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Tag Archives: Napoléon Bonaparte

The House of Bernadotte

27 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Royal Houses, Sweden

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Adoption, Autocracy vs Democracy, Charles XIII, Charles XIV John, Election, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshall of France, Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Carl Philip Duke of Varmland, Princess Sofia Duchess of Varmland, the House of Bernadotte, the House of Holstein-Gottorp

Charles_XIII_of_Sweden

Prince Charles XIII  by Carl Frederic von Breda (Photo credit: Wiki2.org)

640px-Ulrica_Pasch_-_Duke_Charles_XIII_of_Sweden_1758

Prince Charles, in 1758 by Ulrica Pasch (Photo credit: Wiki2.org)

A Childless King

This post does not describe la Terreur, the Reign of Terror, which should be its subject matter. I have chosen instead to write a little story about Sweden’s Royal House of Bernadotte. The birth of the Swedish House of Bernadotte is associated with both the French Revolution, the demise of absolutism, and the Napoleonic wars. King Charles III was childless. His successor would be Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, a general under Napoleon.

In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte had named Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (26  January 1763 – 8 March 1844) a marshall of France (un maréchal de France) and, on 5 June 1806, the Prince of Pontecorvo, a title Bernadotte surrendered in 1810. King Charles XIII named his adopted heir Generalissimus of the Swedish Armed Forces of the King.

I am postponing a very short discussion of the Reign of Terror in order to locate the French Revolution in its European context. European monarchs did oppose the French uprising of 1789, beginning with King Gustav III of Sweden, Charles XIII’s older brother.

Following the uprising against the French monarchy in 1789, Gustav pursued an alliance of princes aimed at crushing the insurrection and reinstating his French counterpart, King Louis XVI, offering Swedish military assistance as well as his leadership.

(See King Gustav III of Sweden, Wiki2.org.)

640px-Alexander_Roslin_-_King_Gustav_III_of_Sweden_and_his_Brothers_-_Google_Art_Project

King Gustav III of Sweden and his Brothers; Gustav III (left) and his two brothers, Prince Frederick Adolf and Prince Charles, later Charles XIII of Sweden. Painting by Alexander Roslin. (Photo credit: Wiki2.org.)

Three Brothers

King Gustav III of Sweden, King Charles XIII and Prince Frederick Adolf were brothers and nephews of Frederick the Great of Prussia. They were the three sons of Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden and Queen Louise Ulrika. She was a sister of King Frederick the Great of Prussia and a first cousin of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia “by reason of their common descent from Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and his wife Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach.” (See King Gustav III of Sweden, Wiki2.org.)

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were also related to the House of Habsbpurg-Lorraine. Marie-Antoine was the sister of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (See Declaration of Pillnizt, Wiki2.org.) whose relatives were other European monarchs. (See House of Habsburg-Lorraine, Wiki2.org.). As for Louis XVI, his mother was Maria Leszczyńska.

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI did appeal to their families during the French Revolution. It was normal. Swedish Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Marie-Antoinette’s rumoured lover, helped the French Royal family organize the flight to Varennes. Moreover, King Louis XVI was very tall (185cm/6ft 1in) for a man of his era and a Frenchman.

—ooo—

The French Revolution sent shockwaves throughout Europe. Some royals chose rigid absolutism, others, a more democratic constitutional monarchy. Gustav III of Sweden was a beloved despot. Yet, he was shot in the lower back and died 13 days later. Prince Carl and Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm were appointed regents until Gustav IV of Sweden reached adulthood, in 1796.[1]

Gustav III’s unpopular and autocratic son Gustav IV was overthrown and exiled in a coup d’état. Sweden had lost Finland to Russia. (See Finnish War, Wiki2.org.) The authority of Sweden’s Royals was vastly diminished by the Constitution of 1809 or Instrument of Government (1809). The powers of government were divided between the monarch and the Riksdag of the Estates.

Gustav III and Charles XIII would be kings of Sweden. Their brother Prince Frederick Adolf (18 July 1750 – 12 December 1803) never reigned. He died in Montpellier, France. King Charles XIII was childless and sickly, so an heir to the throne of Sweden and Norway had to be selected.

Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte

Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte would be the new and elected King of Sweden (as Charles XIV) from 1809 and King of Norway (as Charles III John) from 1814 until his death, in 1844.

“His candidacy was advocated by Baron Carl Otto Mörner, a Swedish courtier and obscure member of the Riksdag of the Estates.” (See Charles XIV John of Sweden, Wiki2.org.)

Carl Otto Mörner so wished for Bernadotte to be elected Crown Prince that he discussed the matter with Jean-Baptiste-Jules Bernadotte himself, the dutiful Marshall of France. Bernadotte answered that if he were elected Crown Prince, he would accept his new role. As one may expect, Mörner was arrested when he returned to Sweden. He had gone too far. However, Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte proved the best candidate. Weighing in his favour, were his superior military skills.

icharlj001p1

Charles XIV John, detail of an oil painting by Fredric Westin, 1824; in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden.
Courtesy of the Svenska Portrattarkivet, Stockholm (Photo credit: Britannica)

Queen_desideria_by_locati-2 (1)

Desideria Clary, queen of Sweden by Fredric Westin (Photo credit: Wiki2.org.)

