Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte (Notre Dame Cathedral - 1804)

Coronation of Napoleon I

The coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French, which took place on Sunday December 2, 1804 (11 Frimaire, Year XIII according to the French Republican Calendar), at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, has been said to mark "the instantiation of modern empire", representing a "transparently masterminded piece of modern propaganda". On May 18, 1804, the Sénat conservateur vested the Republican government in an Emperor, and preparations for a coronation followed. Napoleon's elevation to Emperor was overwhelmingly approved by the French citizens in a referendum. Among Napoleon's motivations for being crowned were to gain prestige in international royalist and Catholic milieux and to lay the foundation for a future dynasty.^[2]:243

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation of Napoleon I