Coronation of Napoleon I at Notre-Dame de Paris (2 December 1804)
- When
- 1804
- Where
- Notre-Dame de Paris; unspecified; inferred to precede the Notre-Dame coronation
- Episodes
- 2
Napoleon I was crowned Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804. Pope Pius VII attended the ceremony, which followed the 1801 Concordat and the 1804 constitutional referendum. A private religious marriage with Josephine was held the day prior. The event consolidated Napoleon's power following his elevation by the Senate.
Episodes
- Religious Marriage Before Coronation
A private religious ceremony between Napoleon and Josephine occurred the day before the coronation, at the pope's insistence.
- Coronation at Notre-Dame
Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804, with Pope Pius VII present.
Background and detail
Background. The coronation followed the 1801 Concordat, which guaranteed religious freedom for Catholics in France. On 18 May 1804, the Sénat conservateur vested the government of the French First Republic in an emperor. Napoleon's elevation was overwhelmingly approved by the French people in the constitutional referendum of 1804. Notre-Dame was restored to the Catholic Church in 1802, providing the setting for the ceremony.
Ceremony. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French at Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804. Pope Pius VII was present at the coronation. A private religious ceremony between Napoleon and Josephine occurred the day before the coronation, at the pope's insistence, following their civil marriage in 1796.
Legacy. The coronation further consolidated Napoleon's power. The ceremony occurred in the context of the French First Republic's transition to an empire, following the 1804 constitutional referendum that overwhelmingly approved Napoleon's elevation.
People involved
- Napoleon I · Emperor of the French
- Pope Pius VII · Head of the Catholic Church
- Josephine · Napoleon's spouse, joined in a private religious ceremony the day before the coronation
Sources
- Coronation of Napoleon Wikipedia
- Napoleon Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
- Pope Pius VII Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-20
- Notre-Dame de Paris Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.