Napoleon Crowns Himself Emperor at Notre-Dame

On December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of the French inside the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. The lavish ceremony followed months of institutional preparation after the Senate voted on 18 May 1804 to entrust the government of the Republic to an emperor, a decision followed by a plebiscite whose result was announced in November. Rather than reviving the ancient royal consecration tradition at Reims Cathedral, where French monarchs had historically received their crowns from the archbishop of Reims, Napoleon assembled a novel pageant that was meant to win recognition abroad and authority at home.

The staging combined Catholic liturgy, elements of ancien regime ceremony, and symbols of the new order born of the Revolution. Napoleon chose Notre-Dame and secured the presence of Pope Pius VII to provide spiritual sanction. The two men had met in the forest of Fontainebleau on 25 November 1804, and the ceremony, which lasted about three hours, was organized by Louis-Philippe de Segur, an officer of the imperial household.