Napoleon passed through Lyon some twenty-five times over thirty-six years. If certain movements remain completely minor, or even without any testimony, others attest to the importance of a city which was, as in the Renaissance, on the route to Italy − Corsica − and several show the emotional connection established with the inhabitants. That of January 1802 is even part of European history, with the proclamation of the first Italian Republic.
At the beginning of 1802, the Cisalpine Consulta met in Lyon in the old chapel of the College of the Trinity (1) so that its four hundred and fifty deputies elected their president. The building was constructed between 1617 and 1622, and the college dates from 1607. This typically Jesuit building was built by a member of the Company, Father Étienne Martellange (1569-1641); the “father builder” is inspired by the Gesù of Rome, combining pomp, elegance, discretion and, above all, rational organization of space and circulation. It is intended to be classic in its plan, according to the spirit of the Counter-Reformation: the main altar detached from the wall and the communicating chapels, equipped with galleries for the students, express the renovation of worship by the Council of Trent. The decor is Baroque: created from 1700 to 1740 by Jean Delamonce and his son Ferdinand-Sigismond. One of the rare places of this type in Lyon, with Saint-Bruno-des-Chartreux, the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu, and the refectory of the Palais Saint-Pierre, it has sometimes been considered too rich and ostentatious.
Among those present, the Archbishop of Milan, Mgr Filippo Maria Visconti, is a perfect namesake of the Duke of the famous family to which he belongs. He was never created cardinal because of his oath of loyalty to his sovereign, Emperor Joseph II (Murat intervened in this regard too late with Pius VII). He had a Te Deum celebrated in 1796 for the victory of the French armies commanded by General Bonaparte, who entered Milan on May 15. However, he had to go into exile in the summer of 1800 before submitting to the Cisalpine Republic in November, which did not endear him to the population. He was invited to Lyon by Talleyrand, who arrived three days earlier by renting half of the Hôtel Bellecour for thirty-four days. The prelate participated in a dinner on December 30, 1801, but, while discussing with the Minister of Foreign Relations, he suffered a heart attack and died despite the efforts of Pietro Moscati (1739-1824), former President of the Republic Cisalpine ousted by the French but also a very renowned doctor and member of the Consulta. Before his remains were returned to Milan, an imposing funeral was celebrated in “the little church of the ci-devant Oratorians” near the Trinity Chapel.
There are six other Italian prelates. The First Consul prescribed the presence of “all bishops”. This explains why the archbishops of Ravenna, Mgr Antonin Codronchi, who will be Napoleon's great chaplain for Italy, and of Cesena, Mgr Carlo Bellisomi, who will prepare the Italian Concordat, are there. Likewise for the bishops of Pavia, Mgr Giuseppe Bertieri, who had dealt with General Bonaparte in 1796, of Bergamo, Mgr Gian Paolo Dolfin, who had always advocated submission to the French troops, of Lodi, Mgr Giovanni Antonio della Beretta, very concerned about the rights of the Church − to the point that the First Consul will say to him: “The bishop of Lodi has only to be silent and cry” − and of Cremona, Mgr Omobono Offredi, taking care of the training of priests.
The role of Melzi d’Eril
On the civilian side, the main figure remains Francesco Melzi d'Eril (1753-1816), a liberal who believed that France would promote Italian unity and would become the vice-president of the new Republic presided over by Bonaparte. This Milanese aristocrat enjoyed quite great prestige, which he put, volens nolens, in the service of the French general. Talleyrand made it clear to him that the goal was to designate the First Consul as president of the Italian Republic. Lyon was chosen in preference to Milan to protect the deputies from Italian pressure − Bonaparte feared “the intrigues of the diplomatic corps” and thought that his “influence on the deputies would be quicker and more certain in Lyon than in Milan » − and not, as the Lyonnais want to believe, because of their city's traditional links with Italy. Nevertheless: on January 22, the committee of thirty elected by the four hundred and eighteen deputies gave only one vote to Bonaparte while Melzi was in the lead. Fortunately, he had the good taste to refuse, just like the former president of the Cisalpine Confederation Antonio Aldini (1755-1826), until, on the 24th, those concerned designated “Napoléon Bonaparte” − the first name already gave a foretaste of the monarchical system −, with Melzi as vice-president. The president of the Consulta, the Bolognese diplomat Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816), despite some stormy movements, proclaimed the winner. On January 27, Bonaparte will specify in a decree that “citizen Melzi, vice-president of the Italian Republic, will fulfill the functions assigned by the Constitution to the president.”
