Abstract EN:

The Legislative Body of the First Empire remains one of the least studied and most poorly understood institutions of the French parliamentarian history. Yet, it is of significant interest from both juridical and social points of view. The proceedings of the annual meetings of the three hundred “notables”, who were supposed to represent the entire Nation, are essential to the understanding of the creation of the imperial notability. The cohort of the one-thousand-four-hundred and sixty-one individuals who sat in the Legislative Body during its existence, constitute an excellent illustration of the imperial society and it also illustrates the composition of the elites whose development was desired by the Emperor. For the notables this assembly was important because it showcased the recognition of their economic and social power. The Legislative Body may be considered in many ways, as the forerunner of the various assemblies of the beginning of the 19th century: by attempting to diminish the influence of these assemblies, Napoleon inadvertently contributed to the emergence of the political elite of the Parliamentary Monarchy. The Legislative Body was the last of the Revolutionary Assemblies, and as such, was also the first Assembly of the notables’ France