Myths and interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon Bonaparte: biography and interesting facts from life Message about Napoleon interesting facts
Napoleon Bonaparte is a great commander, an outstanding statesman and emperor of France. The biography of Napoleon Bonaparte contains many interesting facts from life. For the curious - a selection of little-known and sometimes controversial historical facts from the biography of a man who changed the history of France, Europe, and the whole world.
- The father of the future great commander, Carlo Buonaparte, always dreamed of a military career for his son. Fortunately, young Napoleon was only happy about this. The teachers of the Paris Military School admired the abilities of the wild and independent Corsican, and at the same time were shocked by the young man’s hostility towards France and the French who occupied his homeland - the island of Corsica.
- After the sudden death of his father, an enormous burden of caring for a large family fell on the shoulders of Lieutenant Napoleon - his mother, four brothers and three sisters. He worked hard, lived from hand to mouth and tried to visit his family often. At that difficult time, he least of all looked like a person who was destined to change the course of the history of all of Europe.
- Amazing facts from the biography of Napoleon are not uncommon. For example, one day nineteen-year-old Lieutenant Bonaparte, having decided to radically change his life, submitted a request to enlist in the Russian army. The answer was positive, but with one condition - a reduction in rank. The proud Corsican considered this proposal unacceptable.
- In 1789, fate presented Napoleon with the main gift - the French Revolution. That time thirsted for new leaders - smart, courageous, decisive, charismatic, capable of leading a crowd, and most importantly - of low origin, offended and unable to advance under the “old regime”. Napoleon Bonaparte could not have been more suitable for this role - the favorite of the French people, and he became it.
- In 1804, the rebel and revolutionary, who hated France with all his heart and despised the monarchy, put on the crown. The coronation ceremony was supposed to eclipse all previous ones. And she eclipsed. France has never known so much glitz and luxury before. On the eve of such a grandiose event, another, no less important event took place - the wedding of Napoleon and Josephine Beauharnais.
- The arrival of the pontiff was always a prerequisite for the coronation of the emperor. Pope Pius VII arrived to place the crown on the head of the new emperor. But he failed to perform the old ritual: the commander impatiently snatched the crown from the hands of the shocked and confused pope and quickly placed it on his own head, and then on the head of the future empress.
- Many revolutionaries went through a great test - the “temptation of the crown.” Simon Bolivar, George Washington, Oliver Cromwell all refused. Only Napoleon Bonaparte could not resist, and this ultimately destroyed him: his supporters became disillusioned and turned away, and European monarchs never accepted the poor Corsican from a large family into their ranks.
- During the reign of Napoleon I there were many positive things. For example, a series of reforms that influenced all areas of French life - from education to taxation, and which are still the basis of modern France.
- The cause of death of the French emperor is not known for certain. There is a version that he was not just poisoned, but small doses of poison were added to him over many years.
- The favorite horse of the great commander was the Arabian stallion Marengo. However, the owner was not always accompanied by his faithful friend. Throughout his military career, Napoleon changed 130 horses. The skeleton of the emperor's favorite horse is still kept within the walls of the National Army Museum in London.
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Napoleone Buonaparte
The most interesting, intellectual and charismatic statesman, commander in history, Emperor of the French in 1804-1814 and 1815.
Date and place of death: May 5, 1821 (aged 51), Longwood, St. Helena, British Empire.
And interesting facts about Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio on the island of Corsica, which for a long time was under the control of the Genoese Republic.
The Buonaparte family belonged to minor aristocrats; Napoleon's ancestors came from Florence and lived in Corsica since 1529.
As a child, he suffered from a dry cough that could have been bouts of tuberculosis. According to his mother and older brother Joseph, Napoleon read a lot, especially historical literature.
In 1777, Carlo (Napoleon's father) was elected deputy to Paris from the Corsican nobility. In December 1778, going to Versailles, he took both sons with him.
At school, Napoleon achieved particular success in mathematics, history and geography; on the contrary, he was weak in Latin and German. In addition, he made quite a lot of mistakes when writing, but thanks to his love of reading, his style became much better. A conflict with some teachers even made him popular among his peers, and gradually he became their informal leader.
On February 24, 1785, his father died, and Napoleon took over the role of head of the family, although according to the rules his older brother Joseph should have done so. On September 28 of the same year, he completed his education early and on November 3 began his professional career in the artillery regiment de La Fère in Valence with the rank of second lieutenant of artillery.
