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Get with the programme!
Following the success of "Napoléon et l'Europe" in 2004 and "Napoléon III, l'homme, le politique" in 2008, the Fondation Napoléon is organising another international conference, entitled simply "1810", which is scheduled to take place on 8 and 9 June, 2010. The programme of talks is available on napoleon.org from today, and reservation for the event will open at the beginning of April.
These two days will be exceptional for a number of reasons.
First of all, the historians who have agreed to speak at the conference form a very prestigious group: alongside Jean Tulard, many of the leading French and foreign academics in the field will be taking part, who will in turn also be joined by some of the more well-known historians and art-historians of the period, as well as several Fondation Napoléon research grant awardees.
The second reason is for the subjects that will be discussed, which will range from the marriage of Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria to the situation in which the Empire found itself in 1810, both internally and externally. Along the way, there will also be a number of short 'detours', in which other more specific topics and indeed individuals will be considered.
The third of our excellent reasons for taking an interest in our conference is the site which we have chosen to host the event: the new Archives Diplomatiques centre at La Courneuve (north of Paris), which includes a state-of-the art auditorium. It's just two stations (on the RER B line) from Gare du Nord so it's also very convenient. I should add that the welcome we have received from the staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in particular those working under Jean Mendelson, Director of the Ministry archives, at the archives themselves, indicates that these two days will be successful, enjoyable and enthralling.
And as if we weren't spoiled enough already, there will also be three concerts in June to mark the bicentenary of the marriage between Napoleon and Marie-Louise. These concerts - complete with orchestra, choir and soloists, and directed by Peter Hicks - will take place on 8 and 10 June at the Eglise Saint-Louis des Invalides and on 9 June at the Eglise du Val-de-Grâce, both in Paris. The concert programme and reservation details will be available shortly, as always on napoleon.org.
Start blocking out those diaries...
The very best Napoleonic week to you all,
Thierry Lentz
Director, Fondation Napoléon
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FONDATION NAPOLEON NEWS
Coming soon: 1810 International Conference and concert
Preparations are now well underway for the Fondation Napoléon's summer events: the 1810 International Conference, organised with the Souvenir Napoléonien and in partnership with the Archives Diplomatiques, and three concerts, organised by the Fondation Napoléon, to mark the bicentenary of the marriage between Napoleon I and Marie-Louise of Austria.
The conference, which will takes place between 8 and 9 June, 2010, will paint a picture of where the Empire was in 1810, economically, culturally, politically and socially. Particular attention will be devoted to Napoleon's second marriage, to Marie-Louise of Austria, whilst the concerts (taking place on 8, 9 and 10 June, 2010) will feature both religious and secular music specially composed for the marriage, many of which have not been played in public since 1810.
Further details, including reservation information for the concert, will be released closer to the time.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
Le Louvre de Napoléon III, by Victor-Joseph Chavet
On 14 August, 1857, the formal inauguration of the "Nouveau Louvre" took place. This new-look Louvre was in actual fact the amalgamation into a single unified palatial complex of the Louvre and the Palais des Tuileries, an accomplishment that confirmed Napoleon III arrival amongst the ranks of the great French monarchs. This magisterial endeavour is celebrated in the allegory painted by Victor-Joseph Chavet.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Bon Appétit: crèpes and pannequets (pancakes)
During the Second Empire, crèpes (as they were spelt at the time) were an integral part of home cuisine. The batter would often be flavoured with eau-de-vie or brandy and the crèpe would be sprinkled with sugar. During the period competition arose with an arrival from across the Channel: pannequets (the French translation of pancakes). These became popular as the batter was richer (it was made with more eggs) and the addition of orange-blossom flavouring made them preferable to their drier cousins. Pannequets were also eaten with a dusting of sugar; jam was however considered a serious gastronomic faux-pas, as this would mask the taste; cases of such culinary poor-form were however recorded.
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WHAT'S ON
Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850, Charleston 2010
The Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850, for 2010 takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, between 25 and 27 February, 2010. The keynote speakers this year are Jorge Canizares-Esguerra, Alice Drysdale Sheffield Professor of History at the University of Texas, David S. Shields, McClintock Professor of Southern Letters at the University of South Carolina and Leora Auslander, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Chicago. Also taking part and representing the Fondation will be Peter Hicks, International Relations Manager, talking on "Late 18th - and early 19th-century British writings on Napoleon: Myth and History".
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"L'Impossible Photographie: prisons parisiennes (1851-2010)"
The Musée Carnavalet (Paris) is hosting an exhibition (10 February – 4 July, 2010) of 350 photographs depicting the insides of Paris' prisons, dating from 1851 to the present day. The exhibition is the fruit of long cataloguing process that has taken in approximately 3,800 images from collections housed in various museums, libraries, archives and photo agencies as well as private collections.
