A Napoleonic Marshal of the Empire in the gardens of the Chateau de Malmaison near Paris, France
Marshal of the Empire was a civil dignity during the First French Empire. It was created by Senatus-consulte on 18 May 1804 and to a large extent resurrected the formerly abolished title of Marshal of France. According to the Senatus-consulte, a Marshal was a grand officer of the Empire, entitled to a high-standing position at the Court and to the presidency of an electoral college. Throughout his 1804-1815 reign, Napoleon appointed a total of 26 Marshals, although their number never exceeded 20 at any one moment. The initial list of 1804 included 14 names of active generals and four names of retired generals, who were given the "honorary" title of Marshal. Six other promotions ensued, with eight other generals elevated to the Marshalate. The title often ensured a highly privileged social status - four Marshals were created Counts of the Empire and 17 received either the title of Duke or Prince. With two exceptions - Jean-Baptiste Bessieres and Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Serurier - the Marshals led a sumptuous lifestyle and left behind significant, at times immense, fortunes. Several of them received significant annuities; in addition, a few received financial endowments from the Emperor, with two of them - Louis-Alexandre Berthier and Andre Massena - receiving more than one million Francs each. Two Marshals - Joachim Murat and Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte - went on to become Kings, with the latter being the direct ancestor of the current Swedish Royal Family. A single commander, Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire, was publicly named as a Marshal-to-be by Napoleon, but he died of battle wounds before the next promotions were made.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Chateau de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France, Western Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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