in short
- 1769: Born on August 15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, a year after the island passed from Genoa to France.
- 1799: Seized power in the coup of 18 Brimer and became First Consul.
- 1804: The civil code was published on March 21, and his coronation as emperor was held at Notre Dame on December 2.
- 1805: Defeated the Russian and Austrian armies at Austerlitz.
- 1812: Invaded Russia with 480,000 soldiers, and only about 20,000 of them returned to France.
- 1815: Returned from exile in Alba, was defeated at Waterloo on June 18 and sent to St. Helena.
- 1821: Died in exile on May 5. Since 1840 his body has been buried in Les Invalides in Paris.
More books have been written about Napoleon than one person can read (and I don't intend to add another), but anyone traveling in France encounters him almost everywhere: in the tomb of the Invalides, at the Arc de Triomphe, in a civil code, most of which is still in force, and even on a hill in Acre.
On this page, I have compiled what is important to know about him: a timeline of his life, the Israeli chapter in the story, two legends worth debunking, the places where you can follow in his footsteps, and answers to questions people ask about him (I am also the secretary of the Napoleonic Heritage and Period Center since 2021, so Napoleon is a little more than a hobby for me). At the end of the page, all the articles and lectures about Napoleon on the site await you, arranged by topic.
Napoleon Bonaparte: A Timeline of His Life
| Year | What happened | for further reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1769 | Born on August 15 in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica. | Corsica, the Bonaparte family and his studies |
| 1785 | He received the rank of officer at the Royal Military School in Paris (École royale militaire) and was assigned to a battalion in Valence. | |
| 1793 | The Bonaparte family fled from Corsica to Toulon. | To eat or be eaten |
| 1795 | Participated in the suppression of a royalist uprising in Paris and was promoted to the rank of general. | |
| 1796 | He was appointed commander of the Italian army and married Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763–1814). | Josephine and Napoleon |
| 1798 | He set out on a voyage to Egypt. The French fleet was destroyed in the Gulf of Aboukir. | |
| 1799 | He captured Jaffa, failed in the siege of Acre, returned to Paris and seized power in the coup of 18 Bremer. | Epidemics during the Napoleonic era |
| 1804 | The Civil Code (March 21), the proclamation of the Empire (May 18) and the coronation at Notre Dame (December 2). | David's "The Coronation of Napoleon" |
| 1805 | Naval defeat at Trafalgar and victory at Austerlitz. | Mars vs Neptune |
| 1806 | The Berlin Decree and the continental blockade against Britain. | The Emperor against the "Nation of Shopkeepers" |
| 1807 | The Great Sanhedrin convened in Paris. | Napoleon and the Jews |
| 1809 | He divorced Josephine, who did not bear him an heir. | Napoleon and the women in his life |
| 1810 | He married Marie-Louise d'Autriche (1791–1847), daughter of the Emperor of Austria. | |
| 1812 | The invasion of Russia and the withdrawal from Moscow. | |
| 1813 | Defeated at Leipzig in the "Battle of the Nations". | |
| 1814 | The Allies entered Paris. He resigned at Fontainebleau and was sent to Elba. | How he got to Alba and why he left |
| 1815 | Landed at Golfe-Juan on March 1, was defeated at Waterloo on June 18 and sent to Saint Helena. | Napoleon Road (N85) |
| 1821 | Died on May 5 at Longwood House, St. Helena. | |
| 1840 | His body was brought to Paris and buried at Les Invalides on December 15. | The invalid |
Napoleon's Israeli Chapter: Jaffa, Acre, and the Great Sanhedrin
In early 1799, Napoleon left Egypt and headed north to Israel, then part of the Ottoman Empire. On March 7, Jaffa fell, and what happened there afterward was one of the darkest chapters of the campaign: the city was plundered and thousands of prisoners were executed. During the campaign, an epidemic broke out in the army, and Bonaparte's visit to the sick in Jaffa was immortalized in a famous painting by the painter Antoine-Jean Gros.
On March 20, the siege of Acre began. The city, led by Governor Ahmad al-Jazzar, and aided by British ships under the command of Sidney Smith, held out, and the plague also spread to the French camp. After about two months, Napoleon lifted the siege and returned to Egypt.
Acre has not forgotten. Tel Acre, east of the Old City, is still called Napoleon Hill, and a statue of him stands on top of it. According to local tradition, Bonaparte set up camp there, but there is a version that he himself never climbed the hill (which does not prevent the statue from standing there proudly).
Eight years after Acre, Napoleon convened the Grand Sanhedrin in Paris: 71 rabbis and dignitaries who sat from February to March 1807 and gave religious validity to the answers the emperor asked them about marriage, divorce, and their relationship to the state. On March 17, 1808, he signed the decrees that established the consistories, and on the same day also the "infamous decree" (décret infâme), which restricted loans and trade by the Jews of Alsace and Lorraine for ten years.
By the way, the "Declaration to the Jews" in which Napoleon supposedly promised them a state during the siege of Acre was mentioned in the newspaper "Moniteur universel" on May 22, 1799, and there is a version that it is a forgery. You can read the two lectures on Napoleon and the Jews published on the website, by Professor Alex Grab and Professor Alan Herz , here.
