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EDITORIAL > THREE FONDATION NAPOLEON “YOUTH PROJECTS”
On both sides of the pond, it's fair to say that the general history of France and the history of the Napoleonic period in particular can be somewhat overlooked by the education system. And since one of the Fondation Napoléon's core missions is to promote knowledge of the two Empires, we have directed our energies towards three projects aimed at engaging the next generation of Napoleonists.
The first of these projects is the publication of a school/educational book in collaboration with Nathan (specialists in schoolbooks), to be distributed to all history teachers in France. Several thousand of copies of this richly illustrated 14-page document will offer teachers new ways of presenting the civil work of the Consulate and Empire, aimed specifically at thirteen- and fourteen-year-old students. Teaching notes will be made available online for both teachers and students.
The second project sees the Fondation Napoléon launch, in collaboration with the Institut Catholique d'Études Supérieures (ICES), a private higher-education institution in La Roche-sur-Yon, a “Chaire Napoléon” on 3 and 4 December. Specific classes and supervised work on the Revolution and the two Empires will be offered for students (I have the honour of running the classes on the First Empire for second-year history students). For a wider audience, an annual study day and two to three lectures a year are being organised. Finally, to mark the inauguration of this position, an exhibition of rare books that belonged to the major figures of the Empire will be presented at the university library between 3 and 17 December. And last but not least, Professor Jean Tulard will give the first conference to inaugurate the “Chaire Napoleon” on 3 December at 8.30pm at ICES.
The third project we're undertaking this December is the award of six research grants to doctoral students, at the same time as the presentation of the Fondation Napoléon's annual history prizes on 9 December, at the residence of the British ambassador, the Hôtel de Charost, which was purchased by the British government from Pauline Borghèse-Bonaparte exactly 200 years ago.
In short: one project to engage schoolchildren and teachers, one project for the students of history at university-level, and the continuation of our promise to support early career researchers on Napoleonic topics. And don't forget, you can join us in this mission by using our Christmas Selection to do your Napoleonic Christmas shopping…
Wishing you a good “Napoleonic” week.
Thierry Lentz
Directeur de la Fondation Napoléon
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BOOKS OF THE MONTH > THE 2014 FONDATION NAPOLEON HISTORY PRIZE WINNERS
We are delighted to announce this week the winners of this year's Fondation Napoléon History Prizes! Competition this year was very stiff, with a remarkable number of meticulously researched, lavishly produced, brilliantly argued works under consideration, but our Jury managed to whittle them down to just three. The 2014 First Empire Prize is awarded to Irène Delage and Chantal Prévot's Atlas de Paris au temps de Napoléon; the 2014 Second Empire Prize to Étienne Chilot's Un jardin pour Eugénie; and the Jury Prize to Andrew Roberts for his Napoleon the Great. The award ceremony will take place in the Hôtel de Charost, the British Ambassador's residence in France and former home of Napoleon I's sister, Pauline Borghese, on 9 December. Our warmest congratulations to all our winners!
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RESEARCH GRANTS 2014 > WINNERS ANNOUNCED
9 December also sees our six research grant recipients receive their awards at the Hôtel de Charost. Once again, the quality of candidates was extremely high this year, proving that Napoleonic studies only go from strength to strength. From a very broad field, the following six doctoral students were selected as prize winners:
Oliver Baustian, Relations commerciales du Royaume de Westphalie à l'époque du système continental 1807-1813
Thomas Bernard, Du sabre à la plume : le général d'Empire Fornier d'Albe (1769-1834). Vie privée d'un notable nîmois
Camille Duclert, De la Révolution à la Monarchie de Juillet, Edouard Bignon, un diplomate historien (1771-1841)
Antoine Renglet, La police des villes de l'espace belge de la Révolution à la fin du Premier Empire (1780-1814)
Mathieu Caron, Le Garde-Meuble et la Cour. Héritages et goût du mobilier d'Ancien Régime, du Consulat au Second Empire
Solenn Huitric, Les collèges d'enseignement secondaires : de la tutelle communale à celle de l'État
Read short abstracts of their doctoral projects here. Bravo!