Among the other personalities, Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery, appointed by Bonaparte to the committee of thirty, is one of the deputies. The poet Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), who had already written 1797 an ode A Bonaparte liberatore, gives a new Orazione in which he maintains his admiration while urging the person concerned to make commitments in favor of freedom. He wants it to become the champion of nationalities: “The wars of the Revolution now belong to the past; their whirlwind and grandiose cycle is about to close to give way to the impetuous rise of new national states on the borders of France. The principle of the freedom of people, born from the Revolution, crossed French borders and, through the work of Napoleon himself, invaded Europe. »
It is not certain that warm relations were established with Lyon society, especially concerned about the presence of the First Consul. Some found the welcome insufficient, made worse by culinary deficiencies, with overcooked rice... Others complained about the exorbitant price at which they were served lunch. It was also deplored that Saint-Jean Cathedral has not yet been returned to worship: the Concordat will not become a law until April 8, the future Cardinal Fesch has not yet been appointed and the diocese has not even yet been placed under the responsibility of an apostolic administrator, Mgr René des Monstiers de Mérinville, former bishop of Dijon transferred to Chambéry and Geneva, who will reopen the primatial on June 6, for Pentecost. Furthermore, the weather was wintry: on January 14, the prefect injured his head when he slipped on the ice while getting into Joséphine's car and the First Consul himself spoke to his two colleagues who remained in Paris about the "excessive cold ". The passage through Mont-Cenis, with luggage and families, was not easy. Arriving in Lyon, they were divided by Talleyrand according to their former political allegiances: Piedmont-Sardinia, Austria, Venice, Parma, Modena, and Papal States.
French actors
All the personalities surrounding the First Consul do not only play a ceremonial role in ensuring the prestige of his trip. They constitute a real court, as depicted in the painting by Nicolas-André Monsiau, Consulta de la République cisalpine reunited in comitia in Lyon, commissioned four years later by Napoleon, who first proposed its creation to the future Baron Gérard. This painting will be exhibited at the Salon of 1808 and then installed at the Tuileries. We recognize Murat, Berthier, Louis, Hortense, and Joséphine, as well as Chaptal seated at the bottom of the steps and, next to the First Consul, Marescalchi, Talleyrand, Bernadotte, and Melzi d'Eril.
Talleyrand was the great organizer of the event, with the idea of placing Northern Italy (except Piedmont) under the authority of Bonaparte. He was very sure of what was going to happen, going so far as to write to the First Consul on January 3: “They will do what you want, without you needing to even show them a will. » He also asked the French military authorities in Cisalpine to support his views, in particular for the adoption of the new Constitution, accepted moreover before the trip from Lyon on November 12 to Milan. On December 18 (27 Frimaire year x), the minister was officially designated to “prepare with the Extraordinary Consultation of the Cisalpine Republic the definitive bases of its organization”. On-site, he will host dinners for around eighty guests every evening. It was he who, after three votes that did not conform to the expected result, convinced the Italian deputies to choose the one who could “combine with the leadership of France the great thinking of the leadership of Cisalpine.”
Murat, for his part, is already very interested in Italy. Aide-de-camp to Bonaparte from 1796, he signed the armistice with the Kingdom of Naples on February 6, 1801, and then became, on July 27, commander-in-chief of the French troops stationed in the Cisalpine Republic. After a period of acclimatization, he decided to opt for the Napoleonic approach as evidenced by his proclamation assuring that “the time for revolutions had passed”. Having for a moment thought about the vice-president of the lawyer Gian Battista Sommariva, of uncertain morality, he was put back on the right path by Talleyrand, who asked him to choose as delegates to Paris men who were "wise, moderate and having credit”. As a result, he worked hard and even organized a grandiose welcome for Melzi d'Eril on his arrival in Milan on February 7, 1802. This led the future king of Naples to know how to demonstrate diplomacy and not be satisfied with his enthusiasm. usual.
