French Revolution and Napoleonic WarsPolitics and state
Coronation of Napoleon
In Notre-Dame Cathedral, in the presence of Pope Pius VII, Napoleon, who had been proclaimed Emperor of the French in May 1804, placed the crown on his own head and then crowned Empress Josephine.
- Date
- 2 December 1804exact date
- Place
- Notre-Dame de Paristoday: Paris, France · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- First French Empire, Napoleon I, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Pope Pius VII
- Threads
- French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
The Senate’s decision to establish a hereditary empire was approved by a plebiscite. The ceremony on 2 December (11 Frimaire, Year XIII) lasted almost five hours; the pope performed the anointing, but Napoleon crowned himself, underlining that his power did not depend on the Church.
The event was captured by Jacques-Louis David in his vast canvas The Coronation of Napoleon.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Coup of 18 Brumaire9–10 November 1799 · Western and Central EuropeFrom the Consulate to the Empire
Related events
- Premiere of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony7 April 1805 · Western and Central Europethe dedication to Napoleon was withdrawn after he was proclaimed emperor
- Battle of Austerlitz20 November (2 December) 1805 · Western and Central EuropeThe battle fell on the first anniversary of the coronation: 2 December 1805, New Style
Same participants
- Napoleonic Code (French Civil Code)21 March 1804 · Western and Central Europevia Napoleon I
- Battle of Trafalgar21 October 1805 · Western and Central Europevia First French Empire
Same place
- Viking siege of Parisbetween 24 November and 25 November 885 – October 886 · Western and Central Europe
- Storming of the Bastille14 July 1789 · Western and Central Europe
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen26 August 1789 · Western and Central Europe
- Execution of Louis XVI21 January 1793 · Western and Central Europe
- Battle of Paris18 (30) March 1814 – 19 (31) March 1814 · Western and Central Europe
- Hundred Days20 March – 8 July 1815 · Western and Central Europe
- Holy Alliance14 (26) September 1815 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Eastern Europe
- First Russian circumnavigation26 July (7 August) 1803 – 7 (19) August 1806
Balkans and Anatolia
- First Serbian Uprising14 February 1804 – 7 October 1813
Middle East and Egypt
Africa
- Jihad of Usman dan Fodio21 February 1804 – 1808
East Asia
- Rezanov’s embassy to Japan26 September (8 October) 1804 – April 1805
- White Lotus Rebellionbetween 1794 and 1796 – 1804
North America
- Lewis and Clark Expedition14 May 1804 – 23 September 1806
- Louisiana Purchase30 April – 20 December 1803
Latin America
- Balmis Expedition30 November 1803 – 14 August 1806
- Haitian Declaration of Independence1 January 1804
- Haitian Revolutionbetween 21 August and 22 August 1791 – 1 January 1804