Constitution of the Year XII
Encyclopedia
The Constitution of the Year XII was a national constitution
of France
adopted during the Year XII of the French Revolutionary Calendar (1804 in the Gregorian calendar
).
It amended the earlier Constitution of the Year VIII
and Constitution of the Year X
, establishing the First French Empire
with Napoleon Bonaparte
— previously First Consul
for Life, with wide-ranging powers — as Napoleon I, Emperor
of the French. The Constitution established the House of Bonaparte as France's imperial dynasty, making the throne hereditary in Napoleon's family. The Constitution of the Year XII was later itself extensively amended by the so-called "Additional Act"
and definitively abolished with the final return of the Bourbons in 1815.
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
adopted during the Year XII of the French Revolutionary Calendar (1804 in the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
).
It amended the earlier Constitution of the Year VIII
Constitution of the Year VIII
The Constitution of the Year VIII was a national constitution of France, adopted December 24, 1799 , which established the form of government known as the Consulate...
and Constitution of the Year X
Constitution of the Year X
The Constitution of the Year X was a national constitution of France adopted during the Year X of the French Revolutionary Calendar...
, establishing the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
with Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
— previously First Consul
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
for Life, with wide-ranging powers — as Napoleon I, Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
of the French. The Constitution established the House of Bonaparte as France's imperial dynasty, making the throne hereditary in Napoleon's family. The Constitution of the Year XII was later itself extensively amended by the so-called "Additional Act"
Charter of 1815
The Charter of 1815, signed on April 22, 1815, was the French constitution prepared by Benjamin Constant at the request of Napoleon I when he returned from exile on Elba...
and definitively abolished with the final return of the Bourbons in 1815.