Home Artists Posts Import Register

Downloads

Content

By 1809, Napoleon had ruled France for a decade. How did the Napoleonic regime actually function? How could one person effectively exercise his will over half a continent?

Comments

Nicholas Power

Hi Everett I noticed something interesting in the new New Yorker article on Ridley Scott. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/13/ridley-scott-director-profile One paragraph opens with "Just as Napoleon had Versailles, Scott maintains his own seat of power in the French countryside: Mas des Infermières, a winery in Provence". Did the Emperor spend much time at Versailles? Also they mention General Baron Robert was a previous owner of Ridley Scott's French Estate. Do you have any interesting anecdotes about this General?

ageofnapoleon

That passage jumped out at me too. I think the first part is simply a mistake: Napoleon was not fond of Versailles and didn't spend any significant time there (as far as I know). They are probably thinking of Malmaison or simply getting Bonaparte confused with Louis XIV. The general in question appears to be Louis Benoît Robert, who really did serve under Napoleon. He appears to have been a good soldier (promoted relatively regularly, awarded the title of baron and the Legion of Honor for his service), but nowhere near the top tier of the French military leadership of that era. Robert seems to have been mostly forgotten, most mentions of him I can find on the internet have to do with the property mentioned in the article! Nonetheless, it was an interesting read.

Not Gonna Support Bad Guys

GQ has an article about the move. Some of you might recognize the name drops: https://www.gq.com/story/four-napoleon-experts-on-what-to-watch-and-read-after-or-before-napoleon