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EDITORIAL
Napoleon.org has been online since November 1996 and as technology has gradually improved and spread we have followed suite. First was the inclusion of sound with the pictures in our mini-site on the First Italian campaign (French only) – on viewing the digital art album you heard the sound of pages turning as you moved from one image to the next. We then pushed the technological boundaries on the site further by adding longer sound elements in the mini-sites on the opening of the Suez Canal, the life of Eugène de Beauharnais (French only), and the great storm of 1999. In 2004 we added mini-interviews to the site (with bandwidth on the site server able to cope with simultaneous demands for live-streaming files). Now for 2010, we have added a four minute video with sound (thanks to Youtube). As technology moves on and becomes cheaper, history on the web will become more attractive and really multi-media. We'll soon be abandoning the television altogether to gather round the computer screen for our entertainment.
We wish you all an excellent, Napoleonic, Christmas and New Year.
Peter Hicks and Hamish Davey Wright
Napoleon.org in English
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NAPOLEON.ORG
The Coronation of Napoleon I: digital animation
As a special Christmas gift from the team at napoleon.org to you, our deserving readers, we have a four-minute animation of the coronation procession and ceremony which took place on a rather cold 2 December in 1804. With bilingual commentary (French and English) of each stage of the day and featuring maps of the route taken, some amazing digital models of Notre Dame Cathedral and the ceremony, and analysis of David's famous painting depicting the event, this really is a quite fabulous video of the coronation as you have never seen it before. This video is a Fondation Napoléon/Bath University production, made by Vaughan Hart, Peter Hicks and Joe Robson.
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ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
"Napoleon's Courtesans, Citoyennes, and Cantinières", by Susan P. Conner
Our latest article of the month comes from Susan P. Conner and charts the role and influence of women during the French Revolution, through the Consulate, and into the Empire. Napoleon's views and famous quotations on women, and his uses for them in society, in the army and at court are all discussed, as well as such social and political groups as the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women and les femmes militaires.
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PRESS REVIEW
Lyon: Fête des Illuminations and its origins
Each year sees the town of Lyon (south-east France) host, on 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Fête des Illuminations. This year, the latter took place over several days, from 5 to 8 December.
But it is a little-known fact that this celebration of light was inaugurated during the reign of Napoleon III. Started by the Cardinal de Bonal on 8 December, 1852, tradition dictates that lanterns were hung from windows, and the inhabitants of the city were encouraged to go into the streets to socialise and talk. The BBC website features photos from this year's festival.
OBITUARY
József Zachar 1943-2009
Born in 1943, Professor József Zachar was a researcher in modern political and military history, a University Professor at the Károly Eszterházy College (Hungary), and a member of the Governing Board of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in addition to being President of the National Commission of Hungarian Military Historians. He was the author of some twenty books and numerous specialist articles, and was a regular participant in domestic and foreign scientific conferences.
His commitment to, knowledge and understanding of Hungarian history will be sorely missed. He worked tirelessly in its promotion and promulgation and was continuously active in rectifying inaccuracies and false interpretations. His numerous talks and presentations, and in particular the Vienna symposium last June, will be long-remembered. It was an honour to be one of his friends. The history community is saddened by the disappearance of one of their own. József Zachar died on 9th December 2009 in Budapest.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
A very Christmas Bon Appetit!
With Christmas rolling in (along with the snow here in Paris), why not take a look at our period recipes for some ideas on preparing your Christmas dinner this year? Covered on napoleon.org, we have Boiled Turkey, Forcemeat (stuffing) and authentic First and Second Empire Christmas Plum Pudding ready for your delectation. And for the sweeter tooth during this festive period, we also have Mince Pies and Fig Pudding and, finally, for those with a lot of pudding left-over (heaven forbid), we have a recipe for Monday's Pudding.
Christmas Selection 2009
With time running out, you may well find a few ideas here for your last minute Napoleonic gifts!
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NAPOLEONICA. LA REVUE
Issue n° 6
Our last selection before Christmas from issue n° 6 of Napoleonica. La Revue is Isabelle Coquillard's article "La longévité médicale du docteur Edme Joachim Bourdois de la Mothe". In it, she describes and discusses Edme Joachim Bourdois de la Mothe's career as a medical doctor, from his beginnings as a military physician during the Revolution to the end of his career during the 1830s, via his role as doctor to the notables at court during the Empire. The article is available for 7 € or can be purchased as part of an annual subscription (60 €).
200 YEARS AGO
Napoleon's divorce: the personal side
With the civil divorce announced (15 December, 1809; see our close-up on: Napoleon's "divorce") and Josephine out of the Palais des Tuileries, Napoleon, suffering himself, felt moved to write to his former wife and long-term companion:
"I received your letter, my dear. Savary tells me that you are always crying; this is not good. I hope that you have been out for a drive today. I sent you the kill from today's hunt [at the Plateau de Satory in Versailles, ed.]. I shall visit you as soon as you say that you in a more equable mood and have sorted yourself out. I am with my ministers for the whole day tomorrow.
