Horatio Nelson: Emblem of Empire in an Age of Revolution

0 Horatio Nelson: Emblem of Empire in an Age of Revolution Cory Mikell 1 Table of Contents Preface……………………………………………………………….……………………………………………….2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3 I. Nelson’s Arrival………………………………………….…………………………………..…………5 II. Funeral of Nelson…………………………………………………………...……………………… 8 III. Body and Power.……………………………………………………………..………………………10 IV. Symbols on tHe Coffin.………………………………………………………...…………………..14 V. Nelson and Tradition.…………………………………………………….……..………………….16 VI. Pantheon and Masculinity.…………………………………………………………………….....22 VII. Final Notes on Colley……………………………………………………………………………….28 VIII. Brexit and Conclusion.…………………………….…………………………………….………..31 Bibliography 2 Preface My first real encounter with Horatio Nelson was at Trafalgar SquareI stumbled on tHe square by accident as I was leaving the National Portraiture. As soon as I gazed upon the long tall spire with Nelson at the top and the long cool fountains, I understood immediately wHo and wHat Nelson was. As Nelson sat above an obelisk, dominating the pools of water below with his saber drawn, I immediately saw to be the king of Britain’s seas and an emblem of colonialism and BritisH masculinity. He was tHe adorned cHief Britain lost in Her Historic struggle with the rising power, France. A little over 200 years Had passed since Nelson’s funeral in 1806, but as I sat in the square in 2015. The UF in Cambridge program’s trips to Versailles and Les Invalides gave me a very concrete sense of competition between the two great powers of the 18th century. Seeing and feeling tHe immense cultural power of botH civilizations brougHt to perspective tHe immense competition tHat took place in the 19th century. In writing this paper, I Have attempted to retain the natural flow of the funeral by having the story of Nelson’s burial told sequentially. My telling of the timeline breaks from tHis pattern to analyze certain elements of tHe funeral, and then again progresses with a linear depiction of the funeral and those involved with the event. In this paper, I am less concerned about wHo Nelson was than how his image and cultural memory were used, and who he became in the eyes of the BritisH. For these reasons, reflections on his personal life, meteoric rise through the navy, or his various affairs witH mistress Lady Hamilton have been left to a 3 minimum unless it serves as a filter to engage his constructed and finely tailored image.1 Introduction: Bicentennial and Colley The scene is PortsmoutH 2006, where 167 ships gather together in formation.2 As Britain was the host country and leader of the flotilla, it supplied a sizable portion of the forces. 36 countries contributed ships to the display, including Spain and France.3 WarsHips present ranged from 19th century schooners to top-of- the-line destroyers armed witH advanced weaponry. While the composition of tHe ships was hodge-podge, their sentiments of the nations present were unified. The massed fleet gathered in solidarity paid tribute to the bicentennial celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar and, more importantly, the sacrifice of Lord Nelson for the British Empire. The Battle of Trafalgar in the 19th century pitted France against Britain for control of England’s domestic waters. Even larger than this, the Napoleonic Wars pitted empire against empire in determining tHe vanguard for modernity. The end result of tHis battle and larger campaign was a BritisH victory over Napoleon-led France. In 1805 While in Trafalgar, Britain handily destroyed the French and Spanish, whereas the symbolic victors of the commemoration in 2005 were the French and Spanish. As the crown jewel of each respective navy, both vessels dominated tHe seascape. The French nuclear-powered super carrier Charles De 1 Over tHe course of Nelson’s many campaigns, He became estranged from His wife and took up relations witH Emma Hamilton, a married woman. WHen tHis affair came to ligHt, it caused mucH public outcry. It, However, Has little impact on His military and cultural legacy as an emblem of empire. 2 Kennedy, Maev. "Re-enactment of Trafalgar Ends Bicentenary Celebration." THe Guardian. 2005. Accessed February 16, 2016. Http://www.tHeguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/29/military.maevkennedy1 3 Kennedy, Celebration Ibid 4 Gaulle and the SpanisH aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias stood overlooking the scene commemorating their navy’s defeat 200 years prior. Two centuries ago, these empires could Hardly occupy tHe same continent witHout quarrelling, but Here tHey stood as fellow E.U. members. For France in tHis moment, it was an attempt at revisionism, embellisHing modern strength in place for its historic weakness. THe celebration included a reenactment of the battle using vintage ships. However, instead of using the historic French and BritisH designations, a red-versus- blue system was used to ensure good will between the French and English. In addition, flags of monarcHy and nationality were all stripped away from tHe sHips’ decking to extract