The Napoleonic Empire

The Napoleonic Style Used power of personality to gain power and position. No major aristocracy to oppose his power. Culture of “Notables” enacted (those who had risen on merit like himself) used to consolidate rule.

Administration and Reforms Curtailed political freedoms and liberties. Established efficient central government and bureaucracy. –Appointed prefect to administer each department and sub-prefects for each district. –Each answered to him, further centralizing power. Eliminated corruption and waste. Reformed the tax system; created central bank. Paid government bonds, putting nation on sound financial footing. Reformed educational system.

The Religious Settlement Napoleon was himself a deist or atheist. He believed however, that the conflict with the Catholic Church should end. The Concordat of 1801 established reconciliation with Pope Pius VII (r ). It governed the relationship between the Church and state until 1905.

The Concordat of 1801 Granted the Church special status as the religion of the majority of the French Catholicism was not the established religion of the state. Government had authority to nominate bishops then invested by the pope. Bishops would appoint the priests. System established under Civil Constitution of the Clergy was ended. Loss of church lands accepted by pope. Salaries of clergy paid by the French gov’t.

The Code Napoleon Napoleon continued the process of reorganizing the legal system. In 1800, appointed a commission of legal experts to draft a new civil code. Civil code was enacted in 1804 and renamed the Napoleonic Code in 1807.

The Code Napoleon Made all citizens equal under the law and abolished privileges by birth. People could be employed as they pleased, a gov’t employees would be hired by ability. Reaffirmed rights of property gained during the revolution, as well as the bed of manorialism/feudalism for the peasants. Included the principle of freedom of religion. State took precedence over the rights of individuals. Men were granted greater authority over family.

Napoleon Consolidates Power January 1804, Bonaparte's police uncovered an assassination plot against him sponsored by the Bourbons. Bonaparte then used this incident to justify the re-creation of a hereditary monarchy in France, with himself as Emperor, on the theory that a Bourbon restoration would be impossible once the Bonapartist succession was entrenched in the constitution.

Napoleon Crowned Napoleon crowned himself Emperor on Dec 2, 1804 at Notre Dame. Claims that he seized the crown out of the hands of Pope Pius VII during the ceremony in order to avoid subjecting himself to the authority of the pontiff are false. After the Imperial regalia had been blessed by the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself before crowning his wife Joséphine as Empress. At Milan's cathedral on May 26, 1805, Napoleon was crowned King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.