Two legends about Napoleon: the height and the poison
The first legend is that Napoleon was short. After his death, his height was measured at 5 pieds et 2 pouces, the old French units of measurement, or about 1.69 meters, slightly above the average for French men of his generation. Those who read the same measurement in English units got 1.57 meters, and hence the "Little Emperor" was born.
The second legend is more stubborn. In 1961, high concentrations of arsenic were found in Napoleon's hair, and since then, theories about poisoning by one of his companions on St. Helena have not ceased. However, a 2008 study found similar concentrations in hair cut from him as a child, as well as in his son and Josephine, and a 2021 study by pathologists returned to the conclusion that had already appeared in the autopsy report from 1821: advanced stomach cancer.
Following Napoleon in France
One way to get to know Napoleon is to follow him. These are the places and routes that have articles on the site:
Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides
Since December 15, 1840, Napoleon has been buried under the dome of Les Invalides, and since 1940, his son has also been buried next to him. In the article: What's in the complex, the Army Museum and how to visit.
Napoleon's Trail on the Right Bank
A walking route in Paris among the sites Napoleon left on the Right Bank, by Erez Levanon.
Napoleon's Trail on the Left Bank
The second part of the trip to Paris in the footsteps of the Emperor, by Erez Levanon.
Arc de Triomphe
In the article: tickets, hours, the view from the roof and the history of the building.
Napoleon Road (N85)
The route by which Napoleon ascended in 1815 from the Riviera coast through the Alps to Grenoble, as a travel itinerary, by Erez Levanon.
Napoleon's Corsica
The Bonaparte family, childhood in Ajaccio and studies in France, in a series of articles by Erez Levanon.
All articles about Napoleon on the site, by topic
Some of the articles here were written by guest writers, Erez Levanon, Alon Klibanov, and Yair Haido, and were accompanied by lectures by Professor Alex Grab, Professor Alan Hertz, and Dr. Chen Sarov.
His life, his family and the women in his life
- Corsica, the Bonaparte family and the studies of the young Napoleon (Lebanon Cedar)
- Second Lieutenant Nabolio: Corsica, the Great Revolution and Pauli
- To Eat or Be Eaten: Sardinia, Expulsion from Corsica, and Napoleon's Rise to Greatness (Lebanon Cedar)
- Changing Place, Changing Fortune: From Naboulio to Napoleon (Lebanon Cedar)
- Josephine de Boernais and Napoleon: A love story of fire and brimstone (Lebanon Cedar)
- Napoleon and the women in his life (Lebanon Cedar)
- Marguerite Polin Belize: The Woman Who Almost Took Napoleon from Josephine (Lebanon Cedar)
- Callison and Agnès: A Story by Napoleon Bonaparte (Lebanon Cedar)
Wars, politics and rivals
- War on Land and Sea: Napoleon and England, Without Compromise
- Mars vs. Neptune: France vs. Britain in 1803–1805 (Alon Kalibanov)
- The Emperor vs. the "Nation of Shopkeepers": The Quarantine on Britain (Alon Kalibanov)
- Talleyrand, the lame devil (Alon Kalibanov)
- Napoleon returns to France: how he arrived in Elba and why he left it (Lebanon Cedar)
- Napoleon returns to Paris: from Grenoble to Paris (Lebanon Cedar)
- Paris between the French Revolution and Napoleon III
Napoleon, the Jews, medicine and epidemics
- Napoleon and the Jews (Lecture by Professor Alex Grubb)
- Napoleon and the Jews (Lecture by Professor Alan Hertz)
- Military medicine during the Napoleonic era (Lecture by Dr. Chen Sarov)
- Epidemics during the Napoleonic era (Lecture by Dr. Chen Sarov)
Art, literature, cinema and food
- "The Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques-Louis David: Historical Document or Propaganda? (Alon Kalibanov)
- Napoleon's influence on art history (Alon Kalibanov)
- Literary influences on Napoleon (Lebanon Cedar)
- The Gospel According to Napoleon (Lebanon Cedar)
- Napoleon in Cinema: Between "Napoleon" (1927) and "Napoleon" (2023)
- The Emperor and the Table: Napoleon and French Cuisine (Yair Haido)
Recommended books to read about Napoleon
For those who want to delve deeper, these are five key sources on Napoleon and his era:
- Napoléon ou le mythe du sauveur (1977), by Jean Tulard (born 1933): The classic biography of what is considered France's leading Napoleon scholar. Tulard explains Napoleon's rise as an answer to post-Revolutionary France's need for a "savior."
- Nouvelle histoire du Premier Empire (4 volumes, 2002–2010), by Thierry Lentz (born 1959): The comprehensive history of the First Empire by the director of the Napoleon Foundation, from the coronation in 1804 to the Hundred Days in 1815.
- Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène (1823), by Emmanuel de Las Cases (1766–1842): The impressions of someone who accompanied Napoleon in exile on St. Helena and recorded his conversations with him. A primary source, but one written to shape the legend, and therefore worth reading with a critical eye.
- Napoleon the Great (2014), by Andrew Roberts (born 1963): An English-language biography based on the new edition of Napoleon's correspondence. Published in the United States as Napoleon: A Life.
- Website of the Napoleon Foundation (Fondation Napoléon): Articles, documents and a database about the period, in French and English.