Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about
Facts you may not have known about the French emperor
1. He wrote a romance novel
Behind the ruthless, battle-hardened facade, Napoleon was a bit of a softie, as both his embarrassingly soppy love letters and a recently unearthed romantic novella prove. Penned in 1795, when Napoleon was 26, Clisson et Eugénie is a brief (just 17 pages) exercise in sentimental self-mythologising that, according to most reviews, fails to establish him as a lost literary genius.
2. His first wife, Josephine Bonaparte, narrowly avoided the guillotine
Josephine, Napoleon’s first wife, was previously married to Alexandre de Beauharnais (with whom she had three children), an aristocrat who was guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Josephine was also imprisoned and scheduled for execution before being released five days later when the Reign of Terror’s architect, Robespierre, was himself guillotined.
3. He would disguise himself and walk the streets
At the height of his powers Napoleon developed the habit of dressing up as a lower-class bourgeoisie and wandering the streets of Paris. Seemingly, his aim was to find out what the man on the street really thought of him and he reportedly quizzed random passers-by about their Emperor’s merits.
4. He was tone deaf
Apparently, one of Napoleon’s least endearing habits was his penchant for singing (or humming and mumbling) whenever he became agitated. Unfortunately, pained accounts suggest that his singing voice was distinctly unmusical.
5. He was afraid of cats (possibly)
Oddly, a whole host of historic tyrants — Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Mussolini, Hitler and our man Napoleon — are reputed to have suffered from Ailurophobia, the fear of cats. It turns out, however, that there is little in the way of evidence to support the common claim that Napoleon was terrified of cats, although the fact that it’s become such a well-worn rumour is interesting. It is even claimed that his alleged fear stemmed from a wildcat attack when he was an infant.
And as always have a chilled day from the Viking
Comments
Post a Comment