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THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN n° 707, 28 MARCH-3 APRIL, 2014
Ten years ago, the Fondation Napoléon held its first international conference. Napoléon et l'Europe, edited by Thierry Lentz and published by Fayard, is the solid reminder of that great commemorative year, 2004. Noting the popularity of the event, and keen to surf the wave, we organised another, this time Second Empire, coinciding with the bicentenary of the birth of Napoleon III in 1807. A publication followed. As it did again in 2010 in commemoration of the apogee of the empire and the marriage with Marie-Louise. In 2012, we remembered the Russian Campaign. The volume of proceedings (edited by Thierry Lentz and Marie-Pierre Rey and published by Perrin) bears witness to the liveliness and excitement generated by the history of our period. This week, on the bicentenary of the French Campaign, we had our by now regular biannual conference, this time on diplomacy during the period of the first Napoleon. The packed auditorium – word has now definitively got around now that ‘it's better than the telly!' – was treated to talks ranging from overviews of French diplomacy seen over the whole of the eighteenth century, to the concept of the ‘law of the nations' regulating interstate relations in times of war with the aim of peace… Quite naturally, the Duc de Bénévent (Talleyrand, for those of you who can't remember his title), the standout minister of foreign affairs, popped up frequently. There were treatments of the diplomacy of individual countries and also of quasi-states such as the Papacy and the imperial household, inter alia. For my part, I certainly came out end of the two days (to use that excellent French expression) “less stupid”! The publication is coming out at the end of the year, and we're already planning the next.
Rumours of the demise of interest in Napoleon after the end of the bicentenary years are, I reckon, greatly exaggerated…
Peter Hicks,
Historian and International Relations Manager
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NAPOLEONICA LA REVUE n° 18
The new issue on "Diplomacy, Law and Art History" is just out online! Contents include:
- Mireille Musso: "Caulaincourt ambassadeur en Russie et la réalité de l'alliance franco-russe"
- Thomas Munch-Petersen: "The secret intelligence from Tilsit in 1807"
- Johan Menichetti: "L'écriture de la constitution de l'An VIII : quelques réflexions sur l'échec d'un mécanisme révolutionnaire"
- William L. Chew III: "John Quincy Adams: American tourist in Paris, 1815"
- Laurent Theis: "Guizot et le Salon de 1810"
- Karolina Stephanski: "Autour d'une paire de coffrets de Jean-Baptiste Claude Odiot conservés à La Havane, Cuba"
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OBJECT OF THE MONTH > JOSEPHINE'S PUNCH BOWL
The word "punch" comes from the Persian word for "five", so-called because the drink was composed of five elements: tea, sugar, rum or distilled spirit, cinnamon and lemon. The resulting mixture was put in a bowl, usually made of gold or porcelain, and served in tea-cups with special spoons. Josephine's punch bowl was produced by the goldsmith Martin-Guillaume Biennais. It came with three spoons and was kept at Malmaison in a room below the library, along with her other items of gold. This item is currently on display in the exhibition "Joséphine" at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris.
FONDATION NAPOLÉON CERCLE D'ÉTUDES AND TALKS > SPRING PROGRAMME
The Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'études will re-open on Wednesday 2 April at 5:30pm with a talk by Jacques-Olivier Boudon on "Napoleon and the French Campaign" (in French). Other highlights of the Spring season include talks by Jean Tulard and Serge Joyal, and a film premiere. Check the programme of the Fondation Napoléon Cercle d'études for more details!
And don't forget to check this space for information about our brand new series of talks in English, here at the Fondation Napoléon in Paris! Don't miss Frederick Schneid and Alexander Mikaberidze. More details soon!
RESEARCH IN PARIS > WATCH OUT!
If you're coming to Paris soon for your research, be warned that the Bibliothèque Thiers of the Institut de France (external link in French) will be closed from 10 April to 30 May, 2014, for refurbishment work.
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LES ADIEUX DE FONTAINEBLEAU
From 5 April onwards there will be events in Fontainebleau to commemorate the bicentenary of "les Adieux de Fontainebleau", when Napoleon signed his abdication. Here are some of the highlights:
- "Napoleon: the Legend" weekend, on 5 and 6 April, with a lecture entitled "Talking about Napoleon I today", the presentation of textile art during the First Empire, two movies ("Pour l'honneur" and "Demain dès l'aube"), and a concert of Napoleonic music (all activities in French)
- "Last days in Fontainebleau" weekend, on 12 and 13 April, including: a ball, a talk on "The Fall of Napoleon in 1814: the birth of Europe of nations?", family activities over the weekend, table-top wargame of the "Battle of Claye-Souilly", and a concert of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle
- "The Emperor's Adieu" weekend, on 19 and 20 April. Events include: Peasant life in town, a concert of First Empire music by the Fontainebleau Musical Union, an imperial market, short theatrical presentations in the salon of the Aigle Noir and in the Salon d'honneur of the city hall, a painting exhibition on "Napoleon" by the Art Academy, a Napoleonic Book Fair (with talks and 20 authors present), a special "Empire" auction with previous public exhibition, and re-enactment of Napoleon's "Adieu de Fontainebleau" in the Cour d'Honneur of the château (with 300 re-enactors), and more!
Check the whole programme of events on our website: Les Adieux de Fontainebleau.