There is a Baron in the Bernadotte family, but Jean-Baptiste is a commoner. He was born in Pau, Béarn, France, to Jean-Henri Bernadotte, a prosecutor. His mother was Jeanne de Saint-Jean. Jean-Baptiste planned to study law, but…

In 1798, he married Désirée Clary, whose sister was married to Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte. Désirée would be Queen Consort of Sweden as Desideria. However, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte is not a Bonaparte. Jean-Baptiste and Désirée’s son would reign as Oscar I, King of Sweden and King of Norway.

In 1813, after Napoleon’s unrealistic and disastrous Russian campaign, Karl XIV Johan entered an anti-Napoleon alliance that probably strengthened the Sixth coalition. When Norway was awarded to Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel, King Carl XIV Johan proposed a “personal union” between Norway and Sweden. Both countries would have the same king, but Norway would be an independent kingdom. Bernadotte reigned as Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway from 5 February 1818 until his death on 8 March 1844.

 

Prince Carl Philip & Alexander (Pinterest)
Prince Carl Philip & Alexander (Pinterest)
Princess Sofia (Pinterest)
Princess Sofia (Pinterest)

 

The House of Bernadotte is doing well. Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, is married to Princess Sofia, Duchess of Värmland, a commoner and a former glamour model. The couple has two children. Prince Carl Philip’s sister is Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland who is married to Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. They have two children. A second sister, Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland is married to British-American financier Christopher O’Neill. They have three children. The King of Sweden is Carl XVI Gustaf who is married to German-Brazilian Queen Sylvia.

P. S. Herodote (please click to read) published articles on the history of Sweden recently. I have read these articles, but I have not inserted quotations or content from Herodote in my post.
____________________
[1] King Charles XIII may have played a role in the assassination of Gustav III (See Charles XIII, Wiki2.org.)

Love to everyone  ❤

Johan Helmich Roman Violin Concerto in D minor, BeRi 49

f58b5bb5f99de0abda362b1400520b32

Prince Carl Philip

© Micheline Walker
27 September 2018
updated 28 September 2018
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France: the Revolutionary Wars

20 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Napoleonic Wars, The French Revolution

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

13 Vendémiaire, Aragon & Ferré, Chouannerie, Napoléon Bonaparte, Revolutionary Wars, Royalists, the Battle of Valmy, the Brunswick Manifesto, the Declaration of Pillnitz, the Sans-Culottes, the September Massacres, War in Vendée

1024px-Valmy_Battle_painting (2)

Painting of the Battle of Valmy by Horace Vernet from 1826. The white-uniformed infantry to the right are regulars while the blue-coated ranks to the left represent the citizen volunteers of 1791. (Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Brunswick Manifesto

  • 27 August 1791: the Declaration of Pillnitz
  • 20 April 1792 : France declares war on Austria
  • 25 July 1792: the Brunswick Manifesto (le Manifeste de Brunswick)
  • 20 September 1792: the Battle of Valmy (Duke of Brunswick defeated)

On 27 August 1791, after the French Royal family’s failed attempt to leave France, the flight to Varennes, Marie-Antoinette’s brother, Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) and Frederick William II of Prussia declared their joint support of the French Royal family. Leopold II died on 1st March 1792 and so did the Declaration of Pillnitz.

On 25 July 1792, the Duke of Brunswick threatened to harm the French, should its Royal family be harmed. He attacked France on 20 September 1792, but he was defeated at Battle of Valmy. On 22 September 1792, France was a Republic.

Manifeste_de_Brunswick_caricature_1792

Anonymous caricature depicting the treatment given to the Brunswick Manifesto by the French population (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The September Massacres

The September Massacres (2 – 7 September 1792), which occurred more than a year after the flight to Varennes (20–21 June 1791), also reflected fear of an invasion. Although the French mocked the Brunswick Manifesto, the revolutionaries ordered the slaughter of prisoners, to prevent their joining an invading army. In Paris, some 1 200 to 1 400 prisoners were killed including 233 nonjuring Catholic priests, priests who would not submit to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

The French Revolutionary Wars

On 20 April on 1792, France’s Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. In other words, there were Revolutionary Wars. The Battle of Valmy, a defeat for the Duke of Brunswick, is also labelled the War of the First the Coalition. The coalition would fight Napoleon Bonaparte until 1815. (See French Revolutionary Wars, Wikipedia.)

The Republic also fought Royalists and Catholics:

  • 13 Vendémiaire (Napoleon quells Royalist uprising in Paris) War of the First Coalition
  • War in Vendée (Republic opposes Royalists and Catholics in the Vendée)
  • Chouannerie (Wikipedia)

    The Chouannerie (from the Chouan brothers, two of its leaders) was a royalist uprising or counter-revolution in 12 of the western départements of France, particularly in the provinces of Brittany and Maine, against the French First Republic during the French Revolution. It played out in three phases and lasted from the spring of 1794 until 1800.

