Blog category: France
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Virginie Ghesquière: A Female Napoleonic Soldier
March 24, 2023
Virginie Ghesquière was a French woman who disguised herself as a man and fought as a soldier in Napoleon’s army. She first came to public attention in an article in the October 31, 1812 edition of the Journal de l’Empire. Readers were told: “There is much talk of the courage and devotion of a young lady who replaced her brother, a conscript of 1806, and returned from the army covered with honorable wounds.” Her story formed the basis of many popular tales, but how much of it was true?
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François d’Orléans, Prince of Joinville: Artist & Sailor
October 15, 2021
François d’Orléans, Prince of Joinville, is perhaps best known to Napoleon fans as the commander of La Belle Poule, the ship that returned Napoleon’s remains to France in 1840. The Prince of Joinville – the son of a French king – had a storied naval career, was a notable painter of watercolours, and wrote some delightful memoirs. You might remember him from my post about vintage photos of French royalty, in which he stood out as one of the princes who served in the American Civil War. Here’s a closer look at his life and his art.
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François-Joseph Talma, Napoleon’s Favourite Actor
February 5, 2021
Napoleon’s favourite actor was François-Joseph Talma, the leading French tragedian of the period. They became friends before Napoleon became Emperor. Napoleon maintained a close relationship with Talma during his years in power and Talma remained a loyal friend.
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When an Englishman Met a Napoleonic Captain in Restoration France
September 18, 2020
After Napoleon was exiled to Elba in 1814, English visitors flocked across the English Channel, eager to see Paris now that France was under the rule of England’s ally, King Louis XVIII. One of those making the trip was British journalist John Scott, who left the following account.
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Sunday in Paris in the 1830s
February 2, 2018
In describing Jean-Pierre Piat’s excursion through the streets of Paris in Napoleon in America, I tried to give an impression of what it was like to walk through the French capital in the early 1820s, during the reign of Louis XVIII. For a description of a stroll through Paris a decade later, it’s hard to beat the following extract from a 19th-century travel book. The anonymous British author provides a lively sense of a Sunday in Paris in the 1830s, during the reign of King Louis Philippe.
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The Bedroom Adventures of a Napoleonic Soldier
December 1, 2017
The adventures of a Napoleonic soldier in the bedroom can be as entertaining as his exploits on the battlefield. At least that’s the case when Jean-Roch Coignet, a grenadier in Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, tells the tale. In late 1809, at the age of 33, Coignet was back in Paris after the Austrian campaign, during which he had been promoted to sergeant. Wanting to improve his appearance to suit his new rank, he bought some false calves – padded attachments for the lower limbs – to make his legs look more shapely. Shortly thereafter, Coignet was invited to dinner at his captain’s house, along with some “distinguished military men and citizens and ladies of high degree.”
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What did the Duke of Wellington think of Louis XVIII?
June 2, 2017
Though Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, is usually associated with Napoleon Bonaparte, he had an equally large impact on Napoleon’s successor, King Louis XVIII. It was thanks to Wellington’s and Prussian Field Marshal von Blücher’s victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 that Louis XVIII, a member of the House of Bourbon, regained the throne of France. While Louis had a pronounced fondness for the British field marshal, Wellington thought rather less of the French king.
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Watching French Royals Eat: The Grand Couvert
December 9, 2016
The grand couvert was a ceremony in which French kings and queens ate their dinner in front of members of the public. When Napoleon became Emperor of the French, he re-introduced the custom.
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Charles Fabvier: Napoleonic Soldier & Greek Hero
April 15, 2016
Charles Fabvier was a hotheaded French soldier who began his career under Napoleon Bonaparte. After Napoleon’s defeat, Fabvier tried working for King Louis XVIII. He was so outraged by ultra-royalist excesses that he wound up plotting against the crown. A disastrous attempt to subvert the French army at the Bidassoa River led to Fabvier being branded as a traitor. He salvaged his career by serving with distinction in the Greek War of Independence. Fabvier finished his days as a respected French politician and diplomat. He even gets a mention in War and Peace.
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The 1823 French Invasion of Spain
September 11, 2015
In 1823, France invaded Spain to restore absolutist King Ferdinand VII to the throne. It was a huge deal at the time, both in Europe and the Americas.
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Joseph de Villèle, the Least Unreasonable Ultra-Royalist
August 28, 2015
Joseph de Villèle served as prime minister of France from 1822 to 1828 under Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X. Often vilified as an ultra-royalist, Villèle tried to steer a prudent course between the far right and the political centre, and was the architect of a sound economic policy. Although Villèle was a capable politician, it is said that “outside of business, [he] was incapable of sustaining a conversation.”
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Louis-Joseph Oudart, a Downright Scoundrel
July 10, 2015
Louis-Joseph Oudart (Houdard) was a Napoleonic soldier who disgraced himself during the Bourbon Restoration. He then joined the Champ d’Asile, a Bonapartist invasion of Texas.
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Why didn’t Napoleon escape to the United States?
June 26, 2015
After his 1815 abdication from the French throne, Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to start a new life in the United States. Why didn’t he?
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The Tragedy of Colonel Pierre Viriot
May 29, 2015
Pierre Viriot was a promising French soldier who wound up on the bad side of both the Napoleonic and the Bourbon regimes. His career was undone by his honourable involvement in the trial of the presumed kidnappers of French Senator Clément de Ris. Viriot’s sad tale shows the power of Napoleon’s police to ruin a man’s life.
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Coiffure à la Titus
May 22, 2015
In an earlier post I looked at Napoleon in America character Barthélemy Bacheville, who was described in an 1816 police report as being “coiffed à la Titus.” This got me wondering: what does a Roman emperor have to do with hairstyles in early 19th-century France?
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The Duke and Duchess of Angoulême
February 7, 2014
Married cousins Louis Antoine and Marie-Thérèse of France, children of the Bourbon kings Louis XVI and Charles X, led lives of disappointment, exile and sorrow. This ultimately strengthened the bond between them.
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The Count of Artois: Charles X of France
January 31, 2014
Charles Philippe, the Count of Artois – later Charles X of France – was a wastrel and a reactionary whose behaviour helped to discredit French royalty. Known as the “Don Juan” of Versailles, he became a royal pain in the side of his brother, King Louis XVIII.
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Louis XVIII of France: Oyster Louis
January 24, 2014
Louis XVIII le Desiré (the Desired), King of France. was born in the wrong place and time. He had to flee his country as his brother and sister-in-law were guillotined in the French Revolution. He then spent years shuffling around Europe while Napoleon ran France.
We must confess that fate, which sports with man, makes merry work with the affairs of this world.
Napoleon Bonaparte