NAPOLEONIC EVENTS
> Talk by Daniel Mahoney of Assumption College, Worcester (USA), at the EHESS in Paris, on "Two Couples: Washington and Napoleon, Churchill and De Gaulle", 2 April, from 10am to 1pm.
> "L'eco delle battaglie" (The Echo of the Battles) - Fortepiano Recital at the Museo Napoleonico in Rome on 6 April.
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WAR OF 1812
EXHIBITIONS > The War of 1812-14: People and Places at the RiverBrink Art Museum (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada), from 22 March, 2014, to 7 February, 2015.
> Travelling exhibition: "Becoming the Volunteer State: Tennessee in the War of 1812", from 1 April to 30 June.
STUDY DAYS > Symposium on the War of 1812: Brookeville and the Burning of Washington: A Tale of Two Capitals on 29 March. Also check the website: US Capital for a Day.
> The 2014 Oswego War of 1812 Symposium, on 4, 5 and 6 April, 2014.
CONCERT > Presentation of "We Owe Allegiance To No Crown", Tom Callinan's latest CD on the War of 1812 on 1 April.
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COMMEMORATIONS
> 28 March, 1813: Creation of the 'Germinal Franc'
- The 5 Franc piece, Napoleon Emperor, 1806, by K. Huguenaud
- A history of the Franc: the key moments, by I. Delage
> 2 April 1810: The Marriage of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria
200 YEARS AGO > THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS
On 28 March, with the allies' advance becoming extremely threatening, an extraordinary Regency Council met in the Tuileries with Empress Marie-Louise, the latter supported by Joseph Bonaparte. In the face of advice from the majority of the council - composed of the presidents of the legislature, the Senate and the ministers -, Joseph decided to take the Empress and the Roi de Rome away from the capital, thus respecting the Emperor's wishes (declared earlier). Indeed, Blücher and Schwarzenberg were at the gates of Paris, the former at St-Denis (north of Paris) and the latter at Bondy and Neuilly-sur-Marne (to the east). On 30 March, Moncey and his 40,000 men, bolstered with volunteer reinforcements, were to defend Paris against the 100,000 men of the allies. The Clichy Gate fell after a bitter struggle, with enemy troops over-running the St-Denis plain. Around 4pm, Marmont attempted to negotiate a 24-hour truce. His plan was to wait for the Emperor who was near Juvisy. The French capital however was to cave in on Alexander I's threat to ransack and pillage the city. Capitulation was signed at 2am on 31 March, and the remains of the Grande Armée that had stayed to defend the capital evacuated Paris. On 1 April, the Senate, under Talleyrand's influence, were to vote for the destitution of Napoleon from the imperial throne. The Emperor, on learning the news of the fall of Paris barely twenty kilometres away from the city, turned around and established camp at Fontainebleau. It was here that he was to be forced to negotiate a peace treaty, for which the allies would make no concessions and accept no conditions.
150 YEARS AGO > WHAT'S IN THE NEWS… OR RATHER WHAT'S NOT?
Perhaps oddly, given our current obsessions and also the massive interest in the Napoleonic episode in France during the bicentenary, the Moniteur for March and April 1864, the fiftieth anniversary of the French Campaign, made no mention of the events of those years. Instead, attention was focused on the history of a distant (and inoffensive?) past with archaeological discoveries such as those in Mossul (with the remains of the palace of an Abyssinian king), and the readers were invited to read about present conflicts, whether in Europe or abroad, with the French government organ trumpeting the glorious success in Mexico, and more dispassionately giving accounts of the changes taking place in the American Civil War, notably with a substitution at the very top (with General Grant replacing General Halleck as Commander in Chief of the Federal Army). On the other hand, readers were given a daily diet of curious and risible events taking place on the other side of the Channel, with a gentle but unmistakeable ubiquitous touch of Anglophobia. On 30 March, the Moniteur reported on the massive consumption of strong drink in the UK, backed up with statistics.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Lucie Louvrier
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 707, 28 MARCH-3 APRIL, 2014
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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
- Bob Van Laerhoven, Baudelaire's Revenge: A Novel, Pegasus: April 2014
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.
WHAT'S ON
- Exhibition "Joséphine" at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris [12/03/2014 - 29/06/2014]
PRESS REVIEW
- Napoleon's shirt withdrawn from auction at the last minute
- Napoleonica La Revue n°18: click here for the list of contents!
SEEN ON THE WEB
- Napoleon reinvented to fit modern sensibilities. Here, a made-up story about Napoleon and a dog after the battle...
- 1812 re-enactors in Wake on Saturday
- Calvert County Observes War of 1812 Bicentennial
- École Valois student wins national essay competition with her essay on the War of 1812
- Saving War of 1812 Battle of Lundy's Lane Battlefield: “Who will stand up to fight?”
- War of 1812 (Canada) - 200th Anniversary of Battle of Lundy's Lane will be a 'night to remember'
- War of 1812 (USA) - Timing, luck helped U.S. win War of 1812, professor says
- War of 1812 comes up during KXL debate
- Archaeologists seek War of 1812 remnants buried within Patterson Park
- ‘Tug' to honour end of War of 1812
- Maryland awards grants to 15 War of 1812 bicentennial projects
- Find out how the War of 1812 affected New York
- Maidstone historical society leaves resource centre in Windsor (USA)
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