NAPOLEON'S POISONING
On May 5, 1821, surrounded by a few close associates and English guards, the ex-Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte died. A man whose will, intelligence and determination changed political map peace early XIX century. He died on the island of St. Helena in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and did not die a natural death.
Until the very last days of his life, Napoleon remained a formidable opponent both for England and for the Bourbon dynasty that had once again reigned in France. He had neither an army nor a navy. But he was Napoleon. A man whose name raised millions and overthrew any dynasty from the throne. His enemies were already convinced of this when Napoleon fled from Elba. The possibility of a second successful attempt to return the “usurper” thrilled the enemies who imprisoned him on the island. And there was no doubt that this was possible.
The Bonapartists, remaining faithful to their idol, plotted and made plans for Napoleon's liberation. The possibility of landing on St. Helena from Brazil was considered. Ingenious submarines, which, unnoticed by the English squadron cruising along the island, were supposed to take out the prisoner.
Reports secret services were transmitted to London and Paris, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear in the expectation that Napoleon would escape from the rocky island any day now.
It is not surprising that in the end it was accepted final decision about this question. The communique of the French government after the death of Napoleon contained the cause of his death - “disease of loss of strength,” that is, cancer, but immediately after the funeral of the ex-emperor this diagnosis will be questioned. European doctors who studied Napoleon's medical history expressed doubts about the correctness of the diagnosis and the usefulness of the prescribed medications. Intensified and reached its critical point by the beginning of May 1821, Bonaparte’s illness was aggravated by the decision of the council English doctors, who prescribed him a strong laxative - ten crystals of mercuric chloride.
Mercury chloride (calomel) was widely used in medicine of that time, and the range of diseases that it, according to 19th-century doctors, cured was almost endless. Doctors prescribed it even when other medications no longer worked, hoping for its laxative effect.
Calomel itself does not harm the body, but becomes deadly when combined with bitter almonds, a component of orshad. Orshad is a soft drink made from the juice of sweet almonds (almond milk) with sugar. And Napoleon drank this drink every day. Almonds, which are part of the drink, contain cyanide (hydrocyanic acid), which activates mercury chloride compounds, usually inert in calomel. A victim who has taken a combination of these substances quickly loses consciousness, becomes blind and deaf, and the longitudinal muscles are paralyzed. Autonomous nervous system may continue to function for some time.
The victim's stomach can react and quickly expel the toxic compound of calomel and orchad. It was precisely to prevent this from happening that an emetic was introduced into Napoleon’s body a little earlier. If the stomach is not immediately cleared of poisonous mixture, then death inevitably occurs within a day or two, which is what happened on May 5th.
A dose of ten crystals was undoubtedly lethal. Several years before these events, experiments were conducted on the island of St. Helena that revealed a fatal reaction of the body to a mixture of orchad and calomel. IN normal conditions English doctors prescribed two crystals, German and Swedish doctors prescribed only one crystal. The prescribed dose was not intended to cure England's enemy, but to kill him.
The version of Bonaparte’s violent death could be confirmed or refuted by medical research during the exhumation of the corpse and transportation of the remains of the ex-emperor to France in 1840. Moreover, the witnesses to the opening of the grave were amazed by the condition of the body. When the workers opened the grave, four coffins were taken out, the last of which contained Bonaparte's ashes. Two of them were metal, but there was no talk about sealing. Moreover, Napoleon’s body was not embalmed and was buried as it was after the autopsy. 19 years have passed since the burial, but Napoleon’s remains were not touched by decay. Witnesses noted that the emperor seemed to be sleeping. The contrast between the perfectly preserved body and the decaying clothing was striking.
Reason similar phenomenon could be arsenic. He is deadly poison, but at the same time protects tissues from decomposition. It was this phenomenon that served as a clue to the cause of the mysterious illness that tormented Bonaparte and was aggravated by the recommendations of English doctors. But neither then nor later, tests for the presence toxic substances specialists did not carry out any research on Bonaparte’s remains.
In the 50s of the 20th century, taking into account the hypothesis of the poisoning of Napoleon, research was carried out, on his own initiative, by the Swedish chemist Sten Forshuvud. After reading the “Memoirs” of Marchand, the emperor’s faithful servant, in which he suggests that his master was poisoned with arsenic, the Swedish chemist decided to confirm or refute the hypothesis. However, having collected all possible information, he was unable to give an accurate answer about the causes of Napoleon’s death without an examination.
