Napoleon was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Helena. But, 19 years later, on 15th December, 1840, he got buried again: this time at Les Invalides, Paris.
It was an ornate state occasion, involving multiple caskets, 500 sailors, 14 semi-naked female statues... and a lot of lardy cakes.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what Napoleon’s cadaver looked like; explain why a previous petition to relocate his remains had failed; and discover an unexpectedly culinary description of the day from The Sunday Times…
Further Reading:
• ‘Bring Him Home: How Napoleon Bonaparte’s delayed funeral came to be’ (Lapham’s Quarterly, 2020): https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/bring-him-home
• ‘Napoleon’s legacy: ashes, tombs and DNA’ (National Geographic, 2010): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/napoleons-legacy
• ‘Secrets of Les Invalides: Home to war veterans and Napoleon’ (France 24, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4uvmiPVUQ
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.
#1800s #Person #War #Politics #Macabre #France
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