Principality of Elba
{{Short description|1814–1815 Napoleon-ruled monarchy in Tuscany}}
{{about|the former principality|the island|Elba}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Expand French|topic=hist|date=February 2024}}{{Infobox country
| native_name = {{native name|it|Principato d'Elba}}
| conventional_long_name = Principality of Elba
| common_name = Elba|
| era = Napoleonic Wars
| government_type = Absolute monarchy
| today = Italy
| p1 = First French Empire
| flag_p1 = Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg
| s1 = Grand Duchy of Tuscany
| flag_s1 = Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.svg|
| year_start = 1814
| date_start = 11 April
| event_start = Treaty of Fontainebleau
| event1 = Napoleon's departure
| date_event1 = 26 February 1815
| year_end = 1815
| date_end = 9 June
| event_end = Congress of Vienna|
| title_leader = Sovereign Prince of Elba
| leader1 = Napoleon
| year_leader1 = 1814–1815|
| title_deputy = Governor of Elba
| deputy1 = Antoine Drouot
| year_deputy1 = 1814–1815|
| image_flag = Bandiera Elba.svg
| flag = Flag of Elba
| image_flag2 =
| image_coat = Grand Coat of Arms of Napoelon Bonaparte as King of Elbe.svg
| symbol = Coat of arms of Napoleonic Italy
| symbol_type = Coat of arms
| other_symbol = Naval Jack:
85px
| image_map = Principality of Elba.svg
| image_map_caption = Location of the Principality of Elba within Europe|
| common_languages = Italian, Elbano dialect
| demonym = Elban
| religion = Roman Catholic
| capital = Portoferraio
| coordinates = {{coord|42|49|N|10|19|E}}
| currency = Tuscan lira
}}
The Principality of Elba ({{langx|it|Principato d'Elba}}) was a non-hereditary monarchy established on the Mediterranean island of Elba following the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814. It lasted less than a year, and its only head was Napoleon Bonaparte, who returned to rule in France before his ultimate defeat and the dissolution of the principality.
Formation
File:Plan de l'Ile d'Elbe Résidence de Buonaparte. G.34021.jpg
Sovereignty over the island, which until then had been part of the French département of Méditerranée, was given to Napoleon I of France after his abdication following the War of the Sixth Coalition. Article 3 of the treaty stipulated that Elba was to be "an independent principality possessed by him in complete sovereignty and as personal property".{{sfn|Hicks|2014}} His rule was to persist until his death, at which point control of the principality would pass to Tuscany. The former Emperor of the French was also granted a stipend of two million francs per year to be paid by France.
Napoleon's rule
In his few months on Elba, as well as creating a small navy and army, Napoleon developed the island's iron mines, oversaw the construction of new roads, issued decrees on modern agricultural methods, and overhauled the island's legal and educational system.{{cite book|first=Frank |last=McLynn |author-link=Frank McLynn |title=Napoleon: A Biography |publisher= Pimlico |year= 1998 |page=597|isbn= 978-0-7126-6247-5 |id= {{ASIN|0712662472|country=uk}}}}{{cite web|url=https://time.com/3714089/napoleon-exile-history/|title=Why Napoleon Probably Should Have Just Stayed in Exile the First Time|first=Jennifer|last=Latson|date=26 February 2015 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625010107/http://time.com/3714089/napoleon-exile-history/|archive-date=25 June 2016}}
=Napoleon's residence=
The Villa Napoleonica (or Villa San Martino) is one of the two residences occupied in Portoferraio by Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile on the Island of Elba, where it was his summer residence.{{sfn|napoleonsites|2020c}} The second, the Palazzina dei Mulini, is located in the historic center of the town of Portoferraio, 3.5 km northeast of San Martino.{{sfn|napoleonsites|2020b}}
In 1839, Anatole Demidoff, a Russian industrialist and patron, a great admirer of Napoleon and husband of a niece of the emperor, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, had the Florentine architect Niccolò Matas build the Demidoff Gallery at the foot of the original building.{{sfn|napoleonsites|2020}}