Arsenic poisoning is difficult to diagnose. Its symptoms are the same as other common diseases. In addition, the inconsistency of some symptoms makes the diagnosis even more difficult: alternating sleepiness and wakefulness, complete loss of appetite and attacks of insatiable hunger. Therefore, although the facts collected by Forshuvud confirmed the possibility of poisoning, there was no absolute certainty.
The Swedish chemist had no way to get to Napoleon's ashes, which were kept in a sarcophagus in the tomb of the Parisian Invalides. Therefore for experimental confirmation of his hypothesis, he focused his efforts on finding the emperor's hair. While studying medical research, Forschuvud learned that hair is excellent for measuring arsenic in human body. If not the remains, then at least Bonaparte’s hair could serve as evidence of the crime committed on the island of St. Helena.
A piece of hair Swedish chemist managed to obtain from Prince Napoleon, heir to the imperial throne, a descendant younger brother Emperor Jerome Bonaparte - Major Lashuk, who lived in Paris. Hair analysis was carried out in 1960 by the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. The conclusion read: “After analysis according to the activation method, the sample sent by you and marked H.S. is found to contain 10.38 micrograms of arsenic per gram of hair. This proportion indicates that the person in question received a relatively high amount of arsenic.”
The normal level of arsenic in human hair is only 0.8 micrograms. But this is nowadays when natural environment polluted beyond measure, and in the time of Napoleon the dose should have been much less. The proof of the crime is clear. Forshuvoud did not stop there. After analyzing the available documents, he came to the conclusion that the poisoner was General Montolon, assigned by the Bourbons to Bonaparte. And it was he who, by order of Versailles for a long time poisoned a prisoner, contributed to the deadly resolution of the disease crisis in May 1821. It should be noted that the poison already threatened Napoleon's life. On April 11, 1814, in Fontainebleau, the emperor signed an unconditional renunciation for himself and his family. And at night, being depressed, Bonaparte took poison, but it had no effect on him. But it was poison that put an end to the life of the shocker of Europe.
So in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, on a rocky island where ships don’t even go now, the fate of the emperor and conqueror of all of Europe was decided. A little poison, and the Bourbons could sleep peacefully, although this did not help them, the revolution of 1830 deprived them of the throne forever.
But besides the English and the Bourbons, there is also a certain person who is quite suitable for the role of a poisoner, so to speak, in private. Some researchers accuse Count Montalon of poisoning, who, according to Napoleon's will, received a large fortune, and very opportunely. But I don’t want to believe that simple criminality caused the death of a great man.
And yet, despite careful research, the mystery of Napoleon’s death continues to excite historians, chemists, and doctors. In 2001, experts from the Strasbourg Institute of Forensic Medicine conducted spectral analysis strands of Napoleon's hair and confirmed that the level of arsenic in them was from 7 to 8.5 times higher than the norm. In their opinion, which does not disagree with the conclusions of the previous examination, this can undoubtedly serve as evidence that the emperor died from slow and regular poisoning.
However, based on the results of the same examinations, in 2004 a group of doctors from San Francisco, led by Stanley Karch, stated that the cause of the emperor’s death was not poisoning, but the treatment for which doctors prescribed him strong drugs. In particular, Napoleon was prescribed an emetic - antimony tartrate (antimony-potassium tartrate). The last straw was a 600-milligram dose of mercuric chloride (five times more than normal), prescribed to Napoleon as a laxative two days before his death. The huge loss of potassium in liquid disrupted the water-salt balance in the body of the former emperor, which led to a deterioration in heart function.
“Of course, the poisoning version looks more attractive,” Karch said. “However, there is very strong evidence that Napoleon was killed not by poison, but by doctors.” Well, it’s better for doctors to know the ability of their colleagues to heal a patient without poison. But at the same time, the fact that Napoleon suffered from stomach cancer in the last months of his life is not questioned by any of modern researchers. “He could have died from poisoning or from improper treatment, even if this was the case, then, without a doubt, it only brought his death a few weeks closer, he would still have died from cancer,” said Dr. Phil Corso from the Connecticut Clinic.
If cancer really killed Bonaparte, then he had to thank his jailers for the poisoning, which gave him the opportunity to avoid a more painful death.
