Napoleon Crowns Himself: A New French Empire Rises
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on December 2, 1804, in a ceremony attended by Pope Pius VII. The Pope had traveled from Rome expecting to perform the coronation, but Napoleon seized the crown and placed it on his own head, then crowned Josephine as empress. The gesture was calculated: Napoleon was declaring that his authority came from his own achievements, not from God or the church. Jacques-Louis David's massive painting of the scene, commissioned by Napoleon, took three years to complete. The coronation cost an estimated 8.5 million francs. Napoleon designed new imperial symbols, including the eagle and the bee, deliberately avoiding the Bourbon fleur-de-lis. He had risen from minor Corsican nobility to Emperor in fifteen years. His empire would last another decade.
December 2, 1804
222 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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