A letter and a sword of Napoleon Bonaparte ignite auctions in France: Secrets revealed after two centuries.

In an exceptional public auction held in the French city of Fontainebleau, a historical letter from the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was sold for 26,360 euros, exceeding the initial estimates ranging between 12 and 15 thousand euros. The letter, dated July 23, 1809, bears the signature "Napoul" - a common abbreviation of his name - and reveals a brilliant political maneuver, showing Napoleon seemingly opposing the arrest of Pope Pius VII despite being the one who ordered it. In this letter addressed to the head of administration Jean-Jacques Regis de Cambaceres, Napoleon wrote: "The Pope was taken out of Rome without my orders and against my will. He was also brought to France without my orders and against my will, but I was only informed of this 10 or 12 days after it was executed." This text, partially censored according to Jean-Christophe Chatainie, director of the "Empire" department at the auction house "Osenat," represents a Napoleonic attempt to absolve himself of the repercussions of the major religious and political event. The arrest of the Pope is one of the most prominent events that marked Napoleon's relationship with the church, as tensions escalated between the two due to the Pope's refusal to comply with Napoleon's continental blockade policy imposed on Britain. The French Emperor had exceeded the Pope's authority by occupying parts of the Papal States in 1808, especially the ports, then expelled foreign cardinals, before ordering the Pope's arrest in July 1809, who was later transferred to Savona and then Fontainebleau where he was placed under house arrest. In another event reflecting the ongoing historical obsession with Napoleon's persona, his personal sword requested to be made in 1802 will be auctioned on May 22 in the French capital Paris, estimated to be between 700,000 and 1 million euros. The sword was crafted by Nicolas Noël Boutet, one of the most famous weapon makers of that era, and was kept by Napoleon until the end of his reign, then gifted to his loyal marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy. Since 1815, it has been preserved by the marshal's descendants and is now being publicly auctioned for the first time. These auctions come amidst the growing interest in collecting items related to Napoleon, as two pistols from his possessions were previously sold at an auction in 2024 for 1.69 million euros, along with a volume of French civil law valued at 395 thousand euros, reflecting the continuous presence of this exceptional leader in European historical and cultural memory.