The Napoleonic Code abolished a previous patchwork of feudal laws (the French writer Voltaire once complained that a man travelling across France would have to change laws as often as he changed horses) and established a civil code that stressed the rule of law for instance, the Napoleonic Code provided that laws could only be applied if they had been duly promulgated and then only if those laws had been previously published. Napoleon the bureaucrat was the driving force behind the 'Code Civil' (otherwise known as the 'Napoleonic Code') which came into force in 1804 and remains in force today. History tells us that, away from being Bonaparte the battlefield general, Napoleon habitually held dozens of administrative gatherings that gave rise to laws and institutions that hundreds of millions of people still live by today.
But, beyond his influence on the battlefield and the French political system, the 'Little General's' influence on the development of French law was surprisingly significant.īonaparte was a significant driving force for change in law and administration in France and the effects of that influence continue to bear fruit in modern France. With the Hollywood biopic 'Napoleon' hitting screens this week, the diminutive 18th Century French revolutionary's influence on the development of French law may not be immediately obvious at first blush.