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EDITORIAL
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DON'T MISS
Only a few days left to visit the Napoleonic rooms at the Musée de l'Armée before they change for ever!
As part of the Athena project for redeveloping the museum, the exhibition halls in the East Wing (aile Orient), which house the Modern Department collection (going from Louis XIV's youth to the fall of Napoleon III) are to close on 9 January 2006 for two years (Athena III). In an attempt to meet the expectations of the museum's many visitors, an exhibition centred around the person of Napoleon is to be set up on 1 March, 2006. Furthermore, the Ancient Department, containing one of the finest collections of ancient arms and armour in the world, is to re-open to the public on 17 December, 2005 (Athena II): more than 2,000 m2 of exhibition space and a new scenography. Don't miss it!
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200 YEARS AGO
On 30 Frimaire, An XIV (21 December, 1805), acting on behalf of his stepson, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Napoleon I approached the king of Bavaria, Maximilian I Joseph Wittelsbach, to ask him officially for the hand of his daughter, Auguste-Amélie, in marriage: "On behalf of my son, the Prince Eugène, I am sending the Grand Maréchal du Palais, General Duroc, to ask Your Highness for the hand of your daughter, Princesse Auguste, in marriage. For some years now I have desired an alliance with Your Highness, and, in the current circumstances where I have received several propositions, I remain faithful to the engagements which I made with your minister, Gravenreuth, in Linz. I should be delighted were Your Highness and his people to accept this this token of friendship and estime.
I have charged General Duroc to undertake on my behalf all suitable engagements and arrangements for this marriage, which I desire to be celebrated as soon as possible, simultaneously with the general peace which (I have no doubt whatsoever) shall be signed within the fortnight.
May Your Highness see in this desire, namely to have in my family such an accomplished princess as Princess Auguste and to forge such strong links with Your Highness, the most constant of driving forces behind my policies and the proof of the sentiments of estime and friendship which I have addressed to your Highness."
The marriage was indeed to to be celebrated very soon afterwards, on 14 January, 1806. Other political alliances were also to be finalised, notably via the marriage of Eugène's and Hortense's second cousin, Stéphanie de Beauharnais with Charles de Bade (8 April, 1806), and the following year with the union of Jérôme Bonaparte to Catherine de Wurtemberg (22 August, 1807).
For a biography of Eugène de Beauharnais, click here.
For our special dossier on Eugéne (in French), see here.
For a short biography of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, click here.
...And to find your way around the tortuous Bonaparte genealogy, visit the Imperial Genealogy page
On 5 Nivôse, An XIV (26 December, 2005), France (by the hand of Talleyrand) and Austria (by the hand of the Prince de Liechtenstein) signed the peace treaty of Pressbourg (modern Bratislava). Since she lost to the Kingdom of Italy (but in fact to Napoleon, as he was its king) the Veneto, Friuli, Istria, and Dalmatia, Austria no longer had any territory in the Italian peninsula and was forced to recognise Napoleon as King of Italy. Furthermore, Austria was also driven out of Germany, ceding several of her titles of the sovereigns of Baden, Wurtemberg and Bavaria. The path was laid for Napoleon to create the Confederation of the Rhine. However, since Britain and Russia did not sign the treaty, peace remained fragile...
Read the Treaty of Pressburg
See the original document of the Treaty of Pressburg
See the original of the Austrian ratification
On 31 December, 1805, the Republican Calendar was used officially for the last time, to France's great relief. Indeed, many had never got used to this way measuring time which had been inherited from the French Revolution.
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, Christmas and New Year.
The next bulletin will be sent on Friday 6 January, 2006.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 353, 23 December, 2005 - 4 January, 2006
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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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THIS WEEK
SNIPPETS
- New French history study centre founded at the University of St Andrew's, Scotland
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO THIS CHRISTMAS?
Try one of our quizzes
A VERY NAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Napoleon or Josephine? Imperial family or caricature? Choose the card you like best and send your imperial Christmas wishes!
JUST PUBLISHED
- KIEFER, Carol Solomon (ed.), The Empress Josephine: Art and Royal Identity
- CZISNIK, Marianne, Horatio Nelson, a controversial hero
- UMHEY, Alfred, Napoleon's Last Grande Armée: Eyewitness portraits from the 1813 campaign
- MIKABERIDZE Alexander, (ed.) The Czar's General: The Memoirs of a Russian General in the Napoleonic Wars by Alexey Yermolov
- MARTINELLI, Roberta (ed.), Le mobilier: L'inventario della residenza imperiale di Napoleone di Elba
CHRISTMAS PRESENT IDEAS!
We bring you our favourites: but you can also select your own from the just published page.
LIBRARY INFORMATION
During the Christmas Break, the library will be closed from 26 to 30 December, 2005.
Re-opening, Monday 2 January, 2006 with the usual hours.
For further information, click here.
WHAT'S ON
- Exhibition: Napoleon: Art and Empire in the age of Trafalgar, Barnard Castle, UK
- Exhibition: Napoleon in Caricature, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Exhibition: "Battle in a sittingroom." The Austerlitz wallpaper, Rome, Italy
- Exhibition: Napoleonica: arms, medals, prints, memorabilia of the Napoleonic period, Arezzo, Italy
- Exhibition: In the Service of Napoleon. The Dutch in time of War 1792-1815, Delft, Netherlands
- Exhibition: Napoleon on Campaign, the emperor's bivouac, at the Arc de triomphe de l'Etoile, Paris, France
- Exhibition: Napoleon: An intimate portrait, Washington DC, USA
- Exhibition: Napoleone e il Piemonte. Capolavori ritrovati, Alba, Italy
Got a problem with the letter? Try the home page: http://www.napoleon.org
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