French statesman and commander, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was born on August 15, 1769 in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. He came from the family of an ordinary Corsican nobleman.
In 1784 he graduated from Brienne military school, in 1785 - Paris military school. Professional military service began in 1785 as a sub-lieutenant of artillery in the royal army.
From the first days of the Great french revolution 1789-1799 Bonaparte became involved in political struggle on the island of Corsica, joined the most radical wing of the Republicans. In 1792 in Valence he joined the Jacobin Club.
In 1793, supporters of France in Corsica, where Bonaparte was at that time, were defeated. Conflict with Corsican separatists forced him to flee the island to France. Bonaparte became commander of an artillery battery in Nice. He distinguished himself in the battle against the British at Toulon, was promoted to brigadier general and appointed chief of artillery of the Alpine Army. After the counter-revolutionary coup in June 1794, Bonaparte was removed from office and arrested for connections with the Jacobins, but was soon released. He was listed in the reserve of the War Ministry, and in September 1795, after refusing the offered position of commander of an infantry brigade, he was dismissed from the army.
In October 1795, a member of the Directory ( French government in 1795-1799) Paul Barras, who led the fight against monarchical conspiracy, took Napoleon as his assistant. Bonaparte distinguished himself during the suppression of the royalist rebellion in October 1795, for which he was appointed commander of the troops of the Paris garrison. In February 1796, he was appointed commander of the Italian Army, at the head of which he carried out the victorious Italian campaign (1796-1797).
In 1798-1801 he led the Egyptian expedition, which, despite the capture of Alexandria and Cairo and the defeat of the Mamelukes in the Battle of the Pyramids, was defeated.
In October 1799, Bonaparte arrived in Paris, where a situation of acute political crisis reigned. Relying on influential circles of the bourgeoisie, on November 9-10, 1799, he produced coup d'etat. The government of the Directory was overthrown, and the French Republic was led by three consuls, the first of whom was Napoleon.
The concordat (agreement) concluded with the Pope in 1801 provided Napoleon with the support of the Catholic Church.
In August 1802 he achieved his appointment as consul for life.
In June 1804, Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor Napoleon I.
On December 2, 1804, during a magnificent ceremony held in the cathedral Notre Dame of Paris With the participation of the Pope, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.
In March 1805, he was crowned in Milan, after Italy recognized him as its king.
Napoleon I's foreign policy was aimed at achieving political and economic hegemony in Europe. With his rise to power, France entered a period of almost continuous wars. Thanks to military successes, Napoleon significantly expanded the territory of the empire and made most of the states of Western and Central Europe dependent on France.
Napoleon was not only the Emperor of France, which extended to the left bank of the Rhine, but also the King of Italy, the mediator Swiss Confederation and protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. His brothers became kings: Joseph in Naples, Louis in Holland, Jerome in Westphalia.
This empire was comparable in its territory to the empire of Charlemagne or the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V.
In 1812, Napoleon launched a campaign against Russia, which ended in his complete defeat and became the beginning of the collapse of the empire. The entry of anti-French coalition troops into Paris in March 1814 forced Napoleon I to abdicate the throne (April 6, 1814). The victorious allies retained the title of emperor to Napoleon and gave him possession of the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1815, Napoleon, taking advantage of the people's dissatisfaction with the policies of the Bourbons who replaced him in France and the resulting Congress of Vienna disagreements between the victorious powers, tried to regain the throne. In March 1815, at the head of a small detachment, he unexpectedly landed in the south of France and three weeks later entered Paris without firing a single shot. The secondary reign of Napoleon I, which went down in history as the “Hundred Days,” did not last long. The Emperor did not live up to the hopes placed on him by the French people. All this, as well as the defeat of Napoleon I at the Battle of Waterloo, led him to his second abdication and exile to the island of St. Helena in Atlantic Ocean, where he died on May 5, 1821. In 1840, Napoleon's ashes were transported to Paris, to the Invalides
World military historiography highly appreciates the activities of Napoleon I as a commander who skillfully used the objective conditions created by the French for the development of military affairs. bourgeois revolution. His military leadership had a great influence on the development of military art in the 19th century.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
1821, May - upon learning that Napoleon Bonaparte had died, many European monarchs breathed a sigh of relief. Even while on St. Helena he imagined real threat, because he still had strong authority. The emperor had excellent health, and he never gave up the thought of returning to old light, over which he once dominated and which he never ceased to remind of his existence. That’s why many people wanted the death of the Corsican Napoleon at that time.