(See Levée en Masse [Mass Conscription], 23 August 1793.)

13Vendémiaire.jpg

Napoleon Bonaparte‘s quelling of the Royalist revolt, 13 Vendémiaire (5 October 1795), in front of the Église Saint-Roch, Saint-Honoré Street, Paris.
(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Comments

The French Revolution includes armed conflicts. The end of the Revolution overlaps the Napoleonic Wars. In fact, the huge levée en masse (Mass conscription) occurred during the Terror. Levées en masse would give Bonaparte his grande armée.

What happened to the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment? The philosophes had envisaged a Constitutional Monarchy, not regicide, nor war, nor a self-proclaimed Emperor.  Napoleon wanted to conquer, at any cost. Talleyrand[1] once took him to a battlefield where thousands were dead or dying, but Napoleon expressed no compassion.

And what happened to the sans-culottes (without knee breeches)? The sans-culottes wore un pantalon or trousers and had supported the goals of the philosophes. They turned into a mob.

In fact, what happened to Robespierre, “l‘Incorruptible” (The Incorruptible)? Could it be that Louis XVI was too weak? L’abbé Sieyès, who championed greater political power for the bourgeoisie, had to flee, or die. He was a priest.

There are times when everything goes wrong. How can one explain that Donald Trump was elected to the Presidency of the United States? As for the French Revolution, we know the causes, but how can we make sense of the Reign of Terror?

Apologies. I pressed on the publish button accidentally and too soon.

Love to everyone ♥
____________________
[1] André Castelot, Talleyrand ou le Cynisme (Paris: Librairie académique Perrin, 1980)

—ooo—

Two lines, written by poet Louis Aragon, keep coming to my mind. They are part of a poem set to music by the legendary Léo Ferré, entitled Est-ce ainsi que les hommes vivent? (Is this how humans live?). But the interpretation I know best is Yves Montand‘s (please click on Yves Montand’s name to hear the song).

C’était un temps déraisonnable     It was a time unreasonable
On avait mis les morts à table      They’d sat the dead at table

13 Vendémiaire Year 4 (5 October 1795)

Sans-culotte

Idealised sans-culottes by Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845) (Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
20 August 2018
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Orientalism: Good or Bad

07 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Napoléon Bonaparte, Orientalism, The Middle East, The Ottoman Empire

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Edward Said, Egyptology, l'Institut d'Égype, Napoléon Bonaparte, Orientalism, The Middle East

 

Emile-Jean-Horace-VERNET-TheHeadofanArabMan-1982014T14310

Head of an Arab Man by Jean-Horace Vernet (pen, brown ink, brown wash) (Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, London)

 

Weeks_Edwin_Entering_The_Mosque_1885

Entering the Mosque by Edwin Lord Weeks, 1885 (Photo credit: thephora.net)

Eurocentrism

  • Edward Said
  • Orientalism
  • Eurocentrism
  • the Migrant Crisis
  • Brexit
  • Palestine

“Orientalism is the exaggeration of difference, the presumption of Western superiority, and the application of clichéd analytical models for perceiving the Oriental world.”
(Edward Said, Orientalism, Wikipedia)

At first sight, the post that published itself on 1 September 2016 and was returned to the status of “draft,” seemed to indicate opposition to Edward Said’s Orientalism, which I took to be the art of Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904), Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (March 3, 1803 – August 22, 1860), Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 1789 – 17 January 1863), the Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (16 March 171- 25 June 1835), Eugène Delacroix  (26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) and others. There is a difference between my view and his, but it is not opposition.

According to Dr Said, colonialism and imperialism rested on a sense of superiority on the part of colonialists. Edward Said studied “the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism, the West‘s patronizing perceptions and fictional depictions of ‘The East.’” Orientalism, Wikipedia.)

There can be no doubt that the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 epitomizes what is now referred to as Eurocentrism, the postulate governing both colonialism and imperialism. Colonialists viewed themselves as superior to the inhabitants of the countries they had discovered and/ or conquered.

It is within the nature of Empires to rise and fall. It could be therefore that, in 1916, the Ottoman Empire was about to collapse. However, it was not for Mark Sykes, from Britain, and for François Georges-Picot, from France, to partition the Ottoman Empire and to do so before it had fallen. The Sykes-Picot Agreement violated what we now consider a right: the right of nations to determine their future, a right which, in 1916, may not have been perceived as a right.

Nativism is also Eurocentric and, in 2016, Eurocentrism should be a thing of the past. However, it has resurfaced as a result of the European Migrant Crisis. Where will Marine Le Pen send the Muslim migrants who are now entering France? She could be elected to the presidency of France in 2017. More ominous is the possible election, three months from now, of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States. If Mr Trump is elected, there will be no asylum for migrant Muslims in the United States. It is Mr Trump’s view that Muslims are terrorists.