In 1788, Napoleon attempted to enlist as a well-paid officer in the Russian Imperial Army, which was recruiting foreign volunteers for the war against the Ottoman Empire. However, according to the order received the day before, the recruitment of foreigners was carried out only with a reduction in rank, which Napoleon was not happy with.
Napoleon began his professional military service in 1785 with the rank of junior lieutenant of artillery. During the French Revolution, he reached the rank of brigadier general after the capture of Toulon on December 18, 1793. Under the Directory, he became a divisional general and commander of the military forces of the rear after playing a key role in defeating the rebellion of the 13th Vendémières in 1795. On March 2, 1796, he was appointed commander of the Italian Army. In 1798-1799 he led a military expedition to Egypt.
Napoleon liked a variety of hats. He had about 200 of them throughout his life.
In the summer of 1793, Captain Bonaparte carried out an operation to suppress the rebellion of monarchists in Toulon so successfully that the French Republic immediately gave him the rank of general.
At the age of 24, Napoleon was already a general.
Napoleon's height was 169 centimeters. Contrary to popular belief about 157 cm.
It is known that Napoleon loved Italian operas, especially Romeo and Juliet, but he himself never applauded in the theater. The audience also did not dare to applaud, and there was unprecedented silence in the theater. Once the singer Crementini sang the aria “Ombra odorata aspeta” with such brilliance that the minister of the Italian kingdom, Count Morescalchi, could not stand it and shouted loudly several times:
“Bravo! Bravo!”
Then he came to his senses, got off the chair and crawled out of the box on all fours.
Triangles can be built inward (all) - the statement will remain valid. The triangle thus obtained is called the Napoleon triangle (internal and external). The theorem is often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. It is possible, however, that it was proposed by W. Rutherford in the 1825 publication of The Ladies' Diary.
Despite his discreet appearance, women liked Napoleon. This was greatly facilitated by his military glory. He never allowed women to influence his military and political decisions, but in private life some of them meant a lot to him. This is exactly what his first wife was, Josephine Beauharnais.
Josephine was six years older than Napoleon, and at that time such marriages caused ridicule. For this reason, the dates of birth of the bride and groom were incorrectly indicated in the marriage certificate of Napoleon and Josephine.
Napoleon could fall asleep at the most crucial moments, and it took him 1-2 hours to wake up and again continue to fight as if nothing had happened. This, for example, happened during the Battle of Austerlitz, when, right during the firestorm and whistling bullets, he ordered a bear skin to be spread out and fell into sleep. After 20 minutes he woke up and continued the battle again.
Napoleon's opponents contemptuously called him "the little Corsican."
Napoleon managed to write a story that consisted of only 9 pages.
Napoleon Bonaparte had a lot in common with Adolf Hitler, namely: They both came to power at the age of 44, they both attacked Russia at the age of 52, and also lost their wars at the age of 56.
It was known that Napoleon liked Italian operas, especially Romeo and Juliet.
Napoleon never got sick and worked hard. I had to work and stay awake 18 hours a day.
The emperor was aware of his own significance for history.
Although Bonaparte was not ill, he did have a phobia of cats, which is called ailurophobia.
The combination of subtle political calculation and a semi-fantastic plan gave birth to a plan in Napoleon’s head for a campaign in distant Egypt, by conquering which, he believed, it was possible to defeat England. A year after the victorious Italian campaign, in May 1798, Napoleon set out on a new campaign. In June he captured Malta, and a month later he landed in Alexandria. Scientists, researchers and artists arrived in Egypt along with the army, thus marking the beginning of the new science of Egyptology.
At the Battle of the Pyramids, the French defeated the Mamluks, and Bonaparte became the de facto ruler of Egypt. With his characteristic wisdom, he guaranteed the preservation of Islamic laws, wore a turban and visited the mosque, which delighted the local population.
On July 25, from the accidentally dropped words of his adjutant, Bonaparte learned what had long been gossiped about in Parisian society - that Josephine was unfaithful to him. The news shocked Napoleon. “From that moment on, idealism left his life, and in subsequent years his selfishness, suspicion and egocentric ambition became even more noticeable. All of Europe was destined to feel the destruction of Bonaparte’s family happiness.”
Arriving in Paris on October 16, Napoleon discovered that during his absence Josephine had bought the Malmaison estate for 325 thousand (borrowed by her) francs. After a scandal over Josephine's infidelity, reconciliation followed. In her later family life, Josephine remained faithful to her husband, which cannot be said about him.
For several months he knew nothing about affairs in Europe, and when he learned from a random newspaper that England, Austria and Russia had started a new war against France, he hastily returned to Paris to overthrow the Directory within a month and become the absolute dictator of France.