Adieu, my dear; I too am sad today; I need to know that you are content and that you have regained your self-composure. Sleep well." [Letter from Napoleon to Josephine dated 19 December, 1809, n° 16,068]
Letters of a similar tone continued throughout the remaining weeks of December, with Napoleon promising and cancelling visits and Josephine's mood pitching between forced gaiety and tearful despondency.
150 YEARS AGO
December 1859: a cold-front across Europe
December 1859, as in 1853, saw a cold-front sweep across Europe. The unforgiving weather formed the basis for a number of columns and articles in the Moniteur Universel for the middle weeks of December. The 18 December 1859 edition of the paper, with the thermometers showing a chilly -7° C (19.4° F) that morning, noted:
"This morning, roofs on the houses and the public thoroughfares in the capital were covered in a layer of snow which has lasted, thanks to the persistence of extremely low temperatures, for several days." Mainland France experienced similar freezing conditions:
"The dispatches that we have been receiving state that almost everywhere, huge quantities of snow are obstructing the railroads. [...] At several points along the Northern line, the controllers in place have hastened to requisition troops [...] in order to clear the routes which, in some places, are literally buried." [Moniteur Universel, 18 December, 1859] The next morning, the temperatures plummeted again, bottoming out at a perishing -11° C (12.2° F).
Nor was it any milder for the other European countries. "In London [...] the ponds and lakes in the parks have frozen over. [...] Crowds have taken to the ice in sleighs, skates and [even] simple shoes. [Moniteur Universel, 19 December, 1859] Riga had it even worse, hitting a limb-threatening -18° C (0.4° F) and preventing any water-based navigation on the Danube. [Reported in the Moniteur Universel, 21 December, 1859] This particularly cold front only lasted until 22 December, however, as that day dawned to a distinctly milder, but nevertheless rather crisp, -4° C (24.8° F).
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 522, 18 – 24 December, 2009
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.
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THE BIBLIOTHEQUE FONDATION NAPOLEON LIBRARY
Winter opening times:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 1pm-6pm
Thursday: 10am-3pm
(Closed Friday)
Over the Christmas and New Year period, the library will close at 6pm on Wednesday 23 December, 2009, to open again on Monday 4 January, 2010.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery" link to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
Statistic of the week:
In 1861, Mrs Beaton's Christmas Plum Pudding cost 4 shillings to make, almost half the 11 shillings 1 penny which was the average weekly cash wages paid to ordinary agricultural labourers in the same year.
Data source: UK Department of Employment and Productivity 1981: British Labour Statistics: Historical Abstracts, 1886-1968 (online here).
The Fondation Napoléon's triumvirate of Napoleonic websites:
- Napoleon.org
- Napoleonica. La Revue
- Napoleonica. Archives Online
The best of the month:
- Book of the month
- Painting of the month
- Objet d'Art of the month
- Article of the month
JUST PUBLISHED
- Journey through my family: the Wellington story, by Jane Wellesley
PRESS REVIEW
- The Guardian: Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon
- The New Zealand Herald: "La Cave de Joséphine" review
- BBC website: Fête des Illuminations photos
- First Empire issue n° 110, January/February 2010
- First Empire issue n° 110, January/February 2010
- The Creative Assembly release new Napoleon: Total War trailer
- The Guardian: James Gillray cartoons discovered in Ministry of Justice clearout
EVENTS
Now and coming soon
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Exhibitions
- Marie-Louise Week at the Museo Glauco Lombardi, Parma, Italy [12/12/2009 - 20/12/2009]
Full details
- At the Russian Court: Palace and Protocol in the 19th Century, Amsterdam, Netherlands [20/06/2009 - 31/01/2010]
Full details
- Josephine's wine cellar: wine during the Empire at Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France [18/11/2009 - 08/03/2010]
Full details
- A la table de l'Impératrice Eugénie, le service de la bouche dans les palais impériaux, Compiègne, France [02/10/2009 - 18/01/2010]
Full details
- "Under Napoleon's Eagle", Ljubljana, Slovenia [15/10/2009 - 25/04/2010]
Full details
And finishing soon...
Exhibitions
- "Napoleon on the Nile", Burlington, USA [06/10/2009 - 18/12/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleon in Traiskirchen", Möllersdorf, Austria [04/03/2009 - 24/12/2009]
Full details
- "Napoleon and Corsica", Corte, France [20/06/2009 - 30/12/2009]
Full details
- "Portrait of a collection, a collection of portraits", Paris, France [23/10/2009 - 31/12/2009]
Full details
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