The Constitution of the Year XII (), also called the Organic
Sénatus-consulte of 28
Floréal, year XII (), was a national
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
of the
First French Republic adopted during the Year XII of the
French Revolutionary Calendar (1804 in the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
).
It amended the earlier
Constitution of the Year VIII
The Constitution of the Year VIII (french: Constitution de l'an VIII or french: Constitution du 22 frimaire an VIII) was a national constitution of France, adopted on 24 December 1799 (during Year VIII of the French Republican calendar), which ...
and
Constitution of the Year X
The Constitution of the Year X (french: Constitution de l'an X) was a national constitution of France adopted during the Year X (10) on 16 Thermidor (4 August) of the French Revolutionary Calendar (1802 in the Gregorian calendar). It amended th ...
, establishing the
First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...
with
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
— previously
First Consul for Life, with wide-ranging powers — as Napoleon I,
Emperor of the French
Emperor of the French (French: ''Empereur des Français'') was the title of the monarch and supreme ruler of the First and the Second French Empires.
Details
A title and office used by the House of Bonaparte starting when Napoleon was procla ...
. The Constitution established the
House of Bonaparte as France's imperial dynasty, making the throne hereditary in Napoleon's family. The Constitution of the Year XII was later itself extensively amended by the
Additional Act and definitively abolished with the final return of the
Bourbons in 1815.
Timeline of French constitutions
See also
*
1804 French constitutional referendum
External links
*
Text of the Constitution of the Year XII
Defunct constitutions
Constitutions of France
1804 in France
Legal history of France
1804 documents
First French Empire
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