The Peace of Luneville, concluded on February 9, 1801, marked the beginning of French dominance not only in Italy, but also in Germany. A year later (March 27, 1802), the Peace of Amiens was concluded with Great Britain, ending the War of the Second Coalition.
In 1800, the Bank of France was established to store gold reserves and issue money.
Well aware of the importance of influencing public opinion, Napoleon closed 60 of the 73 Parisian newspapers and placed the rest under government control. A powerful police force was created, led by Fouche, and an extensive secret service, headed by Savary.
As a young man, the future emperor dreamed of becoming a writer and prepared materials about Corsica.
In 1801, Napoleon concluded a concordat with the Pope. Rome recognized the new French government, and Catholicism was declared the religion of the majority of the French. At the same time, freedom of religion was preserved. The appointment of bishops and the activities of the church were made dependent on the government.
Having taken over a state with a deplorable financial condition, Napoleon and his financial advisers completely rebuilt the system of tax collection and spending.
On Floreal 28 (May 18, 1804), by resolution of the Senate (the so-called Senate Consultation of the XII year), a new constitution was adopted, according to which Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of the French, the positions of the highest dignitaries and great officers of the Empire were introduced, including the restoration of the marshal rank, abolished in the years revolution.
On December 2, 1804, during a magnificent ceremony held in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris with the participation of the pope, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.
They say that Napoleon was afraid of poisoning and, trying to “accustom” his body to poison, took arsenic in small doses all his life.
On December 13, Charles Leon, Napoleon's son from Eleanor Denuelle, was born in Paris. Napoleon learned about this on December 31 in Pułtusk. The birth of his son confirmed that Napoleon could have founded a dynasty if he had divorced Josephine. Returning to Warsaw from Pułtusk, on January 1, 1807, at the postal station in Błon, Napoleon first met twenty-one-year-old Maria Walewska, the wife of an elderly Polish count, with whom he had a long affair.
As emperor, Napoleon got up at 7 o'clock in the morning and went about his business. At 10 o'clock - breakfast, accompanied by diluted chambertin (a habit since pre-revolutionary times). After breakfast, he again worked in his office until one o'clock in the afternoon, after which he attended council meetings. He had lunch at 5 and sometimes at 7 o’clock in the afternoon, after lunch he talked with the Empress, got acquainted with the latest books, and then returned to his office. I went to bed at midnight, woke up at three in the morning to take a hot bath, and went to bed again at five in the morning.
Napoleon Bonaparte disappeared from the historical scene in July 1815 after a failed attempt to regain power through a military coup. Six years after this, on the rocky island of St. Helena, lost in the ocean, the life of a man who had outlived his glory still glimmered. It was the agony of a prisoner doomed to a slow death that lasted for many months. He died completely alone on May 5, 1821 from stomach cancer.
In 1815, the emperor's career finally collapsed: he was exiled to the island of St. Helena, where he died some time later from a bladder disease.
On the night of September 4, 1823, in the park of the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, guards shot an unknown man who, having jumped the fence, was heading into the castle, not paying attention to the order “stop!”
In the morning, two high-ranking Austrian officers arrived at the scene. They drew up a report and left.
An hour after them, diplomats from the French embassy appeared, insisting that the corpse be handed over to them. The mistress of the palace, Marie Louise, the Austrian Archduchess and French Empress, who returned to her native Austria after Napoleon Bonaparte was expelled to St. Helena, categorically refused to carry out the order. The dead man was buried in the guy. Soon the news spread throughout all European cities that the mysterious stranger was... Napoleon Bonaparte. Some authors in France are still convinced that it was indeed the “little Corsican” and that it was not he who died on the island of St. Helena on May 5, 1821, but his double. The name of this alleged double is François Eugene Robot. He was born in the village of Baleikur and was like two peas in a pod like Napoleon. After the famous Hundred Days, Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena, and an agent was assigned to Robo, who was obliged to report on every step of his charge.
Napoleon I Bonaparte – the most interesting facts on the Internet updated: December 13, 2017 by: website
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of those people who always do everything to get what they want, and therefore he had many enemies.
There were many different legends around his strong personality during life and after death, sometimes true, and sometimes simply composed by numerous people who wanted to cause him harm, political or personal. Now, almost two centuries later, the difference between truth and fiction is almost indistinguishable.
