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What was life like for our ancestors under Napoleon?
For a number of years now, Chantal Lheureux-Prévot, librarian at the Fondation Napoléon, has been helping researchers in Napoleonic history. She gives them advice, guides them in their research, and offers them her expertise in putting together or improving a bibliography. She also established and continues to manage the Fondation Napoléon's digital library and, if she wasn't already busy enough, offers visitors to 148 boulevard Haussmann a pleasant and well-organised library, fantastically rich in content. In short, she is an essential part of the Fondation Napoléon.
But those of you who keep up to date with what's going on in the history of the Consulate and Empire will also have noticed that she is a regular contributor to a great number of historical reviews, notably as the author of articles and texts on the daily life of our ancestors during the Napoleonic period.
It is this particular subject that she investigates in her new book, and our book of the month, Les Paysans de Napoléon. Informed, instructive, interesting and imaginative in its presentation, and based largely on period sources, this work, both amusing and affecting in equal measure, is without doubt worthy of your attention. This is not simply a general study, a sort of updated version of "Daily life in Napoleonic France", but rather the flesh and blood supplement to these sorts of studies. This is good solid historical sociology concerning daily life, warts and all, and unafraid to tell it how it was. In doing so, it brings us closer to daily life as it really was for the large majority of French men and women living and dying during the reign of Napoleon.
This aspect of Chantal's work is entirely in keeping with the Fondation Napoléon's traditions. For, alongside the services offered and the projects completed, it is the mission of every team member here to pass on their knowledge to the wider-world, to further the study of history, to inform, to synthesise, and to offer an understanding and a vision of this particular period that unites us all. It is much the same as a student who complements their classes with textbooks, a museum curator who publishes the research details of the collections they oversee, or a globe-trotting traveller who writes an account of what they've seen. With the publication of this book, the fruit of years spent immersed in the history of Napoleonic France, Chantal Lheureux-Prévot has fulfilled an integral aspect of her role here at the Fondation Napoléon, much to the delight of her (many, we hope,) readers.
The very best week to you all.
Thierry Lentz
Director, Fondation Napoléon
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BOOK OF THE MONTH
Les Paysans de Napoléon : aspects de la vie quotidienne et des mentalités, by Chantal Lheureux-Prévot
Eighty percent of the Napoleonic Empire was rural, and yet the history of this huge slice of the population is little known, overshadowed as it is by the great deeds and more famous battles of the period. Generally clumped together into a large non-descript mass of peasants and countryside, the rural history of the Empire proves in actual fact to be far more diverse and complex than initially believed. Daily habits, personalities and sentiments all emerge from the source material to give the reader a detailed understanding of both the geographical and the psychological environment in which the protagonists lived. This book proposes to answer the question, "What was life like in the countryside under Napoleon?". Using enlightening anecdotes and personal accounts, the joys, hardships, hopes and fears of our ancestors are laid out before us in detail.
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NAPOLEON.ORG
Interview with Chantal Lheureux-Prévot
To mark the release of her book, Les Paysans de Napoléon : aspects de la vie quotidienne et des mentalités, Chantal Lheureux-Prévot, librarian at the Fondation Napoléon, took some time out from cataloguing and running the Bibliothèque Martial Lapeyre to tell Irène Delage a little about her latest work, what inspired it and why the peasantry during the Napoleonic period is such a fascinating subject.
Fondation Napoléon/Souvenir Napoléonien "1810" conference update
Due to unforeseen technical issues, the registration form for the "1810" conference organised by the Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien will not be available today, as previously promised. An announcement will be made in the weekly news bulletin as soon as the registration process is open.
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WHAT'S ON
"The imperial honeymoon: Paris 1810"
As you will have seen from last week's letter, this year marks the bicentenary of the marriage between Napoleon I and Marie-Louise. To mark this occasion, the Musée Napoléon Ier at the Château de Fontainebleau is hosting an exhibition constructed around the wedding album created by the French architect Louis-Pierre Baltard. On display are eighteen plates depicting the various celebrations and events that were organised in Paris during the spring of 1810, including imperial banquets, firework displays and military parades. The exhibition opens today and runs until 2 July, 2010.
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NAPOLEONIC NEWS
Napoleon's St Helena pipe sells for £3,200 in Edinburgh
A pipe once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile on the island of St Helena has been sold for £3,200. The sale took place in Edinburgh on 31 March, 2010, and was organised by Lyon and Turnbull, an Edinburgh-based fine arts and antiques auction house.
