1814

Four of Candice’s novels are set in 1814: An Affair of Honor, A Garden Folly, The Best Intentions, and Her Scandalous Affair. The novella From This Moment On is also set in 1814.

All links are to Wikipedia entries.

"A Journey of a Modern Hero to the Island of Elba" - British caricature, 1814.

“A Journey of a Modern Hero to the Island of Elba” – British caricature, 1814.(Click on image to see a larger version and to read the full verse at the bottom.)

Government, Politics, and War:

  • March 31: The Allied armies of Russia and Prussia enter Paris.
  • April 6: Napoleon abdicates in favor of his 2-year old son, Napoleon II, but the Allies refuse to accept him.The Bourbon monarchy is restored in France under King Louis XVIII.
  • April 10-12: The Battle of Toulouse is one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars, fought four days after Napoleon’s surrender of the French Empire to the Coalition nations. News of the wars’ end and Napoleon’s abdication has yet to reach the south of France, and so thousands of British, Spanish, and Portuguese soldiers, under the command of Wellington, and French soldiers under Soult’s command, die in the battle unnecessarily.
  • April 11: As part of the final, unconditional act of abdication, Napoleon is exiled to the island of Elba.
  • May 30: The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the wars between France and the Coalition nations, restoring the 1792 border of France, and exiling Napoleon to the island of Elba.
  • August 24: The “Burning of Washington” by British forces destroys most government buildings, including the White House.
  • September 13: The failed British bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore is a turning point in the American war, and the American defense of the fort inspires Francis Scott Key to compose the poem later set to music as “The Star Spangled Banner.”
  • November: The Congress of Vienna convenes to redraw the European political map after the defeat of Napoleon. Much scheming and secret alliances between delegates abound.
  • December 24: The Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the war between the United States and Britain. It does little more than restore the pre-war status quo between the nations, with no gain to either side.
"The Fair on the Thames Feby 4, 1814" by Luke Clenell.

“The Fair on the Thames Feby 4, 1814” by Luke Clenell. (Click on image to see a larger version.)

Society and Social History:

  • January 27: Phillip Astley, proprietor of Astley’s Amphitheatre who is recognized as the “father of the modern circus,” dies at age 72.
  • February 1: A Frost Fair on the Thames takes place when the river freezes, and lasts 4 days. This will be the last frost fair ever, as milder climates and increased embanking make the river less likely to freeze.
  • March: The Duchess of Oldenburgh, sister of the Tsar, enters London in great state. A grand banquet is held in her honor at Carlton House.
  • May: Marquess of Wellington is made Duke of Wellington.
  • May 29: Joséphine de Beauharnais, former wife of Napoleon and first empress of France, dies at age 50.
  • June 2: England’s Princess Charlotte, having come of age, is formally presented at Court.
  • June 21: The Prince Regent, visiting dignitaries, and several generals from the late war review 12,000 troops in Hyde Park as part of the formal Proclamation of Peace.
  • June 21: White’s Club sponsors a ball held at Burlington House to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon. Beau Brummell is one of the organizers. Nearly 4000 attendees include the visiting Tsar of Russia and the King of Prussia. The ball cost almost £10,000.
  • June 22: First cricket match is played at Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood.
  • July 6: A grand banquet is held in honor of the Duke of Wellington at White’s.
  • July 14: Service of General Thanksgiving for the Allied Victory held in St Paul’s Cathedral.
    Prince Regent and Wellington enter together; the Duke bearing the sword of state.
  • August 1: A public celebration of the peace is held in London, including a reenactment of the Battle of the Nile on the Serpentine in Hyde Park, the transformation and illumination of the Temple of Concorde in Green Park, balloon assents, and fireworks.
  • August: Princess Caroline, estranged wife of the Prince of Wales, leaves England.
  • October 17: At the Horseshoe Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a large vat containing over 3500 barrels of beer bursts, demolishing houses and killing nine people.

Literature, Journalism, and Publishing:

  • Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park is published.
  • Fanny Burney’s The Wanderer is published.
  • February 1: Lord Byron publishes The Corsair, which sells 10,000 copies on the first day.
  • July: Walter Scott’s Waverly is published anonymously. (He thought the romantic novel might harm his reputation as a poet.)
  • November 29: The Times of London installs the first steam-driven, stop-cylinder printing press, permitting the newspaper to print 1,100 sheets per hour.
La Grande Odalisque by Ingres, 1814. His contemporaries considered the work to signify Ingres' break from Neoclassicism, indicating a shift toward exotic Romanticism.

La Grande Odalisque by Ingres, 1814.
His contemporaries considered the work to signify Ingres’ break from Neoclassicism, indicating a shift toward exotic Romanticism. (Click on image to see a larger version.)

Art, Architecture, and Design:

  • Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres paints La Grande Odalisque, commissioned along with several other pieces by the Queen of Naples.
  • Francisco Goya paints The Third of May 1808, depicting the execution of Madrid rebels on that date.
  • A Madonna of St Jerome by Antonio da Correggio is returned to Parma, eighteen years after being looted by the French.
  • Sculptor Antonio Canova completes The Three Graces.

Music:

Theater and Dramatic Arts:

  • January: Edmund Kean performs for the first time at Drury Lane, in the role of Shylock, and is an immediate success.

Science and Industry:

  • July 25: George Stephenson tests his first locomotive Blucher successfully in England.
  • July 26: The first pier in Britain opens at Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight,
  • October 23: The first plastic surgery carried out in England by Dr Joseph Constantine Carpue.