Napoleon wrote a novel
This is what Napoleon's handwriting looks like
This story is half true and half fiction. In 1795, Napoleon wrote a short story (only nine pages) called Clissant and Eugénie. According to most historians, this story reflected the turbulent but short-lived relationship of the future emperor with Eugenie Désiré Clary. The story was not published during Napoleon's lifetime, but numerous copies were distributed among the emperor's friends, relatives and admirers, and the original was later reconstructed from them.
Napoleon had the ability to write. He once admitted that he had begun a poem about Corsica, but it would never be finished, and he would not publish it. At the age of 17, he thought of presenting to the public a history of Corsica, written by himself, but when publishers finally became interested in the young talent, Napoleon had already become an officer...
The emperor was not only a writer, but also his own harsh critic. In his youth, Napoleon submitted an essay to the Lyon Academy competition entitled “Principles and Institutions Leading Humanity to the Highest Stage of Happiness.” Many years later, the Academy returned to Bonaparte a copy of the work that was kept in their archives. He read a few pages and threw the paper into the fireplace without regret.
The Red Sea almost destroyed Napoleon's army
Around 1798, while passing through Egypt and Syria, Napoleon and some of his cavalry took advantage of the calm afternoon and low tide of the Red Sea to cross the dry bottom on the opposite shore and visit several springs called the wells of Moses. When curiosity was satisfied and the army approached the Red Sea to return, it was already dark and the tide was beginning to rise.
In the darkness it was impossible to see the road; the water kept rising and blocked the path they had taken earlier. Napoleon ordered his men to stand around him, forming something like a wheel. Each one walked forward until he had to swim, then the ring moved in the other direction, away from the rising water. Thus, everyone managed to escape from the Red Sea: the army got wet, but no one drowned. Recalling how the Pharaoh’s army died, Napoleon remarked: “If this had happened to us, the priests would have had an excellent topic to preach against me!”
There is an opinion that it was Napoleon who made the Sphinx noseless
One story says that when Napoleon's troops were in Egypt between 1798 and 1801, his soldiers honed their cannon skills by shooting at the Sphinx and accidentally knocked off its nose. There is a significant refutation of this, since back in 1755 Frederic Louis Norden published a drawing according to which the Sphinx no longer had a nose.
The story became known only in the 20th century. Among researchers of ancient Egypt, the more common version is that this detail of the composition was shot by Mameluke warriors 500 years before Napoleon’s campaign.
Kill your own so that others will be afraid
On May 27, 1799, Napoleon was forced to retreat from Jaffa in Egypt and sent the wounded ahead of him with all the necessary guards. But about 30 of their number were sick with bubonic plague and could not be transported with the rest, so as not to infect the entire army. Napoleon knew that if he left these people, they would be captured by the Turks and tortured to death. Then he suggested that the regimental doctor Dezhenet give the unfortunate people a large dose of opium to save them from suffering. Degenet refused. As a result, the entire rearguard of the Napoleonic army remained under the walls of Jaffa along with the wounded; later they were found and taken out by the British.
This story was a failure for Napoleon. Rumors grew and multiplied to such an extent that everyone was absolutely sure that Bonaparte had poisoned at least several hundred wounded. Even the soldiers and officers of the French army and the majority of the British believed in this. Until the end of his life, Napoleon never managed to get rid of rumors that he really killed his wounded and sick soldiers.
Cleopatra no longer lives here
Napoleon brought Cleopatra's ashes to France
As the story goes, in 1940, workers at a Paris museum, while cleaning the building, accidentally shook the remains of an ancient mummy from a casket down the drain. The cleaners did not immediately realize that the casket was used to store the ashes of Cleopatra herself, brought from Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte. The story has been widely circulated and has only one major flaw: the tomb of the famous queen has never been found, so no museum can claim such a loss.
The myth arose on the basis that Bonaparte plundered Egypt during his campaign, although in fact he only sent about 150 scientists there to study the history and culture of this state, study monuments and artifacts. Although the political conquest was unsuccessful, Napoleon managed to start a craze for Egyptian history around the world. Ironically, it was Bonaparte's scientific interest that began the plunder in which France itself did not even participate.
Prophetic dreams, aren't they?
In June 1800, on the eve of the Battle of Marengo, one of the senior officers urgently asked for an audience with Napoleon. General Henri Christian Michel de Stengel entered Napoleon's tent with an unhappy look and handed him an envelope with a will, asking the emperor to personally carry out his last will. He said that at night he had a dream in which he was killed by a huge Croatian warrior who had turned into an image of death, and was deeply convinced that he would die in the upcoming battle.
The next day, Napoleon was informed that Stengel had died in an unequal battle with the Croatian giant. This incident haunted Napoleon all his life, and even when dying on the island of St. Helena, he whispered: “Stengel, attack quickly!”
