The coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most interesting events of the whole Napoleonic era (1799-1815), for in it the newly titled French Emperor renewed political and diplomatic ties with the Catholic Church, after the break occurred with the French Revolution, between 1789 and 1799.
See too: What was the background of the French Revolution?
How was Napoleon Bonaparte's coronation?
the coronation ceremony was held in Notre Dame cathedral, in 1804, and had an unusual event for the coronation rituals existing in Europe. Napoleon had invited Pope Pius VII to the ceremony, as an indication of France's rapprochement with the Catholic Church. The departure of Pius VII from Rome to Paris was already a great diplomatic achievement for Bonaparte.
In accordance with the coronation rites, the emperor knelt before the representative of the Church, who placed on his head the crown, thus demonstrating the superiority of religious power over the temporal power of men.
However, instead of Napoleon Bonaparte kneeling before the pope,
the French emperor altered the ritual. First, he crowned his wife, Empress Josephine. later, napoleon she took the crown in her hands and placed it on her own head. Perplexed, those present at the ceremony watched the new emperor leave Pope Pius VII as a mere spectator.
Napoleon intended, in this way, symbolically present their power as superior to religious power of the Catholic Church. The attitude also showed the type of personality of Napoleon Bonaparte, who intended to position himself as one of the great names in world history.
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Napoleon's coronation also contrasted with another event in French history. In 799, the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne traveled from Aix-la-Chapelle, the capital of his kingdom, to Rome, where he would be crowned emperor by Pope Leo III. With this attitude, Charlemagne intended to make an alliance with the Catholic Church, strengthening its temporal power. But the written and imaged sources show the Frankish emperor kneeling to receive the crown of the pope, as a sign of submission to the power of the Church, the opposite of Napoleon.
Another feature of the ceremony intended to place Napoleon Bonaparte as a great figure in history world was the adoption of neoclassical aesthetics, inspired by the Greco-Roman style, in the decoration of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. With this measure, Bonaparte intended to equal the great emperors of Rome.
However, the other European powers did not share Bonaparte's intentions and fought against his Empire, which fell in 1815. The crown that Napoleon placed on his own head was returned to Louis XVIII, descendant of the old French kings.