Concert of Praise
The First Consul stayed in Lyon from January 11 to 28, which allowed a Lyon merchant to write: “The arrival of the First Consul with his suite gave our city an increase in activity and movement. » Six days before he was there, the Journal de Lyon et du Midi already wrote: “Nothing can match the impatience with which we await the arrival of the First Consul here if not the pleasure that his presence. »
He left Paris on January 8, the day after Hortense's marriage to Louis, completed by the religious regularization of Caroline's marriage to Murat. In the company of Joséphine and part of his military household, he arrived in Lyon on January 11, 1802, around 8 p.m. The authorities are waiting for him at the bottom of the Belmont climb (2), stoic under the snow which cuts short the speeches. Young horsemen went to meet him, their flag bearing the inscription: “Les Lyonnais à Bonaparte. » In Vaise, the procession passes under a triumphal arch made of foliage, at the top of which we can read: “The First Consul of the French Republic lived in this suburb in 1786, being only an artillery lieutenant. Long live General Bonaparte! Long live the First Consul! » The head of government is then entitled to another triumphal arch, that of the city, installed at the entrance to the Pont de Pierre (3), according to the plans of the architect Claude Cochet, who wanted to reproduce the Roman monument of Septimius Severus. Around 9 p.m., the cannons thunder while the bells ring. He then reached the town hall, where the prefect Benoît Georges de Najac and the mayors of the three divisions of Lyon, Parent Muret, André Paul Sain Rousset, and André Bernard de Charpieux received him, while Duroc gave his hand to citizen Bonaparte. The music starts playing “Where better than with your family? » as the couple climbs the grand staircase to their apartments.
In Bellecour and Les Brotteaux
Official receptions do not begin until the next day. But above all, the First Consul intends to keep his usual pace. The valet Constant writes: “He got up early, rode his horse, and visited the public works, among others those of Place Bellecour, of which he had laid the first stone on his return from Italy. He traveled through the Brotteaux, inspected, examined everything, and, always tireless, worked on returning as if he had been at the Tuileries. »
This Place Bellecour has been under official reconstruction since June 29, 1800: fifteen days after Marengo, the general launched the restoration work there, in front of some 80,000 people; because there had been more or less destroyed, from October 26, 1793, around thirty “dwellings of crime” (according to the official report) to punish the Lyonnais, these “marsh toads” (according to a Parisian song by the 'time) of having rebelled against the Montagnard Convention. Two medals soon after commemorated the event, to celebrate the “Reedifier”, the “Winner” and the “Peacemaker” at the same time as the place was renamed Bonaparte; on the second one could read: “In the name of the grateful Lyonnais, Najac, State Councilor, Prefect. » Before others, the sculptor Joseph Chinard will work on an – unrealized – decoration project for the facades of Bellecour; the theme is first entitled “The winner of Marengo raising the city of Lyon” then transformed into a more pompous “Napoleon I. Francorum Imp. Urbem Lugdunum Restituit”, with one representation in ancient style and another in contemporary costume. Operations will drag on slowly and the owners, discouraged by the meager land tax exemption and by limited subsidies, will finally have to sell their land to the municipality between 1807 and 1809; it will therefore only be from the first date that the construction of the new facades will begin.
With the First Consul present in Lyon, the local authorities are more than once held up for part of the night on the files he wants to examine. They were presented to him on the 12th by the prefect. Then, the same day, it was the turn of General Duhesme, commander of the place, who introduced him to all the officers of the military corps present in Lyon. In the evening, the First Consul accompanies Joséphine to the Grand Théâtre - today's Opéra - where Talma and Mademoiselle Raucourt have come specially to play Mérope, a tragedy by Voltaire that is now well forgotten and which celebrates a struggle against tyranny.
Receptions
On the 13th, the young Lyonnais organized a large banquet reserved for officers of the guard and attended by several generals. The next day, a magnificent party at the Grand Théâtre; greeted by cheers, Bonaparte was surprised to see, as the curtain fell, a representation of the Place Bellecour restored by him with, in the middle, a pyramid topped by his statue, one of whose hands rests on a lion, symbol of the city... Concert and ball last until dawn, while the people enjoy the dance floor installed on Place Bonaparte (formerly Bellecour) with two orchestras.
The day of the 15th is devoted to silk factories. The First Consul, Joséphine, and Chaptal went to the main manufacturers; the Minister of the Interior, very sensitive to Lyon's economic activities, also went to see someone about whom we are starting to talk, Joseph-Marie Jacquard - whom the Emperor saw in 1805. He stayed more particularly with MM. Barre, Théoleyre, and Dutilleux, where care was taken to set up a loom weaving a velvet screen bearing its number. He also comes out with two paintings, one in fabric, the other in velvet. This allowed him, the next day, to write to his two consul colleagues: “I saw different workshops yesterday. I was satisfied with the industry and the severe economy which I thought I glimpsed that the Lyon factory uses towards its workers. »
On January 20, Lyon organized a new ball, this time in honor of Joséphine. All the ladies, anticipating the monopoly that the Emperor would later impose, wear only silk fabrics from Lyon factories. Whether this attitude was spontaneous, concerted, or obligatory, it testifies to the return to the fore, local but also national, of the products of the factories of the capital of Gaul, which could also have been taken for the capital of Italy.