200 YEARS AGO
The Emperor and the Pope: part I
Napoleon's relationship with Rome and the Papacy had been, to say the least, rocky since the coronation and French incursions into Papal territory in 1805. The situation continued to worsen and eventually resulted in Napoleon being excommunicated and the Pope arrested and imprisoned in Savona in 1809 [see Peter Hicks' article "Napoleon and the Pope: from the Concordat to the Excommunication"].
Napoleon's next step was to seize the Pope's temporal power and sovereignty over Rome, which he did in a sénatus consulte on 17 February, 1810.
Article 1 - The State of Rome is incorporated into the French Empire, and is an integral part thereof.
[...]
Article 6 - The city of Rome is to be the second city in the Empire."
And with an eye on Napoleon's forthcoming union and the hope of a legitimate successor, it was announced in the next article:
"Article 7 - The prince imperial will bear the title and receive the honours of "Roi de Rome"." [Sénatus-consulte dated 17 February, 1810, Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, Second Empire edition; n° 16,264]
It was also decided that the French Emperor would be crowned for a second time, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (Napoleon's second coronation was to be held in 1812 but never took place). Although no longer a temporal sovereign, the Pope was granted a palace in Paris and in Rome, along with an income of 2 million Francs.
150 YEARS AGO
The Emperor and the Pope: part II
Following the publication of the papal encyclical Nullis, in which Pope Pius IX condemned French imperial policy in Italy, and the subsequent suppression of the Catholic newspaper l'Univers [see bulletin n° 527], the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Edouard Thouvenel, gave directions for a memorandum (dated 14 February, 1860) to be circulated amongst Napoleon III's diplomatic officers. In this note, which appeared in the Moniteur on 15 February, 1860, the minister outlined the imperial reaction to the encyclical:
"What has most especially struck His Majesty is that, in such an important situation, it appears to have been forgotten that the Court in Rome is conducting diplomacy of a religious nature when the issue at stake is above all a temporal matter. [...] It is in no way the slightest attack on the sovereign pontiff's spiritual front, nor on the independence required for him to exercise his rights. The Romagna question, the same today as it has been in previous times, is born from political circumstances; as such it should be considered in this respect [...]." But the political climate in February 1860 was not favourable to Franco-papal understanding. The long-running and as yet unanswered Italian question had called into question hopes of improved relations between Pius IX and Napoleon III. The French Emperor, in throwing his support behind the Piedmontese kingdom and the issue of Italian unification, had succeeded in distancing himself from the Papacy which continued to fear for its temporal power in Italy. Despite this tension, Napoleon III was careful not to let it degenerate into a complete breakdown in relations. Unwilling to upset his Catholic subjects and influenced by the Empress, the French Emperor refused to leave the Pope to his fate. Following defeats to the Pontifical army in the ensuing months, Napoleon III wrote to the Piedmontese king Victor-Emmanuel II: "Whilst the Holy Father continues to have his States threatened with invasion by regular or irregular forces, and until Your Majesty is reconciled with the Pope, I will be leaving my troops in Rome."
The Correspondence of Napoleon I published
On 17 February, 1860, the Moniteur Universel published a notice in the paper announcing the release of the third volume of the Correspondence of Napoleon I. "The work could be finished within five or six years," it proclaimed optimistically. The publication process had begun in 1858.
Find out more about the Fondation Napoléon's "epoch-making" project: the publication of the General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 529, 12 - 18 February, 2010
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)
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:
Whilst in residence at the Castle Finkenstein (East Prussia) between 1 April and 6 June, 1807, Napoleon dictated and wrote 775 letters. The forthcoming publication of volume 7 of the General Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte (subtitled "1807: Tilsit, the Empire's apogee" and published by the Fondation Napoléon/Fayard for Autumn 2010) will feature an article by Pierre Branda on the transformation of the castle into an imperial palace, including its organisation, management, budget and service.
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
MAGAZINE
Seen on the web
- Leonore: Légion d'honneur archives online
EVENTS
On now
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Napoleonic days
- Friends of the British Cemetery, Elvas Fund-raising reception, London (UK), 24 February, 2010, 7pm - 9.30pm
Conferences
- Fortresses: The study and management of military heritage: new approaches, Alessandria (Italy), 25 - 27 February, 2010
- Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850, Charleston 2010, Charleston (USA), 25 - 27 February, 2010
Exhibitions
- "Charlotte Bonaparte, Dama di molto spirito: the romantic life of a princess artist", Rome, Italy [05/02/2010 - 18/04/2010]
Full details
- "L'Impossible Photographie, prisons parisiennes (1851-2010)", Paris, France [10/02/2010 - 04/07/2010]
Full details
- "Mathilde Bonaparte: a princess on the shores of Lac d'Enghien", Enghien-les-Bains, France [15/01/2010 - 15/04/2010]
Full details
- "Napoléon III et les Alpes-Maritimes", Nice, France [30/11/2009 - 30/06/2010]
Full details
- "Mito e Bellezzo", Lucca, Italy [06/12/2009 - 07/03/2010]
Full details
- "Coup de crayon à l'Empire", Waterloo, Belgium [23/09/2009 - 17/05/2010]
Full details
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