In his will, the great Frenchman wrote words that created a real sensation in Europe: “I am dying at the hands of the English oligarchy and the killer it hired.” Unable to take revenge on the British who imprisoned him on the island, he blamed them for his death. To this day, England has made excuses that it was not responsible for Napoleon's death.
But not only the British were interested in Napoleon's death. France at that time was going through the period of the Bourbon Reformation, and Louis XVIII was well aware of the extent to which his power was fragile in front of the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. He constantly had to fear Bonapartist conspiracies.
Louis also knew that the majority of the French retained their loyalty to the disgraced emperor, although they were afraid to publicly declare this.
The fears of the King of France were justified in February 1820, when an attempt was made in Paris on the life of the last representative of the Bourbon dynasty, the Duke of Berry, who could realistically ascend to the French throne. But he got mortal wound. Louis himself did not have children and could no longer have them due to his advanced age. The king's brother, Count d'Artois, and his eldest son also could not have offspring.
So the murder of the Duke of Berry was a real collapse for the Bourbon dynasty, which was destined to be interrupted. The Duke was killed by the Napoleonic veteran Louvel, undoubtedly acting on Napoleon's instructions. Perhaps the death of the scion of the royal family was the straw that accelerated the tragic outcome of the confrontation.
Since the imprisonment of the deposed emperor, there have been many rumors about his fate on the island, sometimes the most incredible. They said that he was shot, strangled, hanged or thrown from a cliff, that Bonaparte had escaped from the island and was living somewhere in America with his brother, that he was preparing an army in Turkey for the war against the British. Therefore, when Napoleon died, many refused to take it for granted.
The real reason why Napoleon died was never determined until relatively recently, despite the fact that once it became possible to carefully study his remains. 1840 - the remains of the Corsican were exhumed and reburied in the center of Paris, in the Invalides. Although there were many reasons to doubt the natural death of the great Frenchman, no attempt was made to refute the diagnosis (death from a disease caused by natural causes).
They did not take into account the fact that the emperor’s body was perfectly preserved, and no less than 20 years had passed since the day of his death. This circumstance should have alerted the people who carried out the exhumation, also because the emperor was exiled to the island of St. Helena in the prime of his life and did not complain about his health, but after six years of his stay there he died due to illness.
What was this strange disease that was so short term drove the emperor to the grave? This is also not known for certain. A more common point of view is that Napoleon died of cancer, which is quite possible, because his father, who was also not too old, died of the same disease. But evidence confirming that the disgraced emperor had this disease was never found.
The secret of Napoleon's death was revealed relatively recently by the Swedish physician and chemist Sten Forshuvud, who was also passionate about the study of history. Once upon a time, a rather valuable relic ended up in the hands of a scientist - strands of the emperor’s hair, which were distributed to all members of the deceased’s family by his faithful servant.
Forshuvud decided to find out the real reason why did Napoleon die, because none of them existing versions was not supported by solid evidence. The scientist also questioned the assumption that the emperor had cancer. First of all, he decided to study the chronicle last months Bonaparte’s life, which was left for posterity by the same servant, Louis Marchand, who never left his master’s side for a minute. In his chronicle, Marchand described in detail the course of Bonaparte's illness.
Forschuvud was also an experienced toxicologist, thanks to which he was able to notice that the emperor was developing the same symptoms that occur during gradual poisoning with small doses of some kind of poison. Now it remained to determine what kind of poison it was, which was not difficult to do.
IN Napoleonic era the most common poison was arsenic, which in Europe was called nothing more than the powder of inheritance, because with its help enterprising heirs often managed to get their hands on the wealth of their relatives long before the due date, without a shadow of suspicion on their own person. In this sense, arsenic was an ideal “murder weapon.”
Because this powder has a sweetish taste, without a specific odor, its presence in wine or food is completely impossible to notice. If you use arsenic in small doses, then the symptoms of poisoning will resemble many common diseases.
It is curious that at that time almost all diseases were treated with the same medicines - calomel, i.e. a solution of mercuric chloride, potassium and antimony salts, thanks to which it was simply impossible to detect traces of arsenic in the body. So all the attacker had to do was force his victim to take these medications along with arsenic, and not a single, even the most experienced doctor, could determine the real cause of death during an autopsy.
