Ask The History Doc: Napoleon
Dear History Doctor: I think I read somewhere that Napoleon was never really crowned when he became Emperor? Is this true?signed: Don't Really Need to Know
Dear Don't Really,
Well, it is KIND OF true. You see, it is actually quite difficult to become a king or an emperor. I mean, by the 19th century the days were long gone when you could just sort of proclaim yourself to be whatever you wanted to be after you beat up on the preceding whatever-he-was in battle, especially if you had no blood tie to the monarchy. By 1805, Napoleon was stuck with the problem of trying to get someone in authority, someone who had some sort of historic status, to agree that he was a real, sure-enough emperor. Naturally, the fraternity of kings/emperors had an investment in seeing to it that not every Tom, Dick, or Harry went around saying he was Thomas I or Harry II. So Napoleon, who had been at war with nearly all of Europe for a while, had no reasonable expectation that any European monarch would welcome him to the table with open arms. This left the Pope.
Well, it is KIND OF true. You see, it is actually quite difficult to become a king or an emperor. I mean, by the 19th century the days were long gone when you could just sort of proclaim yourself to be whatever you wanted to be after you beat up on the preceding whatever-he-was in battle, especially if you had no blood tie to the monarchy. By 1805, Napoleon was stuck with the problem of trying to get someone in authority, someone who had some sort of historic status, to agree that he was a real, sure-enough emperor. Naturally, the fraternity of kings/emperors had an investment in seeing to it that not every Tom, Dick, or Harry went around saying he was Thomas I or Harry II. So Napoleon, who had been at war with nearly all of Europe for a while, had no reasonable expectation that any European monarch would welcome him to the table with open arms. This left the Pope.
Going
way back to Charlemagne, it had been possible to be proclaimed ruler by
the Papacy. In fact, Charlemagne had become the very first Holy Roman
Emperor in 800 because the Pope said he was Holy Roman Emperor
(actually, it was Roman Emperor, but that's another story). Napoleon
had recently settled some outstanding issues between France and the
Papacy, so he figured he might ask for a favor now that things were
more or less smoothed over on that front.
Napoleon
proceeded to plan for quite an impressive coronation ceremony (you
should see that ermine robe!) and the Pope agreed to place the crown on
his head. But then Napoleon got to thinking about all of this. You see,
being a keen student of history, he knew that because Charlemagne had
accepted his crown from the Church, the Church believed Charlemagne
should be in some sense a subordinate partner in the deal. Try to
picture Napoleon as a subordinate partner. Can't do it, can you?
Neither could Napoleon. But he really did need an “authority figure” to
agree that he was a genuine emperor!
So,
to get out of this dilemma, he grabbed the crown away from the
astonished representative of the Church at the last minute and placed
it on his own head. Once he had been crowned in the presence of the
pope, it was too late for the church to back out, but in case of any
difficulties he could turn to the technicality that he had “crowned
himself.” The moment is wonderfully portrayed in David's painting The
Coronation of Napoleon now in the Louvre—one irreverent art historian
insists that in this work the Pontiff “looks p.o.'d.”
Of
course, as you know, the fun did not last for long, and by 1815 the
Emperor was simply the most famous inhabitant of St. Helena. His
coronation robe recently toured the United States, but Napoleon himself
rests today in his tomb in Les Invalides, one of the “must see” spots
for tourists in Paris. He did not get to take his crown with him.
Although
a REAL doctor, the History Doctor does not guarantee total accuracy in
her answers to these questions. In fact, she does not guarantee total
accuracy in the questions, either.
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