However, historical facts contradict this legend. First, Stengel died at the Battle of Mondovi, four years before Marengo. Secondly, Bonaparte’s last words still cause various disputes, and not a single researcher has ever claimed that Napoleon said exactly that. It is quite possible that in his death throes the defeated Emperor of France simply called on all his generals to attack an imaginary enemy. In addition, the first mention of such a case appeared in 1890, almost a century after the Battle of Marengo.
Father of his own grandson
This can only happen in Mexican TV series.
When Napoleon married Josephine Beauharnais, he also became a father to her daughter Hortense, whom he loved as his own. When Hortense reached the right age, Josephine decided to marry her to Louis, Napoleon's brother, partly because she felt the Bonaparte family disliked her. She was also sure that if Hortense had a son with Napoleon’s blood, the emperor would make him his heir.
Josephine needed all her imagination and ingenuity to get her husband to agree. And once he was convinced that this was indeed a good idea, the feelings of Hortense and Louis ceased to matter. Almost immediately they began to say that the real father of Hortense’s child was Napoleon himself, and that Josephine herself organized and encouraged this in every possible way. Rumors were spread by the brothers and sisters of Napoleon himself, who did not want to accept Hortensia’s children.
Many big people have their own personal double
In 1815, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena and, as history goes, remained there until his death. But in 1911, a man named M. Omersa declared that he had all the evidence that Bonaparte had never been to St. Helens.
Homersa claimed that a man named François Eugene Robot, known for his physical resemblance to the emperor, was sent into exile in his place, and the Corsican himself grew a beard and went to Verona, where he ran a small shop selling glasses to British travelers. True, in 1823 Napoleon was nevertheless killed by vigilant guards while trying to enter the palace to see his son.
The version itself is interesting, but it assumes some kind of conspiracy with the participation of Napoleon himself, which is unlikely. It is also doubtful that a soldier who bore only a superficial resemblance to the emperor could play the role of the emperor so convincingly for six years.
Poisoned Chocolate
A woman's revenge is a terrible thing
During Napoleon's reign, many stories were created by English propagandists in an attempt to turn public opinion against the emperor. Most of them have long been forgotten, but some are still alive. According to one of them, Napoleon drank a cup of chocolate every morning and one day received an anonymous note asking him not to drink chocolate that day. When the chamberlain brought chocolate to the emperor, Napoleon ordered to call the woman who had prepared this drink for him, and forced her to drink the entire cup. In her death throes, the woman confessed that she wanted to take revenge on the emperor for seducing her in her youth and then completely forgetting about her existence. The cook noticed how this woman put something into the chocolate and conveyed the warning to Napoleon. The Emperor awarded him a lifelong pension and membership in the Legion of Honor.
Of course, nothing of the kind happened, but this fictional story is still considered one of the classic examples of the revenge of a rejected woman.
Timely haircut
A watch with the hair of Napoleon himself, what do you think?
Surprisingly, a large amount of his hair survived Napoleon's death. Four of the emperor's locks were given to the Balcombe family, with whom Napoleon had befriended on St. Helena. In addition, Napoleon bequeathed gold bracelets containing locks of his hair to his family and friends.
This led to very unexpected consequences. First, the strands kept by the Balcombe family were used to test the theory that the emperor was poisoned with arsenic. Secondly, the popularity of Napoleon's hair provoked the spread of numerous fakes for almost two hundred years.
But the most unexpected thing was the recent announcement by the Swiss brand De Witt about the release of a new line of watches, each model of which will contain the hair of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. So, two centuries later, Napoleon's strands will again be woven into bracelets for the richest fans of the French emperor.
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of those people who always do everything to get what they want, and therefore he had many enemies. There were many different legends around his strong personality during life and after death, sometimes true, and sometimes simply composed by numerous people who wanted to cause him harm, political or personal. Now, almost two centuries later, the difference between truth and fiction is almost indistinguishable.
Napoleon wrote a novel
This is what Napoleon's handwriting looks like
This story is half true and half fiction. In 1795, Napoleon wrote a short story (only nine pages) called Clissant and Eugénie. According to most historians, this story reflected the turbulent but short-lived relationship of the future emperor with Eugenie Désiré Clary. The story was not published during Napoleon's lifetime, but numerous copies were distributed among the emperor's friends, relatives and admirers, and the original was later reconstructed from them.
Napoleon had the ability to write. He once admitted that he had begun a poem about Corsica, but it would never be finished, and he would not publish it. At the age of 17, he thought of presenting to the public a history of Corsica, written by himself, but when publishers finally became interested in the young talent, Napoleon had already become an officer...