Based on his research, Forshuvud concluded that the symptoms of the emperor’s illness: alternating drowsiness and insomnia, loss hairline, swelling of the legs and subsequent liver damage were the result of gradual poisoning with arsenic. Because in the last days of his life the Corsican took calomel and antimony and potassium salts, by the time of the study traces of arsenic in the body should have disappeared.
However, even if this had not happened, they would still not have been discovered, because no one had thought to check the version of poisoning, because it was already clear that Bonaparte died after a long illness. The scientist explained the fact that the emperor’s body was not touched by decay in the following way. Arsenic is often used in museum practice for the preservation of exhibits, because it prevents the decomposition of living tissue. Therefore, the body of a person who died from arsenic poisoning decomposes very slowly.
So, after studying numerous observations of the servant and other contemporaries of the Corsican, Forshuvoud came to the following conclusion: Napoleon died as a result of arsenic poisoning, which entered his body gradually, over a long period of time. All that remained was to find undeniable evidence of this assumption.
First of all, the scientist decided to conduct a laboratory analysis of strands of Napoleonic hair. The results obtained exceeded all expectations: at the time of death, the arsenic content in them exceeded the norm by 13 times. Samples taken from various strands were analyzed, hair was examined different people. Thus, the assumption of Napoleon’s gradual poisoning with arsenic was confirmed. Now it was necessary to find out the name of the criminal and how he acted.
A series of tests showed that the poisoning of the emperor began in the very first days of his stay on the island. To put it another way, he began to receive poison at the beginning of 1816 or at the end of 1815.
The first evidence of the crime was, apparently, strange death spy and trustee Emperor, Corsican Cipriani. Between him and Napoleon with for a long time there was a relationship of trust. Cipriani was the constant executor of all the most important assignments of Bonaparte.
A smart and observant man, only he could suspect something was wrong, or even reveal the killer’s insidious plan. Most likely, that’s why Cipriani was killed, and the murder weapon was probably lethal dose the same arsenic. Because autopsies were not performed on the bodies of servants, the criminals did not have to fear that it would become known to anyone real reason death of a Corsican.
Perhaps in order to hide traces of the crime, the discovery of which would prevent the commission of another, more important crime, the attackers made sure that not only Cipriani’s grave itself disappeared from the cemetery on St. Helena, but also the tombstone that Napoleon himself ordered for him. The death of this man was not even registered in the island's civil register, as if he did not exist at all. Meanwhile, the emperor, unaware of the conspiracy, continued to blame the British for all the troubles, which played into the hands of his killers.
The greatest suspicion of organizing the murder of Napoleon is aroused by a representative of the old French aristocracy, Count Montolon, who appeared in the emperor's retinue. The count was well-known in royalist circles, in particular, he had connections with D’Artois, who repeatedly organized attempts on Bonaparte’s life. Furthermore, Montolon was suspected of a serious crime in office, which threatened him with many years of imprisonment.
It is quite possible that Montolon followed the emperor to the island of St. Helena on the orders of the same D’Artois, brother of Louis XVIII and heir to the throne, in order to thus avoid trial.
There could be no question of the 32-year-old count’s voluntary imprisonment on the island, since there was no special affection between him and Bonaparte.
On the island of St. Helena, Montolon was responsible for the supplies and all the management of the residence of Emperor Longwoodhouse. In his hands were also the keys to wine cellar, and perhaps the count decided to take advantage of precisely this weakness of Napoleon to carry out the task entrusted to him.
The fact is that Bonaparte preferred to drink wine from Constantia, poured into bottles intended for him personally and for no one else. His entourage usually drank other wines.
Wine was brought to the island in barrels and bottled on the spot, so that the attacker only had to add poison once to ensure that it would enter the Corsican’s body for a long time. Since Forshuvud's research revealed several peaks of poisoning, it can be assumed that Montolon at times poured arsenic into bottles, which immediately ended up on the emperor's table.
The great commander’s illness worsened in the fall of 1820. Obviously, in this way the Bourbons took revenge on him for organizing the murder of the Duke of Berry. Apparently, Count D'Artois decided to bring his plan to its logical conclusion and ultimately get rid of the successful usurper.
