Régnier was officially installed as Grand-Juge at a ceremony which included a solemn mass celebrated by the archibishop of Paris in the great hall (grande salle) of the Palais de Justice. A chapel had been specially created within the hall.
Whilst Christmas was not celebrated in the same way as today, nevertheless presents and cards were widely given and received. From the archives of the Préfecture de police, it would appear that, as every year, late shoppers in Paris descended in hordes upon the confectioners in the Rue des Lombards and the boutiques in the Galeries du Palais du Tribunat, on 10 Nivôse, An XI (30 December, 1802): one sweetmaker apparently served no fewer than 157 people in a single day!
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIS WEEK:
What's on
- Exhibition: La Tavola di Elisa, Lucca
- Exhibition: Napoleon and Alexander I in Hildesheim (Germany)
- Exhibition: The first Italian Republic, 1802-1805
- Exhibition: Seat of Empire
The monthly titles
- Book of the Month: The Nelson Encyclopedia, Colin White
- This month's picture, The Comtesse Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, by Gérard
- Article of the Month, Joseph Bonaparte's American Retreat, by Patricia Tyson Stroud
- In the Collectors Corner, The Roi de Rome's Lead Soldiers
<<
|
|