The “wish” of the Italians
Five days later, the head of state reviews the troops. Part returned from Egypt: these were the soldiers he abandoned in August 1799 and who were repatriated by the English the previous summer. The rest is made up of the consular guard, the guards of the general in chief, seven demi-brigades, two cavalry regiments, and the Lyon militia. The weather, beautiful and mild, allowed all of Lyon to mass around the troops arrayed in battle order on Place Bonaparte; the crowd gathered everywhere, even on the roofs of the houses, the trees of the square, and even on the bell tower of the chapel of the Charité hospital.
General Bonaparte is escorted by a host of generals: Murat, Jourdan, Duroc, Bessières, Lecourbe, Moncey, and Molitor. After chatting with soldiers, worrying about their wounds, he takes his place in front of a triumphal arch and, to the sound of drums, distributes weapons of honor. All this continues with a big meal, to which are notably invited, around the First Consul, the generals and corps commanders as well as all the recipients of the arms of honor. On his return to the town hall on January 25, he found the deputation of the Consulta who presented him with their “wish”: that he agree to become their president. Suspense: will he accept?… Mme de Staël will note in an ironic shorthand that the said deputies “only learned that it was necessary to nominate him a few hours before going to the poll”. As the historian Paolo Rossi wrote in the second volume of his Storia d’Italia, “si vide viteo che i deputati non potevano far altro che approvare, e molto in fretta, il testo preparato” (4).
Continuing to take care of everything, even far from Paris, he wrote to the consuls remaining in the capital: “I saw with great pleasure the decree that you took on the Châtelet (5). If times become harsh, I do not believe that the measure you took, of giving 4,000 francs (6) per month for extraordinary workshops, would be sufficient. It would be necessary for you to order that, independently of the 100,000 francs (7) that the Minister of the Interior gives per month to the charitable committees, an extraordinary 25,000 francs (8) should be added to it to distribute wood; and, if the cold returned, it would be necessary, as in 89, to light fires in churches and other large establishments, to warm many people. »
Monarchical behavior
The next day - it is January 26 - the First Consul attends the solemn session of the Consulta. He is surrounded by his family, ministers, and a large number of generals and prefects, as we see in the famous painting. His speech begins thus: “Aderisco al’vostro voto” (9), which leads to the inevitable ovation of the occasion. The Constitution is then read, and adopted by acclamation. It was at this moment that Bonaparte uttered the words “Italian Republic”. In the evening, a banquet closes the meeting. Three years later, the new state will become the kingdom of Italy, but Melzi, one-time vice-president of the Republic, will not be viceroy, the function being attributed to a member of the family, Eugène de Beauharnais. He will no longer exercise a political role but will be created 1st Duke of Lodi and the kingdom (10), will receive 200,000 francs (11) in income (12), and will become a grand dignitary of the order of the Iron Crown and Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor.
The last day, January 27, is devoted to the receptions of the constituted bodies, which take their leave. After having spoken for a long time with the municipal council, he declared to the three mayors: “Citizens Parent Muret, Sain Rousset, Bernard Charpieux, mayors of the city of Lyon, I am satisfied with the union and the attachment to the government which has animated Lyon since you became mayor. I want you to wear this scarf of distinction in your duties and for it to be a testimony to the city of the contentment I experienced there during my stay. » The first magistrates immediately put on these scarves made of scarlet silk, the bottom decorated with a fringe and silver embroidery, and which bear these words: “Scarf of distinction given by the First Consul to the citizen… mayor of Lyon, on 7 Pluviôse year x. » The next day, January 28, 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte left Lyon and, via Saint-Étienne and Nevers, returned to Paris, where he arrived on the 31st.
Thus, for eighteen days, the First Consul made the ancient capital of Gaul the center of national power and recalled the links with Italy. The Lyonnais may have believed themselves to have returned to the era of the Renaissance when kings like Francis I stayed for a long time in the city, but they do not seem to have paid much attention to the birth of the Italian Republic. In any case, they are in the middle of their honeymoon with the future emperor, who will not forget them and will return to them three years later. It is even said that, at the time of the coronation, in 1804, he thought of having the ceremony held in Lyon, because of his distrust of the "rabble" of Paris. In any case, the inhabitants could not have been surprised by the proclamation of the Empire, as the behavior of the First Consul had already been that of a monarch.
