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THIS WEEK'S LETTER
The week draws to a close once again, and that means that we have some more Napoleonic news for you. As promised in last week's letter, we have our new close-up on the Meeting at Erfurt, which includes this month's article by Michel Kerautret. Also in this week's edition are details of two new exhibitions taking place in and around Paris: Malmaison welcomes an ensemble of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities that once formed part of Joséphine's collection, and the Musée de l'armée offers you the opportunity to investigate the weapons and armour of the Knights of St. John, based on Malta. This week's highlighted article from Napoleonica. La Revue is by Thierry Lentz, on Franco-Moroccan relations under the Consulate and the Empire, and we round things off in the usual way, with our 200 and 150 years ago. In the magazine for this week you will find a review of Douglas Fermer's book on Sedan by Thomas Zacharis, and if you're in Belgium, why not pop over to Ligny and take a look around the 7th Napoleonic book fair?
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
THE MEETING AT ERFURT, BY MICHEL KERAUTRET
As part of our new close-up on Erfurt, this month we are proposing Michel Kerautret's article on the proceedings of the three-week meeting at Erfurt. Originally envisaged by Napoleon as a compliment to the Treaty of Tilsit which would cement Franco-Russian relations and leave the French emperor free to deal with the Spanish situation, the meeting at Erfurt would prove to be a turning point in European political relationships and a disappointment for Napoleon.
Click here for the article.
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A CLOSE-UP ON THE MEETING IN ERFURT
Our new close-up on Erfurt is available this week, featuring articles by Michel Kerautret and Gerard Gengembre, a timeline detailing the key events of the meeting, relevent biographies, an English copy of the articles of the secret convention, a number of related images - including Napoleon's famous meeting with the towering literary genius, Goethe - and a bibliography for further reading. An intriguing event in European geopolitics, the meeting at Erfurt is a fascinating study into the relationship between Alexander and Napoleon.
Click here for the close-up.
© Fondation Napoléon
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WHAT'S ON
"FROM POMPEI TO MALMAISON: THE ANTIQUITIES OF JOSEPHINE"
A less well-know part of the Empress Joséphine's outstanding art collection was her exceptional ensemble of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities. This collection was broken up soon after Joséphine's death, a victim to a certain extent of the notoriety and rarity of the pieces. Fortunately, a number of items from the collection were purchased by the Louvre, and it is these, together for the first time since 1814, which make up the exhibition on display at Malmaison.
Click here for more information.
© Musées national du château de Malmaison - RMN
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WHAT'S ON
"BETWEEN THE DAGGER AND THE CROSS: MASTERPIECES OF THE MALTESE ARMOURY"
The Musée de l'armée pays tribute to the rich military and artistic heritages of Malta and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which held sovereignty over the island during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The exhibition explores the 'patronage' of the Knights and Grandmasters of the Order, and is organised by the Maltese Embassy in France, the Maltese government and the Musée de l'Armée.
Click here for more information.
© Daniel Cilla
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE: ISSUE N° 2
As indicated last week, Issue N° 2 of Napoleonica. La Revue is available online now and our featured article of the week is by Thierry Lentz on "Les relations franco-marocaines sous le Consulat et l'Empire". It's in French, so dig out your dictionaries and get cracking! Don't forget either that you can still access all the articles from Issue N° 1 online; take out an annual subscription for 70 € or dip your toe in and test the waters by purchasing a single article for 7 €.
Click here for more information.
200 YEARS AGO
The taking of Capri, part three
On 19 October 1808, Murat wrote to General Lamarque congratulating him on the taking of the island but complaining that the latter had not taken Lowe's men as prisoners of war. "Your aide-de-camp has informed me of the agreement; it would have been more favourable to make prisonners of the English. [... B]ut as you feel that you could have done no better, I can only reiterate to you my satisfaction with all your other operations."
