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Welcome to the Age of Napoleon.

Episode 10, as the Fatherland was dying.

Thanks for joining me.

Today we'll be discussing Napoleon Bonaparte's family and childhood.

It can be hard to find good solid information about the early part of Napoleon's life.

He was a totally obscure figure until he was in his 20s.

Once Napoleon did become famous, people told all kinds of stories about his childhood and his family.

This is a phenomenon you see again and again with all kinds of public figures. If you have a strong opinion about someone,

it's tempting to believe some story about their origins that provides some neat, simple explanation of how they were always faded to become the person you believe them to be.

For instance, supporters of Napoleon often repeated a story about him as a child, supposedly

stealing a small bowl of fruit, then owning up to the offense when he saw one of his sisters

was about to take the blame and be punished.

Remarkably close to a story about the young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree

that I'm sure a lot of American listeners are familiar with.

Both stories are almost certainly fabricated and both meant to convey the same message, that even as children these were inherently honest and empathetic people. Napoleon's enemies told similar legends about bad childhood behavior,

painting him as a little tyrant who carried his impulses to bully and dominate others into adulthood.

Admires claimed he was descended from ancient Byzantine nobility.

Detractors said he came from a long line of low-born bandits.

Hundreds of these types of in his lifetime, and they proliferated

further in the mid-19th century, when popular culture went through a kind of Napoleon

mania.

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