(1) Ampere High School.
(2) Current La Duchère district.
(3) Near the current Maréchal Juin bridge.
(4) Translation: “It immediately became apparent that the deputies could not help but approve, and very quickly, the prepared text. »
(5) This concerns the demolition of the old Grand Châtelet fortress.
(6) Approximately 9,000 euros.
(7) 250,000 euros.
(8) A little over 60,000 euros.
(9) Translation: “I adhere to your wish. »
(10) Imperial decree of December 20, 1807 and letters patent of February 1, 1810.
(11) More or less 500,000 euros.
(12) Imperial decree of December 20, 1807.
Bonaparte in Lyon
The future emperor's travels to Lyon began when the young Napoleon de Buonaparte was ten years old: in 1779, under the guidance of their father and in the company of Élisa, he and Joseph obtained a scholarship for their studies thanks to Mgr Yves-Alexandre de Marbeuf, bishop of Autun, future archbishop of Lyon, who is above all the nephew of the governor of Corsica. Arriving from Florence, they passed through the capital of Gaul in mid-January. On October 25, 1785, appointed to the La Fère regiment in Valence, he stopped in Lyon after having traveled from Paris in a turgotine − as the cars connecting the two cities are called − then, from Chalon- sur-Saône, by water stagecoach. In the spring of 1786, he crossed the city and returned for an excursion to Burgundy; but, above all, that year, in the Montribloud district with Madame Blanc, he stayed there for thirty-six days with his regiment, because there was fear of unrest there, but he has very good memories of it: "I leave Lyon with even more difficulty than Valencia; I felt so comfortable in this city that it seems to me that I would have wanted to spend my life there. »
He then crossed the city several times when he went to Corsica and returned, notably in 1787 and 1789. In 1791, we saw him there at the beginning of May when he went to his new assignment in Valence, as first lieutenant; above all, that year, he competed in vain, for a prize of 1,200 francs (A), on the subject launched by Abbot Guillaume-Thomas Raynal for the City Academy: “What truth and what feelings matter- the most to inculcate in men for their happiness? » In September 1792, after a first visit in May, he returned in the company of Élisa, whom he had taken in after the closure, the previous month, of the Saint-Cyr school where she had entered in 1785; they leave via the Rhône towards Corsica. Likewise, in June or July 1793, he certainly crossed the city to reach Paris when he left his family in Marseille; on the other hand, a few months later, in September, he necessarily avoided the "rebel" city when he took command in Toulon - although some wanted to place him in the forces besieging the future Freed Commune.
A year later, at the end of August 1794, he spent three days in the company of his aide-de-camp Jean-Andoche Junot and his brother Louis returning to the capital to justify himself after his arrest on 9 Thermidor because of his connections with Augustin de Robespierre. The period of disgrace that he then experienced ended with his appointment as the head of the army of Italy. When he took command in Nice, he passed through Lyon on the night of March 24 to 25, 1796, but without stopping there. In that of May 5 to 6, 1798, he crossed the city incognito to go to Toulon to take command of the Egyptian expedition - this discreet passage hardly allows us to give substance to the oral tradition which says that he had stocked up on Sainte-Foy wine for his army. A year and a half later, on his return, he stayed at the Hôtel des Célestins on October 11: he was celebrated, because the crowd was waiting for him and gave him a standing ovation when he got out of his car in the company of Berthier, Monge and Berthollet; the houses light up, people improvise at the nearby theater The Return of the Hero or Bonaparte in Lyon, even coming there for a moment to collect applause. After his departure early the next day, rue Amédée − that of his hotel − took the name Egypt (B).
Finally, in 1800, after the second Italian campaign, he laid the first stones for the reconstruction of Place Bellecour: on June 28, the established authorities laid their homage at his feet and, the next day, he unleashed enthusiasm by announcing that the city's 20,000 trades will start working again.
(A) Approximately €1,500.
(B) Current rue Charles Dullin.
The welcome of the Lyonnais
The valet Constant describes real enthusiasm: “He was welcomed amidst celebrations and congratulations that people rushed to send him.” He specifies that “this trip differed in no way from the trips he subsequently made with the title of emperor”; and gives as an example "the occasional couplets": "The First Consul was praised there in the terms which all the poets of the Empire subsequently used", such as - it is always Constant who quotes - " the god of victory, the triumphant of the Nile and Neptune, the savior of the homeland, the peacemaker of the world, the arbiter of Europe.”
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