[Lettres et documents pour servir à l'histoire de Joachim Murat 1767-1815]
Following his surrender on 16 October, Hudson Lowe opened negotiations with Lamarque. To Murat's great disappointment (and indeed Napoleon's), Lamarque was to allow Lowe and his men to leave the island with full military honours. The king of Naples and the emperor of the French felt that Lamarque should have taken them prisonner. Lamarque apparently accepted Lowe's demands (who was hardly in the strongest of positions to demand anything) in order to expedite full possession of the island and thus avoid the eventual arrival of British reinforcements from Sicily. Lowe in fact was to admit in his official reports that he had been dragging the discussions out on purpose. In the end, bad weather prevented any English evacuation before 22 October. It is hard to imagine that this crushing defeat - summed up neatly by W. F. P. Napier: "Hudson Lowe first became known to history by losing in a few days a post that, without any pretensions to celebrity, might have been defended for as many years." - would not have left some serious scars on Lowe's mental character, scars that would be reopened on another island eight years later...
Sources:
William Forsyth, History of the Captivity of Napoleon at St. Helena, from the letters and journals of the late Lieut.-Gen. Sir H. Lowe, and official documents not before made public, London: J. Murray, 1853
Desmond Gregory, Napoleon's Jailer, London: Associated University Presses,1996
Joachim Murat, Lettres et documents pour servir à l'histoire de Joachim Murat 1767-1815, Paris: Plon, 1912
W. F. P. Napier, History of the War in the Peninsula, vol. II, London: Thomas and William Boone, 1829
150 YEARS AGO
The Moniteur Universel of 20 October 1858 gave population figures for Spain, drawn from the publication Corrispondencia autografa. The figure for the country as a whole stood at 14,464,340. The most populous cities were Barcelona (749,734), Valencia (606,608), Coruña (551,989), and Oviedo (524,529), Madrid coming in fifth with 475,785, ahead of Seville, Malaga and Grenada.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks and Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 470, 17 - 23 October, 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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THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Library opening times for the autumn:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 1-6pm
Thursday: 10am-3pm
MAGAZINE
Just published
- Douglas Fermer, Sedan 1870: The Eclipse of France, including special review by independent scholar, Thomas Zacharis
WHAT'S ON
Conferences
- Napoleonic Historical Society 2008 Conference, Philadelphia (US) from 16 to 19 October, 2008
- Official celebration of the annexation of the marches of the Kingdom of Italy 1808-2008, Camerata Picena (Italy), 18 October, 2008
- "Das Zweite Kaiserreich, die verkannte Blütezeit Frankreichs", Arenenberg (Germany), 30 October, 2008
- Portugal, Brazil and Napoleonic Europe, Lisbon (Portugal) from 4 to 6 December, 2008
Book fair
- 7th Napoleonic Book and Printed-word fair, Ligny (Belgium), 18 October, 2008
Film
- Centro Romano di Studi Napoleonici: Napoleonic film week 2008, Rome (Italy) from 11 to 14 November, 2008
Exhibitions
- "Between the dagger and the cross", Paris, France [21/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "From Pompei to Malmaison", Rueil-Malmaison, France [22/10/2008 - 26/01/2009]
Full details
- "Jérôme Napoleon, king of Westphalia", Fontainebleau, France [10/10/2008 - 08/01/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleon Bonaparte and Egypt", Paris, France [14/10/2008 - 29/03/2009]
Full details
- "Paper Landscapes, a celebration of Napoleonic cartography", La Spezia, Italy [04/10/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Fine people. Luxury and Fashion at the Time of the Empire", Erfurt, Germany [14/09/2008 - 11/01/2009]
Full details
- "Spectacle of Power. Rituals in Old Europe 800-1800", Magdeburg, Germany [23/09/2008 - 04/01/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleonic side-arms of the Rocca d'Acquaviva", Acquaviva Picena, Italy [04/10/2008 - 31/12/2008]
Full details
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