The emperor was not only a writer, but also his own harsh critic. In his youth, Napoleon submitted an essay to the Lyon Academy competition entitled “Principles and Institutions Leading Humanity to the Highest Stage of Happiness.” Many years later, the Academy returned to Bonaparte a copy of the work that was kept in their archives. He read a few pages and threw the paper into the fireplace without regret.
Dear Moses
The Red Sea almost destroyed Napoleon's army
Around 1798, while passing through Egypt and Syria, Napoleon and some of his cavalry took advantage of the calm afternoon and low tide of the Red Sea to cross the dry bottom on the opposite shore and visit several springs called the wells of Moses. When curiosity was satisfied and the army approached the Red Sea to return, it was already dark and the tide was beginning to rise.
In the darkness it was impossible to see the road; the water kept rising and blocked the path they had taken earlier. Napoleon ordered his men to stand around him, forming something like a wheel. Each one walked forward until he had to swim, then the ring moved in the other direction, away from the rising water. Thus, everyone managed to escape from the Red Sea: the army got wet, but no one drowned. Recalling how the Pharaoh’s army died, Napoleon remarked: “If this had happened to us, the priests would have had an excellent topic to preach against me!”
Sphinx nose
There is an opinion that it was Napoleon who made the Sphinx noseless
One story says that when Napoleon's troops were in Egypt between 1798 and 1801, his soldiers honed their cannon skills by shooting at the Sphinx and accidentally knocked off its nose. There is a significant refutation of this, since back in 1755 Frederic Louis Norden published a drawing according to which the Sphinx no longer had a nose.
The story became known only in the 20th century. Among researchers of ancient Egypt, the more common version is that this detail of the composition was shot by Mameluke warriors 500 years before Napoleon’s campaign.
Killing the wounded
Kill your own so that others will be afraid
On May 27, 1799, Napoleon was forced to retreat from Jaffa in Egypt and sent the wounded ahead of him with all the necessary guards. But about 30 of their number were sick with bubonic plague and could not be transported with the rest, so as not to infect the entire army. Napoleon knew that if he left these people, they would be captured by the Turks and tortured to death. Then he suggested that the regimental doctor Dezhenet give the unfortunate people a large dose of opium to save them from suffering. Degenet refused. As a result, the entire rearguard of the Napoleonic army remained under the walls of Jaffa along with the wounded; later they were found and taken out by the British.
This story was a failure for Napoleon. Rumors grew and multiplied to such an extent that everyone was absolutely sure that Bonaparte had poisoned at least several hundred wounded. Even the soldiers and officers of the French army and the majority of the British believed in this. Until the end of his life, Napoleon never managed to get rid of rumors that he really killed his wounded and sick soldiers.
Cleopatra no longer lives here
Napoleon brought Cleopatra's ashes to France
As the story goes, in 1940, workers at a Paris museum, while cleaning the building, accidentally shook the remains of an ancient mummy from a casket down the drain. The cleaners did not immediately realize that the casket was used to store the ashes of Cleopatra herself, brought from Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte. The story has been widely circulated and has only one major flaw: the tomb of the famous queen has never been found, so no museum can claim such a loss.
The myth arose on the basis that Bonaparte plundered Egypt during his campaign, although in fact he only sent about 150 scientists there to study the history and culture of this state, study monuments and artifacts. Although the political conquest was unsuccessful, Napoleon managed to start a craze for Egyptian history around the world. Ironically, it was Bonaparte's scientific interest that began the plunder in which France itself did not even participate.
Nightmares of Marengo
Prophetic dreams, aren't they?
In June 1800, on the eve of the Battle of Marengo, one of the senior officers urgently asked for an audience with Napoleon. General Henri Christian Michel de Stengel entered Napoleon's tent with an unhappy look and handed him an envelope with a will, asking the emperor to personally carry out his last will. He said that at night he had a dream in which he was killed by a huge Croatian warrior who had turned into an image of death, and was deeply convinced that he would die in the upcoming battle.
The next day, Napoleon was informed that Stengel had died in an unequal battle with the Croatian giant. This incident haunted Napoleon all his life, and even when dying on the island of St. Helena, he whispered: “Stengel, attack quickly!”
However, historical facts contradict this legend. First, Stengel died at the Battle of Mondovi, four years before Marengo. Secondly, Bonaparte’s last words still cause various disputes, and not a single researcher has ever claimed that Napoleon said exactly that. It is quite possible that in his death throes the defeated Emperor of France simply called on all his generals to attack an imaginary enemy. In addition, the first mention of such a case appeared in 1890, almost a century after the Battle of Marengo.
