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THIS WEEK IN THE BULLETIN
This week, we bring you the forthcoming exhibition of the Fondation Napoléon collection, on Elba. Then there's news of a conference at the National Army Museum in London. Don't forget, there's also Napoleonica La Revue to enjoy. In ‘200 years ago', you can read about the death of Cardinal de Belloy, the almost centegenarian archibishop of Paris. Then there's a note from Napoleon to Talleyrand warning him to watch his ‘captives', the King of Spain and his son at the minister's château at Valençay, given the secret news of the less than smooth ‘regime change' in Spain. In ‘150 years ago', we bring you news of the completion of the process of the acquisition by Napoleon III (and so France) of the French domains on St Helena. In the Magazine there are the usual events plus an exhibition on the Dos de Mayo in Spain.
Enjoy
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THE TREASURES OF THE FONDATION NAPOLEON ON ELBA
After a triumph in Rome this spring, the Fondation Napoléon's collection is to be exhibited in the two ‘imperial palaces' on the island of Elba, I Mulini (in the principal town of Portoferraio) and San Martino (set in the countryside surrounding the town). The inauguration is to be held at I Mulini next Thursday (12 June), and the exhibition will run until 12 September, 2008. This is one of the finest exhibition ever to grace the island, including more than 250 oustanding works of art and historical memorabilia, which also includes loans from the Paris Musée de l'Armée and the Musée national de Malmaison.
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CONFERENCE
Over the hills and far away: The Peninsular War
The National Army Museum in London is holding a conference on the Peninsular War. Speakers include Professor Chris Woolgar, the custodian of the Wellington Papers at Southampton University, and Charles Esdaile of Liverpool University, specialist in the Peninsular War and author of the book The Peninsular War.
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200 YEARS AGO
The Moniteur of 11 June, 1808, reported the death, early in the morning of the 10 June, of the cardinal who had officiated at the Napoleon's coronation in Notre-Dame, the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal de Belloy. Jean-Baptiste was born on 8 October, 1709, in Morangles (Oise) and died “aged 98 years, eight months and two days”. He was a bishop for fifty-six years and finally died of a cold – having (as was his custom) refused medication. His body lay in state in the archbishop's palace, and tens of thousands of mourners came to pay their respects (Gazette de France, 15 June, 1808). In Bayonne on 15 June, Napoleon wrote to Bigot de Préameneu, Minister for Religion, asking him that the cardinal be buried with the greatest solemnity (Correspondence no. 14094).
Jean-Baptiste de Belloy was born into an old ancien régime family. However his actions during the Revolution were perhaps surprisingly conciliatory. Not only did he refuse to emigrate, he also accepted that the clergy swear an oath to hate the monarchy; and later he was to encourage his brother clergy to swear an oath of fidelity to the constitution of An VIII. The First Consul clearly saw him as useful ally in his campaign de reinstate religion in France. As he noted to de Belloy in a letter dated 9 Messidor An X (28 June 1802) (almost a year after the signing of the Concordat) “I will always be delighted, Monsieur Archbishop, to advance religion and to be agreeable to you” (Correspondence générale, no. 6962). He is thought to have considered the cleric's decision to remain in France a sort of patriotism and so personally ensured the latter's appointment as archbishop of Paris. De Belloy was highly honoured during the Consulate and Empire becoming cardinal on 17 January, 1803, and then comte d'Empire six weeks before his death on 26 April. His see fell vacant and Cardinal Fesch was nominated as his successor. When Fesch refused to leave his bishopric in Lyon, Cardinal Maury was appointed to Paris in his place.
Affairs in Spain
On 9 June, 1808, Napoleon wrote to Talleyrand (who held at his château in Valençay the ex king of Spain and his son) describing developments in Bayonne. “The king of Naples [Joseph] arrived yesterday. He has been recognised as the king of Spain. Several Spanish notables who are here in Bayonne (from the Deputation of Castile, the Council of the Indies and from the Inquisition, etc.) have already sworn their oath of obedience to him. There have been some disturbances in certain provinces in Spain […]. All these small events have been calmed by the action of the principal inhabitants of the towns in the kingdom; more than this, the king's arrival will completely smooth over the troubles, provide encouragement and restore tranquillity in all quarters. I write all this for your internal governance. Keep it secret, unless it is already known in Valençay. This information could be useful if they have received letters and entertain foolish hopes. Regardless, you must take extra pains in the surveillance of the princes.” (Correspondence no. 14,073)
150 YEARS AGO
On 9 June, 1858, the domain of Longwood and the emperor's tomb officially became French. “The Emperor has expressed his familial piety by assuring for France the possession of the habitation in which the Emperor Napoleon I ended his days and the tomb in which his mortal remains lay. The Corps Legislatif expressed its agreement with His Imperial Majesty's concerns and voted that an extraordinary credit of 180.000 francs should be placed at the disposal of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to this end. The acquisition of these precious remains is now complete […] On 7 May, the Queen of England ratified the ordnance emitted by the legislature of St Helena whereby the complete and perpetual ownership of the domain of Longwood and the Emperor's tomb should be conferred upon the Emperor of the French and his heirs. Thus, as a result of the swift intervention of Her Britannic Majesty's government, these sacred sites, in which incomparable destinies were played out, now belong to France.” (Moniteur Universel, 10 June, 1858)
Wishing you an excellent, Napoleonic, week.
Peter Hicks
Historian and Web editor
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, No 461, 6 - 12 June, 2008
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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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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
Seen on the web
- 2 MAYO: A PEOPLE, A NATION! (in Spanish)
«In May 1808, France was the master of Europa. Napoleon Bonaparte dominated a large part of the continent and the imperial armies were the strongest military force of their time. The weakness of the Spanish monarchy gave the French emperor the idea to remove them from their throne. The emperor thought that the Spanish people, poor, uncultivated, deprived of kings and government would accept the new situation. He was very much mistaken.». So writes Arturo Pérez-Reverte, curator of the exhibition.
http://www.madrid2demayo.es/la-exposicion/
What's on
Re-enactments
- Medina de Rioseco , Spain
- Waterloo 1815 - 10th Napoleonic Bivouacs, Waterloo, Belgium
- Valencia: International Battle Re-enactment, Spain
Conferences
- Napoleonic Association 2008, London, UK
Exhibitions
- Coinage at War. Catalonia in Napoleonic Europe, National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona
- Treasures of Napoleon, New Orleans, USA
- Napoleon III, der Kaiser vom Bodensee (The Emperor from Lake Constance), Arenenberg, Switzerland
- Napoleon – genius and tyrant, Namur, Belgium
- Royal weddings 1840-1947: from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor, England
- Napoléon. Symboles des pouvoirs sous l'Empire (Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800–1815), Paris, France
- Napoleone Fasto imperiale. I Tesori della Fondation Napoléon, Rome, Italy
- Gustave Courbet, Metropolitan Museum, New York, USA
- König Lustik!? Jérôme Bonaparte and the Model State: the Kingdom of Westphalia, Kassel, Germany
- The Eye of Josephine, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, United States
- "The trace of the eagle ", the Invalides dome, Paris, France
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