The Napoleonic Code
Napoleon Bonaparte is probably
best known as the “Little Dictator,” a
man who rose through the ranks of
the French army to become the
master of Europe in the early
nineteenth century. Yet he was also a
key figure in the history of the legal
system. In fact, Napoleon’s most
lasting effect on France and the
world was the set of laws he created
during his rule as emperor. These
laws were so important that by 1960,
more than 70 countries around the
world had adopted them or had used
them as the basis for their own laws.
These countries include Iceland,
Norway, Denmark, Spain, Portugal,
Greece, and many Latin American
countries. Even in the United States,
Napoleon’s influence is still felt. To
this day, Louisiana’s laws follow the
Napoleonic Code.
The Napoleonic Code was
originally drafted as the French Civil
Code. With the French Revolution
under way, France was on the brink
of major legal reform. Before the
revolution, France was a monarchy.
During this time, French law was
based on the whims of its kings.
Louis XIV, who named himself
the “Sun King,” summed up French
law with his famous remark, “It is
legal because I wish it.” Laws were
the product of each individual
monarch. They were lengthy,
complicated, and different from
region to region. Before Napoleon,
there was no single law or document
to unify them.
During the French Revolution,
the monarchy collapsed. Soon after,
a new French state based on the
ideas of liberty and reason was
formed. The French Republic drew
on the concepts of the
Enlightenment, a movement that had
been gaining steam throughout
Europe and the world during the
eighteenth century. Though the rise
of Napoleon marked the end of the
French Revolution, he was really a
child of the revolution. “I am the
revolution,” he once said. Within his
empire, Napoleon tried to spread the
ideas of the French Revolution.
These ideas included legal equality
and religious and economic freedom.
In 1800, under Napoleon’s
orders, the French Council of State
began to write the French Civil
Code. The purpose of the code was
to collect all of the French laws into
a single volume that would be simple
and easy to understand. At the heart
of the code were three ideas from the
revolution: that laws should be based
on reason and common sense, that all
men should be treated equally under
the law, and that they should have
certain freedoms. The Civil Code
had several key concepts, including:
1. Legal equality for everyone.
2. No recognition of nobility or
titles of birth.
3. Freedom of religion.
4. Separation of church and state.
5. Freedom to work in any
occupation.
6. Protection of the family.
The Napoleonic Code was not
without its flaws. Napoleon believed
that women were inferior to men,
and that they should not be allowed
to have much influence in a society.
As a result, the Napoleonic Code
included laws restricting women and
children. For example, under the
code:
1. Women could not vote.
2. Husbands had complete control
over their wives and their personal
property.
3. Children and unmarried women
had few rights.
Yet despite these flaws, the
heart of the Napoleonic Code—
reason, equality, and freedom—has
survived throughout the ages. In
Napoleon’s lifetime, the code was
adopted in many European states,
including Germany, Italy, and Spain.
As a document, the code was
important because it offered a
unified system of law for the first
time in modern history. As a set of
ideas, it was even more powerful.
Like the man who brought it into
being, the Napoleonic Code was a
revolution in itself.