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Welcome to the Age of Napoleon.

Episode 11, Cadet Pyone.

Thanks for joining me. Episode 11, Cadet Pyone.

Thanks for joining me.

When we left off last time, Napoleon had just arrived at Brienne,

an elite military school in northeastern France.

The purpose of schools like Brienne was preparing sons of the aristocracy for the military academies

that would train the next generation of army and naval officers.

Warfare was changing during this period.

In particular, the expectations placed on officers were shifting away from the gentlemanly, almost chivalric ideal of earlier

eras and toward something a bit more professional and scientific.

Institutions like Brienne were on the forefront of that change. Scientific. geography, military history, and foreign languages.

Molding the officers of the future was becoming more about imparting professional skills

on the young cadets than polishing them into fine gentlemen.

The cadets were very young, typically between nine and 16,

but daily life at Brienne was incredibly demanding.

This being a government institution, we actually have decent records as to the curriculum, schedule, and policies.

To give full credit where it's due, a lot of this was dug up by a scholar named Guy Godlevsky in an article called

La Vie Cotidian de Napoleon Abbrienne, which was published in 1972.

If you find the stuff interesting and can read French, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, back to Brienne.

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