Who would have imagined, a year ago, that British Jews would exercise their right of return to Germany because of the degree of racism that seemed to underpin the unexpected Brexit leave vote? There are consequences to colonialism and to imperialism. If a nation has colonized a nation, the identity of the colonized people may reflect the identity of the citizens who rule it. During the period its territory is considered home to another nation, inhabitants of the colony are educated in the schools of the colonist. All a society needs to ask of its inhabitants, whatever their origin, is that they be law-abiding citizens. “Je suis Charlie”  and “Je suis Raïf.” 

For that matter, “I am Dr Said.” One does not partition a country to make room for a people who claim as theirs a land they have not inhabited for two thousand years or more. Notions such as the concepts of “promised land” and that of “chosen” people are not literal. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 supported the creation of a homeland for the Jewish people, but the Jewish homeland Britain supported was in Palestine. That is all Britain could promise. If it is the right of nations to determine their own future, the  matter should have been negotiated by the people concerned: the Jews and the Palestinians.

The Holocaust

  • Hitler’s persecution of the Jews
  • the United States and World War II
  • the partition of Palestine
  • the creation of Israel 1948
  • Orientalism

History took a wrong turn. Adolf Hitler and his Nazis rose to power in the 1930s and in 1939, they started invading European countries. They also built concentration camps and killed 6 million Jews, most of them in gas chambers. Intervention was needed, so Winston Churchill approached US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (30 January 1882 – 12 April 1945), a truly great American.

American intervention was required both to liberate occupied Europe and to save the Jews who had survived Hitler’s concentration camps. American help was also needed to rebuild Europe. Europe had been crushed. The United States is a powerful country, but seldom was it so powerful than after World War II. The State of Israel was created and the United States, under President Harry S Truman, was the first country to recognize it as a state. Israel would enlarge its borders in 1967, during the Six-Day War. In fact, nearly 50 years later, Israel has yet to return the occupied territories it conquered during the Six-Day War. We may still have autocrats, but colonialism is over.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1442478/De-Gaulle-feared-Six-Day-War-might-start-global-conflict.html

In the meantime, Dr Said, a musician, and pianist Daniel Barenboim were promoting harmony and counterpoint. Dr Said and Mr Barenboim co-founded the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, based in Seville, and whose members are Israeli, Arab and Jewish musicians. (See Edward Said, Wikipedia.)

I can understand why Mr Said finds fault with Orientalism. Although it has produced masterpieces, Orientalism conveys a view of the Orient that is conditioned by artists whose Orient is a borrowed Orient. It is not Islamic art and it may be purely of an ornamental value. By and large, the West does not learn the East. Lawrence of Arabia was an exception.

Jean-Horace Vernet’s Head of an Arab Man, featured at the top of this post, is quite an achievement, by artistic standards. However, it is not Islamic art. It is Orientalism, a movement that followed Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt and Syria. Which takes us to Egyptology.

800px-baron_antoine-jean_gros-battle_pyramids_1810

Napoleon at the Battle of the Pyramids, Baron Antoine-Jean Gros

bonaparte_visiting_the_pesthouse_in_jaffa_march_11_1799-large

Bonaparte visiting the Plague-Stricken at Jaffa by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1799  (Art Renewal Centre)

Visit the Louvre: http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/napoleon-bonaparte-visiting-plague-stricken-jaffa
The Battle of the Pyramids (Wikipedia.)

Egyptology

“An unusual aspect of the Egyptian expedition was the inclusion of an enormous contingent of scientists and scholars (“savants”) assigned to the invading French force, 167 in total. This deployment of intellectual resources is considered as an indication of Napoleon’s devotion to the principles of the Enlightenment, and by others as a masterstroke of propaganda obfuscating the true motives of the invasion; the increase of Bonaparte’s power. (See French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Wikipedia.)

  • L’Institut d’Égypte
  • the Rosetta Stone
  • Champollion

I realize fully that Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and Syria was motivated by his wish to hinder British trade with a more distant Orient and that France, under Napoleon wanted to annex Egypt. It wanted to enlarge its Empire. Nevertheless, although the French campaign in Egypt was mostly self-serving, I rather admire Napoleon’ caveat to his troops as they approached Alexandria. They would meet Muslims and had to be tolerant of their culture. His caveat is quoted in my last post: A Mameluke & the Napoleonic Code.

Interestingly, Napoleon took 167 scientists and scholars to the Near East and even if the discovery of the Rosetta Stone were their only finding, it was an important discovery and the stone’s ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered by Jean-François Champollion, who was a linguist whose research interest was ancient languages and whose linguistic research would lead to more research.[1]

L’Institut d’Égypte

Copies were made of the inscriptions of the Rosetta Stone were sent to various countries and a discipline was born: Egyptology. The scientists and scholars who travelled with Napoleon’s troops made several findings and, on 24 August 1798, 48 of Napoleon’s scholars met and founded l’Institut d’Égypte. As early as 22 November 1799, they decided to publish their Description de l’Égypte. The Institut d’Égypte was closed on 21 March 1801, when Napoleon returned to France.