Josephine's letters go for more than 700,000 €
The Osenat auction that took place on 27 March, 2010, at Fontainebleau saw the fifty-odd letters from Josephine de Beauharnais sell for a combined total of 700,000 €, with one individual letter going for 87,000 €.
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NAPOLEONIC DELIGHTS
"Glamour Puds" and Marie-Antoine Carême
On Channel 4 (UK) television at the moment is a series called "Glamour Puds", which is currently tracing the career of famous pastry-chef Marie-Antoine Carême. The episodes include Regency Britain, the Congress of Vienna, Alexander I's entry into Paris and Napoleon's wedding, and all are available to UK-based viewers via the Channel 4 website.
200 YEARS AGO
The Beast of Boulogne
On 7 April, 1810, an extraordinary event took place in a little village near Boulogne sur mer. The story goes that a violent storm threw onto the beach an horrific amphibious monster that proceeded to devour men and dig up corpses. After many fearful attacks, the monster was finally killed one night near the cemetery. This story proved so popular that it entered the cannon of popular folklore, with the beast featuring in prints and popular song. Representations of the beast varied between wolf and dragon, and it became known alongside other half-man, half-beast creatures, such as the Beast of Gévaudan and the Beast of Orléans, that populated the collective imagination.
Source: Chantal Lheureux-Prévot, Les Paysans de Napoléon, Sotéca, 2010, pp. 47-48
150 YEARS AGO
The Chinese expedition: the allied fleet arrives in China
By the end of 1859, the Franco-British fleet had left Europe and was on course for China. The calamitous defeat on the Pei-ho (Hai River) was still keenly felt (see bulletin n° 514) and a joint-ultimatum was issued to the Chinese emperor on 8 March, 1860, outlining the French and British demands, namely:
- a letter of apology for the attack on French vessels on the Pei-ho.
- assurances that the French envoy would receive unrestricted passage to Tientsin (Tianjin) and Peking (Beijing).
- assurances that the Chinese government was prepared to ratify the treaty agreed at Tientsin in 1858.
- indemnity payment to cover the costs of the expedition.
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government refused and on 8 April, 1860, after the thirty-day period accorded to the Chinese to make their decision had run out, Britain and France declared war. On 21 April, English forces occupied the islands that made up Chusan (today Zhoushan), in the Hangzhou Bay, with the goal of protecting access to Shanghai. A move north to Zhifu was completed on 6 June, and a base of operations was set up in preparation for the anticipated northern assault via the Gulf of Pechihli (the Bohai Gulf). Beitang fell on 1 August, and the Battle of Palikao, on 21 September, 1860, led to the allied capture of Peking and the defeat of the Qing Empire.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 536, 2 - 8 April, 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
Easter opening times
Between Monday 19 April and Thursday 29 April, the library will be open:
Tuesday, Wednesday: 1.30pm-6pm
Thursday: 10am-3pm
(Closed Monday and 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:
Of the 30 million inhabitants of Napoleonic France (equivalent to metropolitan France as per present-day frontiers), 24.5 million (81%) lived in rural areas, whilst the livelihood of 18 million (60%) inhabitants was dependent on agricultural labour.
Source: Histoire de la population française de 1789 à 1914, ed. Jacques Dupaquier, Paris: PUF, 1988, p. 31
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
Book of the month
- Les Paysans de Napoléon : aspects de la vie quotidienne et des mentalités, by Chantal Lheureux-Prévot
Press review
- History Today April 2010
- Channel 4: "Glamour Puds" series traces the life and cooking of Marie-Antoine Carême
- Napoleonic Historical Society newsletter n° 1, January-March 2010
- Napoleon's St Helena pipe sells for £3,200 at Edinburgh auction
EVENTS
On now
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Conferences
- "French Revolution in 2010", Portsmouth, UK [05/07/2010 - 06/07/2010]
Full details (including registration form)
Talks
- "Vincenzo Monti, Ugo Foscoio, Giacomo Leopardi: une studio grafologico sugli autografi", Forlì, Italy [16/04/2010]
Full details
Exhibitions
- "The imperial honeymoon: Paris 1810", Fontainebleau, France [02/04/2010 - 02/07/2010]
Full details
- "First Shots: Early War Photography 1848–60", London, UK [02/09/2009 - 18/04/2010]
Full details
- "Turner and the masters", Paris, France [24/02/2010 - 24/05/2010]
Full details
- "Ravage, Empires et mieux !" Two artists and Napoleon, Boulogne-Billancourt, France [12/02/2010 - 29/05/2010]
Full details
- "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
- "Coup de crayon à l'Empire", Waterloo, Belgium [23/09/2009 - 17/05/2010]
Full details<<
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