Five Facts About Napoleon Bonaparte
Time to debunk some myths
Napoleon was not short
One common myth many people believe about Napoleon I is that he was short, and his violence and belligerence can be understood as the insecure short man overcompensating for his lack of height.
Sorry to bust this myth, but Napoleon in fact, was not short. It is estimated that he was between 1,68 and 1,70 meters tall, which for the period was about the average height for a French man.
Though Napoleon may have been shorter than the average nobleman of the age, as in the pre-industrial era, the richer classes who seldom went hungry, unlike the peasants, really towered over the poorer classes.
The root of this myth most probably comes from British propaganda. As it is well known, Britain was the most stubborn and fiercest rival of Bonaparte, and the press never missed an opportunity to ridicule him. Lying about his height was just one instance, but there were plenty more attempts to mock Napoleon.
When a French ship carrying correspondence from Egypt was captured by the Royal Navy, the British press also published the letters a love-sick Napoleon sent to his wife, much to the embarrassment of Bonaparte.