At the time, an artefact such as the Rosetta Stone could be considered part of the spoils of wars. It was established that Napoleon had been defeated by Britain at the Battle of the Nile, fought from 1 to 3 August 1798. Therefore, under the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria (1801), the Rosetta Stone was transported to England aboard l’Égyptienne, a frigate captured from the French. It was housed in the British Museum where it is still exhibited.

Ironically, General Jacques-François Menou, baron de Boussay, who had converted to Islam and married a Muslim, was the person who handed the Rosetta Stone over to Britain. The precious rock stele had been found under Menou’s command.

In Egypt, Napoleon had recruited an élite corps of soldiers whom he called the Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard. They joined his Armée d’Orient and followed Napoleon back to France. One Mamluk, Roustam Raza, a slave of Armenian descent, would be Napoleon’s bodyguard for 15 years. He had settled in France and would not follow Napoleon to Elba, where the Emperor was first exiled.

Taha Hussein

The Institut d’Égypte resumed its activities in 1836. Its scholars were English, French, German, Egyptians… Scholars from every nationality may choose Egyptology as a field of expertise. But l’Institut égyptien‘s major figure would be Egyptian scholar Taha Hussein (15 November 1889 – 28 October 1973) whose accomplishments include a book on Ibn Khaldūn (27 May 1332 – 19 March 1406). The Institut was severely damaged by a fire during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 (The Arab Spring). It is being rebuilt but some, if not many, of the documents it housed are forever lost. There may not be another copy.

http://www.historytoday.com/jonathan-downs/calamity-cairo

Orientalism in Art and Literature

  • Orientalism
  • Gérôme, Vernet, Gros, Ingres, etc.
  • in Literature: Flaubert’s Salammbô

As for Orientalism as subject matter or theme, the French campaign in Egypt and Syria  (Wikipedia) did inspire artists, such as Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) and Horace Vernet (MMA, NY). Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867), painted the famous Grande Odalisque (Louvre). Earlier in history an oda (Turkish for room) had been a chambermaid, but Ingres’ Grande Odalisque was a concubine, almost a secret, but she was the first of many. She may be elongated, but that is poetic licence. Among Orientalists, most had travelled to the Near East, but Ingres had not. His Grande Odalisque was the product of the imagination or Orientalisme. It was not Islamic Art.

The French campaign in Egypt and Syria also inspired musical compositions and literature. However, neither Victor Hugo‘s “Les Djinns,” nor Gustave Flaubert (12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) Salammbô, a 1862 historical novel, are Islamic literature. Gustave Flaubert, the author of Madame Bovary (1856), did visit Istanbul, in modern day Turkey, and Beirut, Lebanon, before he wrote Salammbô. At the time Salammbô was in progress, Flaubert also went to Carthage to research his historical novel. He needed information and couleur locale.

Like Ingres, Victor Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) did not travel to the Orient. “Les Djinns,” one of the poems included in Hugo’s Orientales (1829), is the product of a brilliant imagination. However, Hugo was inspired by the Greek War of Independence, 1821 – 1832, as was Eugène Delacroix. During the course of his career, Delacroix also illustrated William Shakespeare, the Scottish author Walter Scott and the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (See Eugène Delacroix, Wikipedia.)

Interculturalism

Quebec has a policy of interculturalism. It is based on the work of Martha Nussbaum and emphasizes humanity. Interculturalism involves “the recognition of common human needs across cultures and of dissonance and critical dialogue within cultures” Cultivating Humanity).[2] Humanism is precisely what Dr Said believes should be emphasized. We are all the same and it is this sameness we should recognized. Palestinians are not second-class citizens no more than Muslims in Algeria.   

Conclusion

As works of art, musical compositions and literature, which is what I have shown, would not be criticized by Dr Said, not individually and not as paintings, musical compositions, and literature. All express an interest in the East. That interest can lead to a wish to understand and to accept what differs from the rest of us but only superficially. Works of art can be inspirational, including a depiction of the orient by an outsider. It may lead to an appreciation of Islamic art, which is where peace may begin.

What Dr Said bemoans is a human tragedy. Palestinians have been trivialized and they have been dispossessed. They are still, to this day, being relocated, like pawns. The exodus of Palestinians started in 1948 and, in 2003, United States President George W. Bush entered Iraq at British Prime Minister Tony Blair‘s instigation. Entering a sovereign nation is illegal, but it is also disrespectful, a human value.

Mr Said’s book, entitled Orientalism, has to do, first and foremost, with the humiliation Palestinians were subjected to when their country was partitioned and its citizens marginalized. But the more significant starting-point was the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by Britain and France. Sykes and Georges-Picot divided the spoils of war so their “spheres of influence” were protected. Countries were like pawns and the promise of a Greater Syria, made to Arabs through Lawrence of Arabia, was not reflected in the new map. As for the Balfour Declaration of 1917, it went no further than a decision to support the creation of a Jewish homeland, in Palestine.

Whatever its starting-point, l’Institut égyptien would have survived in its pristine condition as an Egyptian establishment which it had become, had rioters not thrown a Molotov cocktail through a window during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. We now have suicide bombers.