Father of his own grandson
This can only happen in Mexican TV series.
When Napoleon married Josephine Beauharnais, he also became a father to her daughter Hortense, whom he loved as his own. When Hortense reached the right age, Josephine decided to marry her to Louis, Napoleon's brother, partly because she felt the Bonaparte family disliked her. She was also sure that if Hortense had a son with Napoleon’s blood, the emperor would make him his heir.
Josephine needed all her imagination and ingenuity to get her husband to agree. And once he was convinced that this was indeed a good idea, the feelings of Hortense and Louis ceased to matter. Almost immediately they began to say that the real father of Hortense’s child was Napoleon himself, and that Josephine herself organized and encouraged this in every possible way. Rumors were spread by the brothers and sisters of Napoleon himself, who did not want to accept Hortensia’s children.
Exiled double
Many big people have their own personal double
In 1815, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena and, as history goes, remained there until his death. But in 1911, a man named M. Omersa declared that he had all the evidence that Bonaparte had never been to St. Helens.
Homersa claimed that a man named François Eugene Robot, known for his physical resemblance to the emperor, was sent into exile in his place, and the Corsican himself grew a beard and went to Verona, where he ran a small shop selling glasses to British travelers. True, in 1823 Napoleon was nevertheless killed by vigilant guards while trying to enter the palace to see his son.
The version itself is interesting, but it assumes some kind of conspiracy with the participation of Napoleon himself, which is unlikely. It is also doubtful that a soldier who bore only a superficial resemblance to the emperor could play the role of the emperor so convincingly for six years.
Poisoned Chocolate
A woman's revenge is a terrible thing
During Napoleon's reign, many stories were created by English propagandists in an attempt to turn public opinion against the emperor. Most of them have long been forgotten, but some are still alive. According to one of them, Napoleon drank a cup of chocolate every morning and one day received an anonymous note asking him not to drink chocolate that day. When the chamberlain brought chocolate to the emperor, Napoleon ordered to call the woman who had prepared this drink for him, and forced her to drink the entire cup. In her death throes, the woman confessed that she wanted to take revenge on the emperor for seducing her in her youth and then completely forgetting about her existence. The cook noticed how this woman put something into the chocolate and conveyed the warning to Napoleon. The Emperor awarded him a lifelong pension and membership in the Legion of Honor.
Of course, nothing of the kind happened, but this fictional story is still considered one of the classic examples of the revenge of a rejected woman.
Timely haircut
A watch with the hair of Napoleon himself, what do you think?
Surprisingly, a large amount of his hair survived Napoleon's death. Four of the emperor's locks were given to the Balcombe family, with whom Napoleon had befriended on St. Helena. In addition, Napoleon bequeathed gold bracelets containing locks of his hair to his family and friends.
This led to very unexpected consequences. First, the strands kept by the Balcombe family were used to test the theory that the emperor was poisoned with arsenic. Secondly, the popularity of Napoleon's hair provoked the spread of numerous fakes for almost two hundred years.
But the most unexpected thing was the recent announcement by the Swiss brand De Witt about the release of a new line of watches, each model of which will contain the hair of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. So, two centuries later, Napoleon's strands will again be woven into bracelets for the richest fans of the French emperor.
12.09.2017
Napoleon is one of the most significant names in history. Everyone has probably heard a lot about Napoleon Bonaparte, but there are also a number of facts that no one is told about in history lessons in schools.
Napoleon Bonaparte tops the short list of people most responsible for how the modern world came into being. Since May 18, 1804, this medium-sized man had risen from a small artillery officer on a remote island to the rank of emperor, which Europeans had not enjoyed since Roman times.
His decades-long reign dramatically changed European politics, from being subject to a set of new laws set out in the Napoleonic Code to which side of the streets most of Europe would drive on. Before Napoleon, the whole world lived by its own rules, after him - by completely different ones.
Scientists interested in the history of Napoleon's life were able to find strange and even unusual things and moments from his biography; let's look at them in more detail.
Napoleon wrote his novel
About a year before the coup and the establishment of dictatorship, Napoleon wrote his first novel, which he called “Clisson et Eugénie” (Clisson and Eugénie). The novel tells the story of an army officer who fell in love with the girl of his dreams and quickly married her.
However, military duty obliges Officer Clisson to come out of retirement to serve at the front. His wife Eugenie wastes no time cheating on him with his best friend. Having learned this, Clisson simply gives up and decides to die a hero’s death in battle. The complete book was not published until after Napoleon's death.