Montolon's further life was quite adventurous. He squandered a very impressive fortune and, having gone bankrupt, in 1840 again enlisted in the army of Louis Napoleon, the son of Louis Bonaparte and the future Emperor Napoleon III. The Count helped Napoleon III conquer France. We must give him his due, all these years Montolon did not say a single word to anyone about the secret assignment on the island of St. Helena.
“We all look at Napoleons,” Pushkin wrote at one time, correctly noticing the influence Napoleon Bonaparte had on the minds of some of his ambitious contemporaries. Indeed, there are few personalities in history who would have made such a dizzying rise - from an unknown lieutenant to an emperor with a claim to world domination.
It doesn’t matter that at the end of his life he had to renounce all his achievements, including the crown, nevertheless, today it is almost impossible to find a person who has not heard anything about Bonaparte. Thousands of tourists coming to Paris go to the Les Invalides - the place where Napoleon's grave is located.
Little Corsican
In August 1769, a son, Napoleone, was born into the noble Corsican family Buonaparte. Of course, the Corsican aristocracy is not at all the same as the French one. According to one British historian, the parents of the future emperor were, in fact, small landowners; the only thing they had in common with the nobility was the presence of a family coat of arms.
The years of Napoleon's life in Corsica left a big imprint on his character. He was always very devoted to his mother and family in general. When Bonaparte became emperor, he tried to find a suitable throne for his many relatives: brothers, nephews, stepsons.
Napoleon mastered the French language under the guidance of the monk Recco, and already at the age of 9 he read the non-children's works of Voltaire, Plutarch, Rousseau, and Cicero. Using all the connections available to him, Napoleon's father enrolled his son in a military school near Paris in 1779. Here he learned to fencing perfectly, not giving in to his offenders - the scions of aristocratic families who mocked the poor Corsican.
Brigadier General
When the revolution began in France, Napoleon was on vacation on his native island. By this time he had graduated military education and served with the rank of junior lieutenant in a small provincial garrison. Revolution as the end of absolutism, future emperor accepted unconditionally. Nevertheless, Napoleon, who loved order, was against an uncontrollable popular rebellion.
During the years of revolutionary chaos in Corsica, liberation movement. Because Napoleon opposed the fight against France, he was imprisoned. Having escaped from a Corsican prison, Bonaparte entered the army that was besieging Toulon. Here, in December 1793, he had the opportunity to become famous thanks to his personal heroism during the storming of the fortress.
Well, after in the fall of 1795, on behalf of the Directory, he suppressed the royalist rebellion in just 4 hours, all of France learned about General Bonaparte, and his brilliant career became a role model. Napoleon's army idolized him. In addition to his unparalleled personal courage, he bribed soldiers caring attitude, so they were ready to give their lives for him without hesitation.
In imitation of an idol
Napoleon's tomb in Paris, or rather his sarcophagus, is located in the center of the hall, along the perimeter of which there are 12 sculptures of Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory. This number corresponds to the number of battles won by the great commander, including Borodino.
Napoleon's idol all his life was Alexander the Great, who in a short time created a huge empire. Bonaparte himself had similar plans. After the victorious Italian campaign, not only France, but the whole of Europe started talking about him. At this time, a romantic image of Napoleon emerged, which inspired many of his contemporaries.
Next military expedition, this time to Egypt, was not so triumphant. The moment when French army real defeat threatened, news arrived about political crisis in Paris. Napoleon faced the prospect of gaining the power that he so persistently sought.
Having abandoned the army in Egypt, he secretly went to France, where he was soon proclaimed first consul, and 5 years later, in December 1804, Bonaparte staged his own magnificent coronation at Notre Dame Cathedral.
Lord of the world
The tombs of many French monarchs are located in the Abbey of Saint-Denis. But for Napoleon, the last refuge was the State Home for Invalids, once created for sick war veterans.
Most likely, being at the zenith of his glory, the emperor dreamed of a completely different burial place. After all, at the beginning of the 19th century. the French army under his command was considered practically invincible. Napoleon redrew the political map of Europe at his own discretion and created new kingdoms.
The years 1805-1810 marked the peak of his power. French court becomes one of the most brilliant in Europe, and the emperor himself marries a princess from the Habsburg family. Despite the conspiracies and coalitions created against him, Napoleon continued to believe in his lucky star even after fleeing Russia.
