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Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men

Zarzeczny, Matthew Donald
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248387358

Abstract Details

2009, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
Napoleon promoted and honored great men throughout his reign. In addition to comparing himself to various great men, he famously established a Legion of Honor on 19 May 1802 to honor both civilians and soldiers, including non-ethnically French men. Napoleon not only created an Irish Legion in 1803 and later awarded William Lawless and John Tennent the Legion of Honour, he also gave them an Eagle with the inscription “L’Indépendence d’Irlande.” Napoleon awarded twenty-six of his generals the marshal’s baton from 1804 through 1815 and in 1806, he further memorialized his soldiers by deciding to erect a Temple to the Glory of the Great Army modeled on Ancient designs. From 1806 through 1815, Napoleon had more men interred in the Panthéon in Paris than any other French leader before or after him. In works of art depicting himself, Napoleon had his artists allude to Caesar, Charlemagne, and even Moses. Although the Romans had their legions, Pantheon, and temples in Ancient times and the French monarchy had their marshals since at least 1190, Napoleon blended both Roman and French traditions to compare himself to great men who lived in ancient and medieval times and to recognize the achievements of those who lived alongside him in the nineteenth century. Analyzing Napoleon’s ever-changing personal cult of “great men,” and his recognition of contemporary “great men” who contributed to European or even human civilization and not just French civilization, is original. While work does exist on the French cults of Greco-Roman antiquity and of “great men” prior to 1800, Napoleon appears only fleetingly in David Bell, Jean-Claude Bonnet, and George Armstrong Kelly’s discussions of the cult of great men. None of the bourgeoning historiography adequately takes Napoleon’s place in the story of this cult into perspective. My dissertation serves as a further exploration of the cult of great men, including its place in Napoleonic and European history and the alleged efforts of its members to enlighten the earth.
Dale Van Kley, PhD (Advisor)
Alice Conklin, PhD (Committee Member)
Nathan Rosenstein, PhD (Committee Member)
Paul Martini, PhD (Committee Member)
313 p.
History
Napoleon; cult of great men

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zarzeczny, M. D. (2009). Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248387358

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zarzeczny, Matthew. Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men. 2009. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248387358.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zarzeczny, Matthew. "Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1248387358

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.