I have included two videos. One is difficult to understand and the other, too long for a post. They feature Dr Said. Dr Said may at first be difficult to understand. However he seems to be saying that ornaments, however beautiful, fall short of an understanding of the East.

I apologize for a lengthy absence. I’ve been unwell: anemia.

Love to everyone. ♥

RELATED ARTICLES

  • A Mameluke & the Napoleonic Code (1 September 2016)
  • More Orientalism by Gérôme (17 August 1916)
  • Orientalisme: Mostly Gérôme (15 August 1916
  • The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 (11 August 1916)
  • The Remains of the Past (9 August 2016)
  • The Algerian War: the Aftermath (25 July 2016)
  • France in North Africa (21 July 2016)
  • Algeria: second-class citizens (20 July 2016)
  • The Last Crusades: the Ottoman Empire (12 February 2015)
  • Beyond Bilingualism and Biculturalism  (2 May 2015)
  • Quebec group pushes interculturalism in place of multiculturalism  (Globe and Mail, 23 August 2012)
  • A Clarification of Terms: Canadian Multiculturalism and Quebec Interculturalism (Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University, August 2012)

_________________________

[1] Jean Lacouture, Champollion, une Vie de lumières (Paris: Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle, 1988).
[2] Quoted in Beyond Bilingualism and Biculturalism (see RELATED ARTICLES)

napoleon-bonaparte-age-23-by-henri-fc3a9lix-emmanuel-philippoteaux (1)

Napoleon Bonaparte, aged 23, by Henri-Félix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
17 August 2016
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More Orientalisme by Gérôme

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Orientalism

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Jean-Léon Gérôme, Napoléon Bonaparte, Orientalism, The Middle East, The Ottoman Empire, traite des Blanches

A Tryst,1840 (wikiart.org)
A Tryst,1840 (wikiart.org)
A Tryst,1844 (wikiart.org)
A Tryst,1844 (wikiart.org)

Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904)

My post on Jean-Léon Gérôme‘s Orientalism, Orientalisme: Mostly Gérôme, features several bashi-bazouk. This happened inadvertently. I wanted to show the whippet dogs and the character named Arnaut. I also wanted to show a hookah, a smoking and vaporizing instrument used in the various countries of the Ottoman Empire, as well as Pakistan and India. These were popular items in the 1960s and early 1970s, when smoking cannabis became fashionable.

Gérôme’s artwork also refers to pashas (see France in North Africa), persons who occupied a high rank in the Ottoman army and/or government. Some Europeans became honorary pashas whose title could be compared to that of an Earl in Britain. (See Pasha, Wikipedia.) Other familiar scenes are mosques and harems. As a history painter, Gérôme also recorded the trading of white women, la traite des blanches, going back to the Roman Empire. Arabs were fond of white women whom they bought and enslaved. Gérôme’s paintings of harems and women bathing show white women. (See Traite des blanches, FR Wikipedia.)

I will therefore feature a few paintings that are not portraits of bashi-bazouk, the very cruel irregular soldiers of the Ottoman Empire.

3571317234

The Slave Market in Rome by Gérôme, 1884 (wikiart.org)

gm_314183ex2

The Muezzin by Gérome, 1865, (Joslyn Art Museum)

Jean_Leon_Gerome_GEJ008

Prayer in Cairo by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1865 (MMA, NY)

Gérôme_-_Harem_Women_Feeding_Pigeons_in_a_Courtyard

Harem Women Feeding Pigeons in a Courtyard by Gérôme, no date (wikiart.org)

413px-Jean-Léon_Gérôme_002

Napoléon in Egypt by Gérôme, c. 1863 (Princeton University Art Museum)

Comments

Gérôme was a very prolific artist whose art was at times extremely engaging, which may explain why it appealed to Théophile Gautier. I have a favourite Gérôme, The Duel After the Masquerade, of which there are two copies. La Sortie du bal masqué cannot be classified as Orientalism but it speaks to me, it is evocative.

In the second half of the 19th century, when American started to go to Paris and bought works of art, art such as Gérôme’s were not purchased frequently. It was academic art. The American colony in Paris bought the works of innovators whose art was rejected at the Paris Salon. Emperor Napoleon III authorized the 1763 Salon des Refusés, an exhibition held at the Palais de l’Industrie.

Gérôme is known mainly as an academic painter. He was very well-trained and he painted as he had been taught. He was nevertheless very successful as an artist and art teacher. As noted above, Gérôme specialized in history painting, but he also created art depicting Greek mythology and he became a prominent orientalist.

Works by Gérôme are housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, and other museums. Many have been purchased privately, and reproductions are available. A reproduction is not as valuable as the original work of art. However, the ‘image’ is the most important element in the visual arts and Gérôme was an accomplished artist.