Last chance
In 1813, the Battle of Leipzig took place, which Napoleon lost. Moreover, he had to sign a renunciation and go into exile on the island of Elba. Here he seemed to have resigned himself to his fate, but in reality Bonaparte was preparing a campaign to France in order to regain lost power.
His plan was partly successful. Napoleon's small army in the spring of 1815 was greeted with delight by the French. He arrived in Paris and reoccupied. However, the restoration was short-lived. Napoleon was now surrounded mostly by traitors, which he himself did not notice.
The culmination of the Hundred Days of his reign was the battle, or rather complete destruction French army near the village of Waterloo (Belgium). Napoleon, who surrendered to the British, was again sent into exile, this time to the island of St. Helena, lost in the middle of the ocean.
On the edge of the empire
At the beginning of the 19th century, Great Britain was a powerful colonial empire. Among her overseas possessions was the small rocky island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic. It was separated from the nearest (African) coast by two thousand kilometers. It was here that the deposed monarch ended his days, and Napoleon’s empty grave is also located here.
Low, the governor of the island, frightened by rumors of an impending squadron of associates of the exiled emperor, constantly asked the English government to send additional cannons to strengthen the coastline.
Other precautionary measure, chosen by him, consisted of a regime of exceptional severity in which the prisoner had to be kept. True, the former emperor was not imprisoned; he could move relatively freely around the island, which was only 19 km long.
The last years of Napoleon's life, spent in St. Helena, were the most hopeless. We know about them from books written by General Laskas after the death of Bonaparte. He was one of the few who voluntarily went into exile with the former emperor.
Not long ago as a result chemical analysis Bonaparte's surviving hair revealed that he was poisoned with arsenic. Napoleon died in early May 1821. According to the official certificate, the cause of death was stomach cancer.
Where is Napoleon buried?
On the island of St. Helena there is still a modest tombstone surrounded by an iron fence - the burial place of a man who once decided the destinies of the European continent. Soon after Bonaparte's death, the French began to demand that the ashes of their emperor be transported to France for a dignified burial.
The British government eventually agreed, and in October 1840, Napoleon's grave on the island of St. Helena was opened. The emperor's remains were transported to France in two coffins, one lead and one ebony. Finally, on December 15, with a huge crowd of people, Napoleon’s sarcophagus was delivered to the Invalides.
For five days, the French came to the Church of St. Louis to venerate the ashes of the late emperor. The majestic tomb for him was completed only in 1861. Here the sarcophagus with the remains of Bonaparte is still located today.
Instead of a conclusion
Napoleon, whose life and death is the subject of numerous studies to this day, remains one of the most discussed historical characters. The attitude towards it is sometimes diametrically opposite.
Nevertheless, no one will deny the enormous role that Bonaparte played in European history beginning of the 19th century For this reason, Napoleon's grave in the Parisian Invalides is included in the list of excursions introducing tourists to the capital of France.
The life of Napoleon Bonaparte has long attracted the attention of historians. But his death is of no less interest. Suspicions that it was not natural provide impetus for a variety of studies.
The Emperor of France abdicated the throne for the first time on April 6, 1814. By decision of the allied monarchs, he received possession of the small island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea.
On April 20, 1814, Napoleon left Fontainebleau and went into exile. But in February 1815, he fled from the Elbe, landed on the French coast and, after a triumphal procession across the country, entered Paris. His second reign lasted one hundred days, followed by defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon voluntarily arrived on the English warship Bellerophon in the port of Plymouth, hoping to receive political asylum from his old enemies - the British. But they exiled him to St. Helena, a lonely piece of land in the middle of the Atlantic.
Napoleon was allowed to choose officers to accompany him; they were Henri-Gracien Bertrand, Charles Montolon, Emmanuel de Las Cases and Gaspard Gourgo, who were with him on the English ship. In total, there were 27 people in Napoleon's retinue. August 7, 1815 on board the ship Northumberland former emperor left Europe. Nine escort ships with 3 thousand soldiers, who were supposed to guard the overthrown ruler on St. Helena, accompanied him. On October 17, 1815, Napoleon arrived in Jamestown, the island's only port.