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ROCHE-SUR-YON > "CHAIRE NAPOLEON", STUDY DAY AND EXHIBITION
Next Wednesday and Thursday, the Fondation will be inaugurating its new partnership with the Institut Catholique d'Etudes Supérieures (ICES) based in La Roche-sur-Yon, the town in the Vendée region of France directly commissioned by Napoleon. The partnership agreement is supported not only by the local town but also by the Vendée region. Known as the "Chaire Napoléon", this cooperative project is part of the Fondation's mission to support and encourage interest and study in the two Napoleons, and it dovetails perfectly with the town, university and region's desires to highlight their Napoleonic heritage. The operation will be orientated around a course in Napoleonic history at ICES, Napoleonic talks held in the town, occasional Napoleonic exhibitions and an annual Napoleonic study day. Next week's inaugural celebrations include a keynote talk by the doyen of French Napoleonic studies, Jean Tulard, a study day on the pivotal year of 1814, and an exhibition of books from the Fondation Napoléon library.
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WATERLOO > LATEST NEWS
Ahead of next year's bicentenary celebrations, we've made some additions to our Waterloo Reading List, including some exciting new releases with different approaches to the defining battle. There's also news about Windsor Castle's exciting plans to mark the bicentenary - you can find out more here. And you can keep up to date in general with events surrounding the Waterloo bicentenary at http://www.waterloo200.org/. June 2015 will be here sooner than you think…!
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DIGITAL LIBRARY > LE LIVRE DU SACRE DE S. M. L'EMPEREUR
Since Tuesday marks the 210th anniversary of Napoleon's coronation in Notre Dame, we thought it was only appropriate to remind you of our sumptuously illustrated and completely digitised copy of Le Livre du Sacre de S. M. l'Empereur, which captures the events of the Sacre in all their glory. Read that online via our Digital Library, and discover even more detail about the event in our Mini Dossier.
200 YEARS AGO > BEETHOVEN PERFORMS FOR THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA
Having been postponed two or three times, a concert given by Ludwig van Beethoven finally took place in the grand Redoutensaal at the Hofburg in Vienna on 29 November, 1814. The concert began with Beethoven's 7th Symphony, composed between 1811 and 1812, followed by his Wellington's Victory, or, the Battle of Vitoria, written in 1813, and ended with The Glorious Moment, which had just been finished on 24 November. Beethoven appeared that night in front of 6,000 people and was, without a doubt, one of the stars of the festivities around the Congress of Vienna. He would perform again, notably on 2 December (for his own benefit), on 25 December at the Hofburg (for the benefit of the Saint Marx Hospital), and again on 25 January, 1815, when he was so graciously welcomed by the Tsar and Tsarina that he went on to compose a polonaise in the honour of Tsar Alexander's wife. Ultimately, thanks to a generous donation of 200 ducats from the Tsar, Beethoven earned more from the concerts he gave in 1814 than in all other years combined.
150 YEARS AGO > A FRENCH TRANSLATION OF BEETHOVEN'S BIOGRAPHY
In 1864 as in 1814, Beethoven was still making waves. The Journal pour toutes, a weekly magazine “devoted to women's interests”, reported “good news” on 3 December, 1864: Albert Sowinksi was publishing a French translation of Anton Schindler's Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven. Originally published in German in 1840, Schindler's text had been translated into English as early as 1841 (you can read The Life of Beethoven here) but up to now no French edition had been forthcoming. The Journal pour toutes greeted news of this translation with “the greatest interest”; it reported that “the most famous aristocratic, musical and literary names” had put their support behind the project. Schindler's biography was deemed particularly special since he was “the close friend of the master, living in his inner circle; he knew both the man and the artist.” Then as now, the value of this kind of privileged contact was recognised, and Sowinski is described as having rendered “a genuine service” for the “sincere admirers of the celebrated composer.” You can read the French edition, Histoire de la vie et de l'oeuvre de Ludwig Van Beethoven, here.
Wishing you an excellent Napoleonic week!
Peter Hicks and Francesca Whitlum-Cooper (with Emma Simmons)
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN No 736, 21-27 NOVEMBER, 2014
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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 that the international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena will accept donations until 31 December, 2014. 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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- "Coaching the Congress Along" - Exhibition at the Carriage Museum, Vienna [18/09/2014 - 09/06/2015]
- "Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art [21/10/2014 - 01/02/2015]
- "Les Adieux à l'Impératrice" at Malmaison [05/11/2014 - 02/02/2015]
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WAR OF 1812
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Site of digitised Napoleonic archival material:
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