Elba VillaSanMartino.jpg|Villa San Martino
Maison napoleon portoferraio.jpg|Palazzina dei Mulini
Military
File:Elba Squadron of 1er régiment de chevau-légers lanciers polonais de la Garde impériale.PNG|280x280px]]
File:Naval Jack of the Principality of Elba 1814-1815.png
As allowed by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon brought 870 men to the island with him from France. The army was made up of 566 from the elite Garde Impériale (both infantry and cavalry) and the remaining 300 were from a small battalion of grenadiers. The army was under the supervision of General Antoine Drouot and commanded by General Pierre Cambronne and the staff headquarters. The navy consisted of 66 men and one ship: the double-masted, 18-gunned brig, {{ship|French brig|Inconstant|1811|2}}. A small flotilla of two other sloops also accompanied Inconstant. The fleet was first commanded by Lieutenant François-Louis Taillade; however, after nearly losing Inconstant in a storm, Taillade was replaced by Lieutenant Jean François Chautard, who later ferried Napoleon back from Elba in 1815. Paoli Filidoro was appointed Captain of the Gendarmerie and operated under Giuseppe Balbiani as Intendant General. The combined armed forces by 1815 on Elba numbered about 1,000 men, costing over half of the island's treasury to pay, equip, and feed.
Dissolution
File:Beaume - Napoléon Ier quittant l'île d'Elbe - 1836.jpg
On 26 February 1815, after ruling Elba for nearly 10 months, Napoleon escaped from the island and landed in southern France to retake power, beginning the War of the Seventh Coalition. After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was transported by Britain to the island of Saint Helena where he remained a prisoner until his death in 1821. At the Congress of Vienna, sovereignty of the island was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
See also
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |last=Gruyer |first=Paul |year=1908 |title=Napoleon, King of Elba |location=London |publisher=William Heinemann}}
- {{cite journal |last=Hicks |first=Peter |year=2014 |title=Napoleon On Elba – An Exile Of Consent |journal=Napoleonica la Revue |volume=19 |page=53 |doi=10.3917/napo.141.0053 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501122511/https://www.cairn.info/revue-napoleonica-la-revue-2014-1-page-53.htm |archive-date=1 May 2021 |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-napoleonica-la-revue-2014-1-page-53.htm}}
- {{cite web |last=napoleonsites |year=2020 |title=La Galerie Demidoff à l'Île d'Elbe |language=fr |trans-title=The Demidoff Gallery on the Island of Elba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230014724/http://www.napoleonsites.eu/fr/default/521/la-galerie-demidoff-agrave-l-rsquo-icirc-le-d-rsquo-elbe.html |archive-date=30 December 2020 |url=http://www.napoleonsites.eu/fr/default/521/la-galerie-demidoff-agrave-l-rsquo-icirc-le-d-rsquo-elbe.html}}
- {{cite web |last=napoleonsites |year=2020b |title=Le Palais des Mulini à Portoferraio |language=fr |trans-title=The Mulini Palace in Portoferraio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230014333/http://www.napoleonsites.eu/fr/divulgativa/530/le-palais-des-mulini-agrave-portoferraio.html |archive-date=30 December 2020 |url=http://www.napoleonsites.eu/fr/divulgativa/530/le-palais-des-mulini-agrave-portoferraio.html}}
- {{cite web |last=napoleonsites |year=2020c |title=Villa San Martino on the Island of Elba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230014911/http://www.napoleonsites.eu/en/divulgativa/533/villa-san-martino-on-the-island-of-elba.html |archive-date=30 December 2020 |url=http://www.napoleonsites.eu/en/divulgativa/533/villa-san-martino-on-the-island-of-elba.html}}
{{Napoleon}}{{Former monarchies Italian peninsula}}
Category:Former monarchies of Europe
Category:Palaces and residences of Napoleon
Category:States and territories established in 1814
Category:States and territories disestablished in 1815