The residence of Napoleon Bonaparte and his retinue was an estate in the village of Longwood, located on a mountain plateau 8 km from Jamestown. The house and the surrounding area were surrounded by a 6 km long stone wall. The sentries were placed along the wall so that they could see each other. Sentinels were stationed on the tops of the surrounding hills, reporting with signal flags all of Napoleon's actions.
The British did everything to make Bonaparte's escape from the island impossible. The new governor of the island, Hudson Lowe, limited the freedom of the deposed emperor: he narrowed the boundaries of his walks, demanded that Napoleon show himself to the guard officer at least twice a day, and tried to reduce his contacts with outside world. Napoleon was depressed and his health began to deteriorate. It must be said that signs of the disease appeared before. So, on October 1, 1805, when Napoleon, on the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, was about to appear before Great Army, out of the blue he had a terrible attack, which Josephine and Talleyrand witnessed. They thought it was an epileptic seizure. On September 7, 1812, on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, he complained of “terrible” headaches. After the victory near Dresden, in August 1813, Napoleon began to experience unbearable stomach pain, and the generals from his entourage thought that he had been poisoned. On Elba, the valet Marchand noticed that the emperor’s thighs were covered with some kind of ulcers... During the “hundred days” Napoleon was overcome by incessant bouts of heartburn. Does this mean that he was given some kind of poison? While in exile, the emperor initially blamed his condition on an unhealthy climate. Napoleon requested a doctor, and on September 23, 1818, Doctor Antommarchi arrived on the island.
He noted that “the emperor’s hearing became weakened, his face acquired an earthy tint, his eyes dimmed, the connective membrane of his eyes had a yellowish-red color, his body became excessively oily, and his skin became very pale...” The doctor believed that it was hepatitis. Meanwhile, the overthrown ruler was getting worse. Napoleon often complained of pain in his right side and his legs were swollen. He suspected it was cancer, the disease from which his father died. In March 1821 he already understood that death was near. On April 13, 1821, Napoleon dictated his will. He could no longer move without outside help, the pain became sharp and painful.
May 5, 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte died. He was buried near Longwood in an area called Geranium Valley.
In the 50s XX century Swedish dentist Sten Forshuvud suggested that Napoleon was poisoned. He checked the hair from strands that the deposed emperor gave to various people in 1814-1821, compared eyewitness accounts of Napoleon’s life on the island and his last days and came to the conclusion that Napoleon, while staying in St. Helena, constantly received arsenic. According to Forshuvud, the poisoner lived directly in Napoleon’s house, and his suspicion fell on Montolon. However, Vorshuvud's conclusions were later disputed.
Nowadays, Italian scientists have carefully analyzed Napoleon Bonaparte's hair for the presence of arsenic, which was believed to have poisoned him, and concluded that the level of the toxic substance was not the cause of his death. Bonaparte's hair was taken for analysis, cut at different periods his life: in childhood, during his exile on the island of Elba, on the day of his death and the day after his death. In addition, the hair of Napoleon's son, taken in 1812, 1816, 1821 and 1826, was analyzed. and Josephine's hair, collected after her death in 1814. For comparison, the hair of ten people living today was also taken. It turned out that arsenic was present in all samples. The level of arsenic in all hair samples from two centuries ago is one hundred times higher than the average amount of arsenic in hair. modern people. And the amount of arsenic in Napoleon's hair in his youth and in his last years life was almost the same. So Napoleon wasn't poisoned?
Perhaps the doctors who treated Bonaparte in different time, prescribed him arsenic as a medicine. Indeed, in weak doses it is an effective stimulant. In an article published in Nature magazine after the results of his experiments were published, Dr. Hamilton Smith writes about this directly: “After all, it is quite likely that arsenic was prescribed to Napoleon as a medicinal drug, and unintentionally - with the aim of poisoning him."
To understand this story, let's go back. Realizing that he was dying, and not being sure of the causes of his illness, Napoleon asked Francesco Antommarchi to perform an autopsy after his death and pay special attention to his stomach. And so it was done. Doctors did not come to a common conclusion then. Four different protocols have emerged. True, in each of them the presence of a stomach ulcer near the pylorus was confirmed, but if Antommarchi diagnosed cancer, then his English colleagues write “about partial hardening of the tissue, ready to degenerate into cancerous tumor" However, today it is already clear that Napoleon died from a hereditary disease (his father died at the age of 39 from cancer of the stomach or pylorus), which is caused by a chronic bacterial infection.
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