On this day in 1815 Napoleon was defeated by the British at Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the cheekiest and most
reckless emperors in history. He rose to prominence during the French
Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary
Wars, becoming in short time so powerful as to crown himself emperor of France,
and so important as to condition the whole of Europe even after its fall. However,
also such a charismatic figure hid more
or less bizarre facts.
1) Bonaparte or Buonaparte?
Have you noticed that in
the title I’ve written Bonaparte with quotation marks? This because, Napoleon’s
father was an Italian man called Carlo Maria Buonaparte; therefore, the real
surname of the emperor was Buonaparte. He changed it after his father’s death,
a few days before marrying Josephine de Beauharnais - also known as Josephine
Bonaparte - his first wife and leaving for the campaign of Italy, to make it
more suitable to the French language.
2) A pushy pug
Joséphine had a pug
called Fortuna, which she used to send private messages to Napoleon. Napoleon
was said to refuse to allow Fortuna to
sleep in bed with them on the wedding night and Fortuna bit him. Joséphine then
said: "If the pug doesn't sleep in our bed, neither will I!" Since
then Napoleon shared his bed with Joséphine and her pug.
3) Black cats? Better not!
Many people think
Napoleon was “Aulirophobic”, which means cats terrorized him. It isn’t true.
The historian Katharine MacDonogh in the book "History of dogs and cats at
court since Renaissance times" wrote Napoleon wasn’t terrorized by the
small felines. However, he was superstitious and he kept black cats away.
4) “I’m happy! So, I’ll pitch you
Louis Constant Wairy, the
emperor's chief butler, in his memoirs wrote anecdotes about Napoleon. Between them,
one of most peculiar is that when Napoleon was in a good mood, he pinched his
closest friends on the tip of their ears. He was also known to pinch on the
lords' noses or on his friends' cheeks until they turned blue.
5) The Lycées
In 1802 Napoleon established the first lycées. Here
students studied subjects according to a common syllabus to prepare themselves
to go to University. Therefore, if you’re in high school, you owe it to him!
And one more!
Why he lost the battle of Waterloo
After some strange anecdotes, this episode is more connected to history. It
is about Napoleon’s last battle at Waterloo, where the French emperor lost the majority of
its territories, and the battle in which Napoleon was defeated and caught by
the British.
One day a group of
journalists went to visit him. They had obtained permission for an interview to
the French general. It was a long interview, full of questions, very useful for
the historians. During that interview, a journalist asked him “Mon General, why
the British won at Waterloo?” he answered in an ambiguous way: “The British
fought five minutes longer"
What does it mean, in
your opinion? If you know the answer, write it below in the comment section!
JACO
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