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THIS MONTH'S ARTICLE
British Strategic Foreign policy, 1806-1815, by Peter Hicks
On receiving the news of the crushing French victory at Austerlitz, Pitt is said to have remarked « Roll up that map of Europe. It will not be wanted these ten years». Indeed, during the two years following the death of that Prime Minister, real efforts were made (and not only on the part of the Whigs) to make peace and to try to live with an imperial, Napoleonic France. Read all about it.
200 YEARS AGO
In 1805, Napoleon I re-established the 'Fête du boeuf gras' (The Fat Bull Fete), which had been forbidden during the Revolution. The first took place on 4, 5 et 6 Ventôse, An XIII, providing Parisians with an unforgettable procession. The custom was to survive until circa 1870.
150 YEARS AGO
Description of the Promenade du Boeuf Gras (Fat Bull Procession), Paris, circa 1855
The Promenade du Boeuf Gras (Fat Bull Procession), which takes place on Sunday, Monday and Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) is a great public spectacle and draws visitors to Paris from all the neighbouring communes.
A troop of bill vendors arrives crying: 'L'ordre et la marche du boeuf gras, one sou !...' (The running order for the Fat Cow Promenade, one sou !...) The streets, the boulevards are packed with people wondering when the victim is going to pass by. Words cannot describe the passion this spectacle arouses. Men, women, children, all crushed together, shove each other almost to the ground, risking suffocoation and broken bones. When the bull appears, the crowd's shouts intensify: Oooh! Aaah! here he is, here he is! A thousand different acclamations at once. The beast passes by and, sad but majestic, ruminates upon his demise and regrets the green pastures of Normandy; he walks to his death triumphant. From time to time, he raises his head to cast a disgusted, scornful glance at the frenzied crowd beying at him.
At the head of the procession ride horsemen of all sorts, Romans, men from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and a band of 'shrieking' musicians, all in varied costume. Two sacrificers and a band of savages armed with clubs march alongside the bull, whose horns are decorated with gold, aigrettes and ribbons. Then there follows are very tall cart drawn by four sumptuously harnessed horses upon which are enthroned butcher men and women, dressed up as Time, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Hercules and Madness. Amidst these gods and demi-gods sits Cupid, a small child with golden locks, held in his throne by his mother, Venus and the three Graces, the three most beautiful butcher women which could be found in Paris.
After the final procession, the bull is slaughtered and then served at the dignitaries' table.
This ceremony, which could count amongst it ancestors, the Egyptians, the festivals of Bacchus and the triumphal march of the Bull God Apis, is not lacking in colour and spirit, although it is occasionally not a little peculiar to see a cattle market inspector or a butcher as the master of Olympus, of whom Homer once said "the darkening of his brows shakes heaven and earth".
Benjamin Gastineau: Le Carnaval, Paris: Gustave Havard, 1855, tr. P.H.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week!
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
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THIS WEEK
Press Review
The Gazette: the Member's Journal of The Napoleonic Alliance, vol. 2004, no. 2
What's on
- For Napoleonic and Nelsonian 2005 bicentenaries, watch our 2005 bicentenaries page
- The man who crowned Napoleon: Cardinal Caprara and his liturgical robes, Museo Civico d'Arte Industriale e Galleria Davia Bargellini, Bologna, Italy
- Talks: 'Nelson's Contemporaries', National Maritime Museum, London, UK
- Fair: The International Napoleonic Fair, St Albans, UK
- Exhibition: Decoration in the Age of Napoleon: Empire Elegance Versus Regency Refinement, New York Public Library, US
Exhibition: The Treasures of the Fondation Napoléon, Paris, France
The monthly titles
- This month's book: Wellington's Lieutenant, Napoleon's Gaoler: the Peninsula Letters & St Helena Diaries of Sir George Ridout Bingham, by Gareth Glover
- This month's painting: Allegorical drawing to the glory of H. M. the Emperor, by Innocent-Louis Goubaud
- This month's article: British Strategic Foreign policy, 1806-1815, by Peter Hicks
- In the Collectors Corner, Napoleon's travel nécessaire
Got a problem with a link in the letter? Try the homepage
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