| |
| |
THIS WEEK IN THE BULLETIN
First off is Angelica Zucconi's fascinating new biography (in Italian) of Elisa Bonaparte's tumultuous daughter, Napoleona… Then there's an exhibition in Parma on Marie-Louise and that most ‘Napoleonic' of flowers, the violet… And don't forget the re-enactment at Golfe-Juan. In ‘200 years ago' there the creation of the Napoleonic nobility, and the installation of the imperial archives. And ‘150 years ago' brings you the publication of the first volume Napoleon III's correspondence of Napoleon I. In the magazine there's an event in the British cemetery in Elvas (Portugal), the contents of the latest number of First Empire and then the usual scattering of events. Enjoy!
|
|
|
| |
THIS MONTH'S BOOK
ZUCCONI A. Angelica, Napoleona: l'avventurosa storia di una nipote dell'Imperatore (In Italian)
Even as a child, Napoleona Elisa Bacciochi, daughter of Elisa Bonaparte, was a miniature version of the emperor, the same look, the same character (quick to anger and overbearing). She grew up with absolute belief in the Napoleonic myth and in 1830 became involved in a plot dreamed up by the Bonaparte cousins which aimed at placing the Duke of Reichstadt (son of Napoleon) at the head of a future kingdom of Italy.
© Viella
|
|
|
| |
EXHIBITION
A passion for Parma violets: Napoleon and Marie Louise, Parma, Italy
Marie Louise of Hapsburg (1791-1847), Napoleon's second wife, loved these small delicate flowers for their perfume. And the flower itself became a symbol for Napoleon himself in between the First and Second Empires. The exhibition “Marie Louise and Parma violet”, which opens at the Museo Glauco Lombardi in Parma, Italy, on Saturday 15th March 2008, aims to show, through the Empress' own letters and diaries, her relationship with this flower from the Empire through to the Duchy of Parma period.
© Museo Glauco Lombardi
|
|
|
| |
REMINDER: Vallauris-Golfe Juan 2008
The time has come around again for the town of Vallauris-Golfe Juan's annual re-enactment of Napoleon's landing in the Golfe Juan on the first of March, 1815. If you're in France, it's not to be missed.
Golfe Juan 2001 © EPC
|
|
|
| |
200 YEARS AGO
The imperial nobility
On 1 March, 1808, the statutes were promulgated «confirming the creation of the imperial titles".
Contemporary points of view were varied. A police bulletin dated 2 March, 1808, made the following remarks: «There are lively discussions on the type of nobility suitable for the immensity of the Empire. Some think that we should keep that currently existing from Naples to Kassel, in other words, a nobility that is simply titular and hereditary. Others desire a magisterial nobility, as in Britain. Yet others want a grand feudal nobility, as in the times of the French monarchy; and some maintain that there is nothing better than equality, even in a monarchy. »
Thd first of these statues established a hierarchy of titles. Only five titles were possible: Prince, Duc, Comte, Baron and Chevalier. Marquis and Vicomte were abandoned. This idea of hierarchy in titles in France was new: the Ancien Régime only recognised the pre-eminence of Ducs and the ranks of the other families depended upon their age, their illustrious deeds and their possessions, not title. Another innovation was that the titles were related too a specific function.
With few exceptions, these titles were not hereditary but only for life.
The Archives d'Empire set in the Marais in Paris
Two major Parisian buildings, the Palais de Soubise and the Palais de Rohan-Strasbourg, were bought for 690,000 francs to house elements of the imperial administration. A decree dated 6 March, 1808, attributed the first to the imperial archives and the second to the imperial printers. After a great deal of refurbishment work, the archives were installed in the November of the same year.
150 YEARS AGO
Napoleon III's correspondence of Napoleon I
«The first volume of the Correspondance of Napoleon I has just been published. This large in-4° volume of more than 800 pages is one of the finest works to have come off the presses of the Imprimerie impériale. It open s with the siege of Toulon, in An II, takes in a part of the campaigns in Italy and ends on the last complementary day of An IV after the defeat of Wurmser.» (Moniteur universel, 28 February, 1858) A commission had been selected to see to the publication of the work (Decree of 7 September 1854).
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 447, 29 February - 5 March, 2008
Interested in the work of the Fondation Napoléon? Why not participate, either generally or in a specific project, by making a donation.
© 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Got a problem with a link in the Bulletin? Go to the homepage: http://www.napoleon.org
REMINDER
The new Bibliothèque Fondation Napoléon library times are: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 1 to 6pm, Thursday from 10am to 3pm.
During the French school holidays the library openings times are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 1-30 to 6pm.
THIS WEEK in the MAGAZINE
Snippets
- Commemoration events in British cemetery in Elvas, Portugal
Press Review
- First Empire, March-April 2008
What's on
Lecture:
- The St Helena Napoleon never knew, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Re-enactments
-Napoleon's arrival at Vallauris - Golfe Juan, France
Exhibitions:
- König Lustik!? Jérôme Bonaparte and the Model State: the Kingdom of Westphalia, Kassel, Germany
- Napoleon on the Nile, Staten Island, New York, USA
- The Eye of Josephine, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Goya: the Disasters of War, Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, USA
- Marquis de Lafayette, The New York Historical Society, NY, USA
- Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada
- La Rose Impériale: The Development of Modern Roses, Boone Gallery, The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, USA
- "The trace of the eagle", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
<<
|
|
