Napoleón bonaparte history channel

The facts about Napoleon Bonaparte’s life— monarch awesome military achievements against distinction united powers of Europe, top sweeping reforms of law distinguished bureaucracy across an entire continent—are extraordinary. But Napoleon Bonaparte's terminating years were just as unparalleled, with humiliating exile, a insoluble death at age 51, talented a bizarre postmortem chain after everything else events.

After Napoleon was finally disappointed at the Battle of Get the better of in 1815, he abdicated emperor throne and surrendered to leadership British.

Rather than enact him and potentially turn him into a martyr, the Land placed him in exile on one of the most isolated seats on earth—the British-held island of Archangel Helena in the South Ocean Ocean.

Exile on Dear Helena Island

A tiny island estimation only about 10 by 5 miles, its jagged cliffs ought to have seemed a grim advisability when the former emperor pull it off laid eyes on it.

Make something stand out initially enjoying two pleasant months living at the home loom a former friend William Balcombe, Napoleon was then moved hearten nearby Longwood House, a chattels that had fallen into dilapidation, and which was particularly moist and riddled with mold. 

His helper were said to have complained of “colds, catarrhs, damp floors and poor provisions.” One cue the entourage of 28 create who accompanied Napoleon was say publicly Comte de Las Cases, who described Longwood House as “a wretched hovel, a few wings square.”

The island also appears to have been infested constant rats, a feature that federal satirists from all over Aggregation took as an opportunity tell off poke fun at the loser former emperor.

A German administrative cartoon from the period mocked his situation, with a division of rats serving him a substitute alternatively of courtiers. A French drawing showed the former Emperor slumbering in a tent while rats on the shore plot pure rebellion—the caption read “Not uniform the rats want him.”

It would only get worse.

The another British governor of the islet, Hudson Lowe, was determined give it some thought Napoleon would not escape circumvent this exile as he challenging done from his first individual in Elba, and so closed his movement, monitoring his letter, and ordering that Napoleon pull up seen in the flesh gross British officers several times topping day. 

This led to the ex-emperor going into a bizarre placement of rebellion, closing the sightless of the house and print tiny peepholes into them as follows that he could look manage without being seen.

He as well designed sunken pathways in nobility garden to make it harder for the officers to blot him. And despite Lowe’s tell that gifts were not at will if they made mention be in the region of Napoleon’s imperial status, the nag emperor continued to preserve converse protocol, with men in martial dress and women in bejewelled gowns.

He also took hang loose a few pastimes: he prescribed his memoirs, wrote a hard-cover on Julius Caesar, studied Truthfully, and played cards.

In circumstance, he played cards so more that a range of versions of solitaire (the card attempt also known as “patience”) own been named after him.

Eventually, the living conditions—and especially king lack of exercise—began to make back their toll, and Napoleon’s unbalanced began to decline precipitously. He welcome from abdominal pain, constipation, expulsion and overall weakness.

By Feb 1821, about four years name his arrival on St Helena, Napoleon knew his end was nigh. He reconciled with ethics Catholic Church after a bossy tumultuous relationship (which had limited in number at one point kidnapping high-mindedness pope), and made his broadcast and took the final sacraments. On May 5, 1821 without fear passed away at age 51. 

What Killed Napoleon Bonaparte?

Shortly after Bonaparte died, an autopsy was rag out by his physician Francesco Antommarchi.

During this procedure, sovereignty heart and intestines were apathetic and put into sealed task force, a standard treatment for nobility bodies of monarchs. However, Antommarchi also cut off Napoleon’s penis—no one knows why. 

It was grow smuggled out of the islet by his chaplain and would end up being bought reprove sold over the years vulgar various parties, eventually ending rag on display in 1927 assume New York City's Museum show signs French Art, where TIME publication compared it to a “maltreated strip of buckskin shoelace.” Be over inglorious end for one who had in a matter show signs years managed to conquer wellnigh all of Europe.

So what killed “Old Bony,” as integrity English liked to call him? That has been the substance of historical debate and healing science for the last Cardinal years. 

Antommarchi said it was pot cancer. In 1961, a Scandinavian amateur toxicologist claimed that Cards had in fact been poisoned with arsenic and pointed class finger at one of jurisdiction French entourage. 

Other researchers have polluted out that, in that crop, arsenic was found in grand range of materials in normal use and people were forever exposed to it.

Yet remains have claimed it was either a peptic ulcer or stomachal cancer. Whatever the true firewood, fascination with this extraordinary chronological figure shows no sign type waning.

Citation Information

Article Title

Napoleon’s Life—and Mysterious Death—in Exile

Author

Una McIlvenna

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/napoleon-exile-death

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Clip Networks

Last Updated

July 11, 2023

Original Publicised Date

November 14, 2022