I have inserted Rimsky-Korsakov‘s Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite (Op. 35, 2), composed in 1888. Scheherazade is based on the One Thousand and One Nights, Arabian fairy tales, and constitutes an excellent example of Orientalism in music.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Orientalisme: Mostly Gérôme (15 August 1916)
  • The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 (11 August 1916)
  • The Remains of the Past (9 August 2016)
  • The Algerian War: the Aftermath (25 July 2016)
  • France in North Africa (21 July 2016)
  • Algeria: second-class citizens (20 July 2016)
  • The Last Crusades: the Ottoman Empire (12 February 2015)
0ac93192a5bae37c8055a129bd1dea52

Pelt Merchant of Cairo, 1869 (wikiart.org)

Jean-Léon Gérôme
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Symphonic Suite (Op. 35, 2)
Amir Selim

imagesFHGHO5MW

The Whirling Dervishes by Gérôme, 1895 (wikiart.org)

© Micheline Walker
17 August 2016
WordPress

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The Dumas Dynasty: Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in France, Literature, Mulatto

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Alexandre Dumas fils, Alexandre Dumas père, à réméré, Joseph Bologne, Marie-Cessette Dumas, mulatto, Napoléon Bonaparte, The Black Count Tom Reiss, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Tom Reiss

Thomas-Alexandre-Dumas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thomas-Alexandre-Dumas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie or Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

  1. Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie (20 June 1714, at Belleville-en-Caux – 15 June 1786, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye) (he arrived in France in 1775);
  2. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (25 March 1762, at Jérémie, Saint-Domingue, current Haiti – 26 February 1806, at Villers-Cotterêts [Aisne]), born to a black slave Marie-Cessette Dumas (he arrived in France in 1776);
  3. Alexandre Dumas, père  (24 July 1802 at Villers-Cotterêts – 5 December 1870, at Puy, near Dieppe), the legitimate son of Marie-Louise Labouret;
  4. Alexandre Dumas, fils (Paris 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) the illegitimate son of Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay, a dressmaker.

The List

The above list is quite impressive. The descendants of French marquis Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a colonel and général commissaire in the artillery of the colony, include a famous general who played a significant role in Napoleon’s early military victories, between 1795 and 1799, the Directoire FR period of French history, or the first Republic.

Not only was Thomas-Alexandre a general but he was:

“the highest-ranking person of color of all time in a continental European army [and he is] the first person of color in the French military to become  brigadier general, the first to become divisional general, and the first to become general-in-chief of a French army.” (See Thomas-Alexandre Dumas , Wikipedia.)

In fact, “Dumas [Thomas Alexandre] shared the status of the highest-ranking black officer in the Western world only with Toussaint Louverture (who in May 1797 became the second black general-in-chief in the French military) until 1975[.]” (See Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Wikipedia.)

However, Thomas-Alexandre lived at a very difficulty time in the history of France, Revolutionary France. So did Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George, the “black Mozart,” a swordsman, an equestrian and Thomas-Alexandre’s life-long friend. They were members of the aristocracy, yet could ill-afford to oppose the notion of equality promoted in Revolutionary France. The two were mulattos, born to freed slaves in the Carribeans: Saint-Domingue (the current Haiti) with respect to Thomas-Alexandre (25 March 1762,- 26 February 1806) and Guadeloupe, in the case of Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George (approximately 1745 – 1799).

Aristocrats: Thomas A. Dumas & Saint-George

Both would be in the military during Revolutionary France and would do so as aristocrats. Just how Joseph Boulogne became an aristocrat is not entirely clear in my mind. His father Georges Bologne was ennobled in 1757 and, after completing his studies, Joseph Boulogne was appointed Gendarme de la Garde du Roi (Gendarme of the King’s Guard). In fact, Georges Bologne may have been the descendant of Italian aristocrats, but Joseph was born out-of-wedlock.

Marie-Cessette Dumas

Be that as it may, Thomas-Alexandre, was born to an aristocrat, marquis Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie. Antoine had joined his brother Charles, in Saint-Domingue, but he disappeared probably to escape his creditors. He took three slaves with him and started to live under a pseudonym: Alexandre Delisle. He sold his three slaves so he could buy a small sugar plantation at Jérémie, Saint-Domingue and then purchased “for an exorbitant price,” black slave Marie-Césette (Dumas).

Marie-Césette was not a mulâtresse.[i] It appears she was from Gabón and is the mother of three children: two sons and a daughter or two daughters and a son, by Antoine. Sources differ. But a fourth child, a daughter, was also born to Marie-Césette, or Cessette[ii] before she was bought.

Antoine’s Family Sold à réméré

Thomas-Alexandre and his sisters were sold, with an option to be bought back or the “right of redemption.” This sort of transaction was called à réméré. Antoine-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie became rich as a slave-trader and also sold various properties in France. He therefore repurchased Thomas-Alexandre who lived in France.

The name Dumas means “from the farm,” but the name could be Dûma,[iii] a name originating from an ethnic group called Fang. Thomas-Alexandre adopted his mother’s surname and it became the name of his very famous son, Alexandre Dumas, père (father) and grandson, Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). Both were very popular writers who were elected to the Académie française.

The most famous Dumas, Alexandre Dumas, père had three illegimate children, one of whom is Alexandre Dumas, fils, born to Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay, a dressmaker. Dumas, fils, was an illegitimate child. He is the author of La Dame aux Camélias, or The Lady of the Camellias.