Napoleon could have died exploring the shores of Australia
In 1785, Napoleon was preparing to sail around the world under the command of Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse. Shortly before the start of the French Revolution, La Perouse combined two ships to explore the coasts of Australia, the Solomon Islands, Alaska and California.
La Perouse approved a team of 220 people for his voyage, but Napoleon was not included in this list of participants because he missed the last training camp. Napoleon was taken by surprise by the refusal, because he was really good at mathematics, was the best student in his class at the military academy in artillery, and had almost professional skills in sailing a sailboat.
Another surprise for Napoleon was the news that reached France several years later - La Perouse’s expedition disappeared without a trace. It is likely that both ships of the expedition in 1788 were found on a coral reef. None of La Perouse's crews ever returned home.
Napoleon had problems hearing music
Many people have trouble hearing music, but when you are the absolute ruler of France, you can do whatever you want and no one can tell you to stop doing it.
According to numerous sources, Napoleon had no ear for music at all - whenever he was irritable or nervous, he hummed a strange melody that sounded like a mixture of mumbling and humming. His good friend Betsy Balcombe wrote in her diary: “When Bonaparte was nervous, he became too irritable - he began to abstract himself and walk around the room back and forth, singing rather strange songs, and these cases were far from isolated. How many times have I tried to understand what he is singing or what melody he is humming, I have never succeeded. Yes, Napoleon, most likely, was simply not destined to become a musician.”
Napoleon was a card cheat
Napoleon Bonaparte was a skilled general and his reputation made him a genius on the battlefield among other generals. However, like most “geniuses,” his success was more than just an innate skill—his success was a deception.
His strategy, which he developed to find his opponent's weaknesses and take advantage of all available advantages, was little used during his exile on Elba, where he turned it into chronic cheating in card games with his companions.
According to a lady who knew him at the time:
“When Napoleon realized that he was beginning to lose at cards, he did not hesitate to deceive his opponents, and when everyone began to recognize the deception, Napoleon swept all the money from the table into his pockets and left. Most of the time, when there was another game scheduled that day, he would give all the money he had collected to his valet the next day to distribute to the owners.
Why are Napoleon's hands always shown hidden in his pockets?
No image of Napoleon would be complete without an understanding of his portraiture poses. Step one foot forward, turn three-quarters of a turn to the side and insert your right hand into your pocket, and, voila, you are in the pose of Napoleon Bonaparte himself.
The chosen pose for most portraits of Napoleon is not a whim of the artists. Napoleon himself always chose one single pose. Hidden hands in his pockets tell us that Napoleon was unusually vain, and he always kept his hands in his pockets out of habit of keeping them warm and safe.
According to Betsy, the same young woman who tried to come to terms with his singing, Napoleon's hands were very beautiful, his knuckles created dimples like a child's, and his fingers were beautifully shaped and tapered delicately to nails that were also perfect.
Napoleon was a plucker
When he wasn't hiding his hands in his pockets, Napoleon was dangerous to be around. According to the memoirs of Constant Vairy, who spent a lot of time surrounded by the emperor during his time in power, Napoleon “in moments of his good mood” could easily pinch various private parts of the people around him - the nose, ears and others.
Others wrote of Napoleon pinching women's noses as pranks, pulling his friends' cheeks until they were on the verge of tears, and even pulling the chins of babies until the children's mothers pushed him away.
Napoleon survived two suicide attempts
Great men often lack self-control, and Napoleon was no exception. Bonaparte, as emperor, often flew into a rage, sometimes throwing heavy objects at his ministers and other subordinates. These attacks began to cause even more destruction after his fortunes changed significantly and the countries of Europe began to turn against him. It seems that the fear of defeat was fatal to him.
During his time in power, Napoleon was moments away from committing suicide a couple of times. The first time was due to opium, which he usually carried in a bottle around his neck. He appears to have taken a fatal dose in 1812 after the Cossacks captured imperial territories during the Russian Campaign.
After a crushing defeat in Russia and a catastrophic final battle that saw all the emperor's enemies gather together and attack his retreating army, Napoleon decided it was time to end his suffering and took a dose of opium several times that amount. last time. However, Napoleon had taken opium before, only in small doses over many years, and after the last dose, which, in his opinion, should have brought eternal peace, it instead brought him only health complications.
Later, on the Elbe, he also tried to commit suicide with another pistol, but his faithful servant managed to pour out gunpowder and the shot did not happen.
