General Notes

"The most dangerous moment comes with victory."       Napoleon Bonaparte

"Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Through his military exploits and his ruthless efficiency, Napoleon rose from obscurity to become Napoleon I, Empereur des Francais (Emperor of the French). He is both a historical figure and a legend—and it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. The events of his life fired the imaginations of great writers, film makers, and playwrights whose works have done much to create the Napoleonic legend."

'Napoleon decided on a military career when he was a child, winning a scholarship to a French military academy. His meteoric rise shocked not only France but all of Europe, and his military conquests threatened the stability of the world."

"Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. He has also been portrayed as a power hungry conqueror. Napoleon denied being such a conqueror. He argued that he was building a federation of free peoples in a Europe united under a liberal government. But if this was his goal, he intended to achieve it by taking power in his own hands. However, in the states he created, Napoleon granted constitutions, introduced law codes, abolished feudalism, created efficient governments and fostered education, science, literature and the arts."

"Emperor Napoleon proved to be an excellent civil administrator. One of his greatest achievements was his supervision of the revision and collection of French law into codes. The new law codes—seven in number—incorporated some of the freedoms gained by the people of France during the French revolution, including religious toleration and the abolition of serfdom. The most famous of the codes, the Code Napoleon or Code Civil, still forms the basis of French civil law. Napoleon also centralized France's government by appointing prefects to administer regions called departments, into which France was divided."

Napoleon's own opinion of his career is best stated in the following quotation:


"I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all regardless of religion and before the law. I fought the decrepit monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution."

The widespread notion of Napoleon's shortness lies in the inaccurate translation of old French feet ("pieds de roi") to English. The French measure of five foot two (5' 2"), recorded at his autopsy, actually translates into five feet six and one half inches (5' 6.5") in English measure, which was about the average height of the Frenchman of his day. It is also probable that the men of his Imperial Guard, with whom he "hung out," were very tall, creating the illusion that Napoleon was short.


SOURCES: LDS FHL Ancestral File #   (familysearch.org)
WEB:
"Ancestors/Descendants of Royal Lines" (Contributors: F. L. Jacquier (History of Charlemagne by Christian Settipani); L. Orlandini,  Manuel Abranches de Soveral, Reynaud de Paysac, F.L.  J P de Palmas (Aurejac et Tournemire; Frankish line; The Complete Peerage}, Jacquier (Genealogy of Lewis Carroll, Justin Swanstrom, The Royal Families of England Scotland & Wales by Burkes Peerage; Debrett's Peerage & Baronage; Table of descendants French Canadian Genealogical Society; Families of Monfort-sur-Risle & Bertrand de Bricquebec; The Dukes of Normandy, XXXXI), A. Brabant ("Dynastie Montmorency, Michel d'Herbigny), Paul Leportier, Claude Barret, H.R. Moser (Burke Peerage), O.Guionneau, L.B. de Rouge, E. Polti, N. Danican (Britain's Royal Families; Buthlaw, Succession of Strathclyde, the Armorial 1961-62) A.Terlinden (Genealogy of the existing British Peerage, 1842), L. Gustavsson, C. Cheneaux, E. Lodge, S. Bontron (Brian Tompsett), R. Dewkinandan, H. de la Villarmois, C. Donadello; Scevole de Livonniere, H. de la Villarmois, I. Flatmoen, P. Ract Madoux (History of Morhange; Leon Maujean; Annuaire de Lorraine, 1926; La Galissonniere: Elections d'Arques et Rouen), Jean de Villoutreys (ref: Georges Poull), E. Wilkerson-Theaux (Laura Little), O. Auffray, A. Brabant (Genealogy of Chauvigny of Blot from "Chanoine Prevost Archiviste du Diocese de Troyes Union Typographique Domois Cote-d'Or 1925), Emmanuel Arminjon (E Levi-Provencal Histoire de l'Espagne Andalouse),  Y. Gazagnes-Gazanhe, R. Sekulovich and J.P. de Palmas ("notes pierfit et iconographie Insecula", Tournemire), H de Riberolles (Base Tournemire), Franck Veillon; ,(Histoire Généalogique de la Maison de Hornes, Bruxelles 1848; Notice Historique Sur L'Ancien Comté de Hornes, Gand 1850; Europäische Stammtafeln, Marburg 1978); E.Driant / "La Maison de Damas" par Hubert Lamant, 1977 (Bibliothèque municipale d'Eaubonne)
........... http://geneastar.org.
<a href=http://www.geneastar.org>Geneastar Royal Lines</a> .
<a href=http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95aug/napoleon.html#resources>Napoleon Bonaparte</a> .