Antoine Returns to France

Alexandre Dumas, père, by Nadar

Alexandre Dumas, père, by Nadar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Antoine was presumed dead and his brother Charles had returned to France, playing Marquis. However, Antoine also returned to France and reclaimed his real identity, that of Antoine Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie. That story was fictionalized as The Count of Monte-Cristo (1944), by Dumas, père and his ghost writer  Auguste Maquet. Auguste Maquet also co-wrote The Three Musketeers  (1844). Getting money out of Saint-Domingue was difficult and therefore perfect material for Dumas, père, a passionate writer. The Three Musketeers features d’Artagnan who arrested Nicolas Fouquet.

 

Athos, Porthos, Aramis & D'Artagnan (Photo credit; Wikipedia)

“D’Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos” by Maurice Leloir
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Saint-George and Thomas-Alexandre connection

  • La Boëssière’s Academy

It would appear that marquis Antoine Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie returned to France in c. 1775 and died at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in 1786, just short of the French Revolution (1789 – 1796). He had bought back his son Thomas-Alexandre who met the above-mentioned mulatto and aristocrat Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George (25 December 1745 – 10 June 1799) when both studied under fencing master La Boëssière, at La Boëssière’s Academy. That friendship ended with the death of Saint-George who did not find employment after the Revolution and was weakened by a two-year stay in a jail. He may have died of gangrene.

Along with Saint-George, Thomas-Alexandre was an illustrious man of colour in Europe. Thomas-Alexandre entered the military in 1786, at the age of 24. By the age of  31, Dumas was in command of 53,000 troops as the General-in-Chief of the French Army of the Alps. According to Wikipedia, “Dumas’ strategic victory in opening the high Alps passes  enabled the French to initiate their Second Italian Campaign against the Austrian Empire.” (See Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Wikipedia)

Thomas-Alexandre’s Demise

Thomas-Alexandre also served in Egypt where he had a verbal disagreement with Napoleon Bonaparte himself.  He therefore left on an unsafe ship and was taken prisoner in the Kingdom of Naples and thrown in a dungeon where he was imprisoned from 1799 to 1802.

When he was released, Thomas-Alexandre “was partially paralyzed, almost blind in one eye, had been deaf in one ear but recovered; his physique was broken.”A broken gentleman, Thomas-Alexandre, fathered Alexandre Dumas, père (born 1802) on his return to Villers-Cotterêts. However, Thomas-Alexandre was sick and he was poor, and Napoleon Bonaparte did not help him. He died of a stomach cancer in February of 1806.

Conclusion

The Dumas story is a success story. Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie had a gifted and prominent son, and equally accomplished grandson and great-grandson. In fact, there would be more prominent descendants of Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie and Marie-Cessette Dumas. However, our mulatto heroes, the Chevalier de Saint-George and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas were victims. One was the victim of the French Revolution, the other, Thomas-Alexandre, the victim of a heartless Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte did not have a conscience.

To a person who found fault with his lineage, Alexandre Dumas, père said:

My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends. [iv]

Wishing all of you a fine weekend.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Créoles, Cajuns & Uncle Remus
  • Koiné Languages and Créole Languages
  • Ignatius Sancho & Laurence Sterne: a Letter
  • The Old Plantation
  • The Abolition of Slavery
  • Vaux-le-Vicomte: Fouquet’s Rise and Fall (d’Artagnan)
  • Uncle Remus & Tar-Baby
  • Dumas, père & Marguerite de Valois Fictionalized

  • posts on Joseph Boulogne, chevalier de Saint-George (to be compiled) ←

Sources and Resources

  • The British Library: Online Gallery, Black Europeans: Alexandre Dumas (Dr Mike Phillips)
  • Cessette or Césette Dumas (details)
  • The Memoirs of Alexandre Dumas, père’s EN (online)
  • Mémoires d’Alexandre Dumas FR (online)
  • The Black Count: Glory, Revolution and Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss. This biography earned Mr Reiss the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.  
  • The Three Musketeers (Maurice Leloir, illust.) is a HathiTrust publication digitized by Google

_________________________

[i] guinguinbali.com

[ii] Reports vary concerning Marie Céseste or Cessette. Some biographers and historians claim she was of mixed ancestry. Some also claim she was not married to Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie. Antoine Alexandre did sell his family à réméré, i.e. with an option to buy then back but he did not claim Marie-Cessette back. It may be that she had died of dysentery c 1772 to 1774.

[iii] According to Alexandre Dumas, père’s Memoirs, Marie-Cessette died in 1772. Antoine married Françoise-Élisabeth Retou in 1786, the year he died. See Mémoires d’Alexandre Dumas FR (online) or The Memoirs of Alexandre Dumas, père’s EN (online)

[iv] Dumas, père & Marguerite de Valois Fictionalized (michelinewalker.com)

Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre
Jules Massenet (12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912)
Thaïs, at Mariinsky Gala 2008
 
Alexandre Dumas, fils, in his later years (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alexandre Dumas, fils, in his later years (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
25 January 2014
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