Napoleon’s Will

Finding Napoleon’s “Ashes” in Paris 179 Years Ago

December 13, 2019 May 30, 2020

The Retour des Cendres of Napoleon I on December 15, 1840 in Paris, by Jacques Guiaud (1811-1876), from Chateau de Versailles

France After Napoleon’s Death: Even after Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821, he still threatened the kings of Europe. By declaring himself an emperor, Napoleon had undermined the hereditary “divine right of kings.” Worse, he installed liberal, secular constitutions throughout Europe. And everywhere, Napoleon spread the French Revolution’s concept of “merit over birthright.” So Louis XVIII …

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FINDING NAPOLEON BONAPARTE IN CUBA, PART 2

January 31, 2018 May 19, 2020

Napoleon Bonaparte's pocket watch from St Helena in the Museo Napoleónico, Havana, Cuba, photo by Margaret Rodenberg, 2017

If you read my last blog post, you know I visited Havana’s Museo Napoleónico. Thanks to the Cuban sugar magnate, Julio Lobo, the museum houses the Western Hemisphere’s largest exhibition of Napoleon Bonaparte’s artifacts. My favorite piece is Napoleon’s pocket watch from his exile on St Helena. But how did it end up in Cuba? Like so …

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Napoleon on St Helena: Reading Books

January 1, 2016 July 19, 2020

My last post covered a few of the ways Napoleon Bonaparte filled his days during his five-and-a-half-year exile on St Helena Island. However, his most important pastime—the one he did every day—was reading. Throughout his life, Napoleon was a voracious reader and book collector. As an impoverished young man, he lived a monkish life, often …

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