any historical tension from the commemoration. The end result was a display of allied military power, neutered of Britain’s past friction with France. In contrast to the 2005 bicentennial, Nelson's original funeral in 1806 held little back in terms of symbolism and aggressive cultural displays. The funeral and its ensuing pageantry sought to establish BritisH superiority over France and all of Europe. It is here wHere all manner of symbols and theatre were unfurled in an attempt to combat France’s cHallenge of BritisH Hegemony in Europe. Horatio Nelson’s Arrival, France, and Britain Overlooking tHe River THames, tHe Old Royal Navy College, or formerly tHe GreenwicH Hospital, stands as an emblem of two warring empires. Inside its Painted Hall are ceiling frescos commissioned by Sir CHristopHer Wren. THe centerpiece of the Painted Hall depicts the king of England sitting atop the ruins of “Tyranny” and on the body of a French subject. Next to tHe migHty tHrone is a sHattered sword and 5 stained CatHolic symbols of power. RougHly 200 miles away sits tHe FrencH counterpart to the Greenwich Hospital, Les Invalides. Now repurposed to house the tomb of Napoleon and various military museums, a painted golden cupola tops Les Invalides. Jutting to tHe Heavens, tHe dome features De La Fosse's allegories across a golden-paneled rotunda. THe dome features symbols, sucH as a triple golden fleur- de-lis backed on navy cloth as a direct reference to Louis XIV. Saint Louis floats in tHe middle of the blue sky receiving arms from angels, flanked by celestial bodies and a cross. Both pieces ordain their respective nation as receiving divine providence at the exclusion of the other. Les Anvalides taken during the 2015 UF in Cambridge program To understand tHe symbolic significance of tHese works, we need to step back and look at tHe backdrop for tHese monuments and paintings. THese paintings were commissioned during tHe 1700s during tHe formation of BritisH Hegemony in 6 Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe. FurtHermore, tHe mid-17th century was a period in which botH France and England tHrew tHe entire migHt of tHeir empires against one another. THe reason for tHis longstanding entanglement was resources and tHe procurement of land. The struggle was also a conflict of ideologies between the FrencH Catholics and BritisH Protestants. THe competition between empire, tradition, religion, and legitimacy bleeds into tHe artwork witHin botH tHe Painted Hall and Les Invalides. THe symbols tHat make up the ceiling frescos are but a Handful of tHreads among a larger, interweaving fabric of competition. Les Invalides, or Hôtel National des Invalides, and Greenwich Hospital were functionally similar and embodied tHe same ideology. GreenwicH Hospital was constructed in the 17th century to provide care to wounded and maimed personnel in Britain’s vaunted Royal Navy and to take care of pensioners. Les Invalides, on the otHer Hand, was designed to serve France’s colossal land army, take care of wounded service men, and provide sHelter to military pensioners. It was created under King Louis the XIV and further expanded the services of its care and housing after the French Revolution under Napoleon. Both institutions were also constructed in an effort to expand state care to soldiers under new liberal policy instead of wareHousing tHem. THe issue of welfare of military personnel stemmed from tHe creation of tHe state-led national army and tHe carnage tHat flintlock weapons could inflict, sHattering tHe limbs of soldiers compared to sabers and swords that were more liable to slice and cut rather than smasH and crack caused by modern long arms. 7 More importantly, However, botH monuments spoke to an effort to stage monarcHy and legitimize empire using the citizens as both spectacle and an audience. THese two ceilings help establisH the relationsHip between France and Britain as nations engaged in a military and cultural arms race. THe building of elaborate facilities for wounded military and pensioners was as mucH a competition and counter reaction as it was a solution to a newly forged societal issue. Greenwich Hospital in London was created in 1692 directly as a consequence of the creation of Les Invalides in 1678. Les Invalides was part of a larger strategy to define the progress of civilization tHrougH France and Britain’s monarcHy and government. Niox wrote on the creation of the French civil servant care facility, stating, “It is the mission tHat tHe perpetually creative force of tHe universe, in tHe moral order, seems to be assigned to France [On Les Invalides].”4 The fierce ethos ascribed to the fighting between France and Britain in the Age of Empire can be summarized in wHat Linda Colley defines as “BritisHness and OtHerness.” THe war state in Britain, protestant ideals as opposed to CatHolicism, and a sense of orientalism toward non-BritisH subjects make up “BritisHness” sHared by all EnglisHmen. THe FrencH revolution brougHt about massive political and social disturbances that resonated across Europe.

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