The Code Civil: The Art of Unity and Change

Author: Leslie Carr-Riegel

In 1804, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte unveiled what is arguably his greatest achievement, le Code civil des Français – the French Code Civil. This document, which consisted of 2,281 articles, did away at last with the vast array of hodgepodge rules, regulations, and ordinances, which had previously governed the French. Drawing heavily on Roman Law and flavored by the Coutumes of Paris, the new civil code brought unity and order, where previously legal chaos had reigned. The code covered an enormous range of legal business – personal law, family law, property law, and the formation of contracts. To this day, this work remains the underlying legal bedrock of France as well as Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and all their former colonial holdings, among others. 

At the time of the Code’s promulgation in 1804, Napoleon was at the height of his powers, crowning himself Emperor over a French Empire that covered much of Europe. The imagery which accompanied the inauguration of the new civil code reflected this grandiose vision. 

In an engraving made to celebrate the code’s completion, Emperor Napoleon is shown demonstrating the new code to his wife, the Empress Joséphine. The couple appears against a backdrop of statues of the great French kings of old, the Roman goddess of plenty, and a pile of scrolls proclaiming treaties of peace and concordance. They lounge in truly regal splendor; wearing an odd mix of styles, that was likely never the basis for any real garment, their garments blending earlier renaissance cuts with then modern neo-classical lines. The image proclaims Napoleon a great monarch in line with his forebearers, a dedicated giver of laws and a father of the nation. In this role, he is shown teaching his wife the new laws of the family enshrined in the code, specifically those related to adoption as the open page indicates. This may be read on a macro-political scale as the adoption into the empire of many other nations, or perhaps a subtle jab at the Empress Joséphine who had yet to produce an heir. In either event, the code here is seen as the culmination of centuries of French history, bringing peace and unity as a magnanimous gift from the emperor to his subjects.

After Napoleon’s death, the code continued to be lifted up as one of the greatest achievements of his reign. Thus, in 1833, the state artist Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse painted a remarkable portrait titled Napoléon I’er couronné par le Temps – Napoleon I Crowned by the Allegory of Time. In the image, the emperor sits confidently upon a pile of imperial symbols staring sternly out at his audience.  He is writing the Civil Code with his own hand while the figure of Father Time rises above, moving to crown Napoleon with laurels for his efforts. By the time of the painting’s exhibition, Napoleon had been deposed and deceased for twelve years; and the July Monarchy, lead by King Louis Philippe I, was ruling France, but not without opposition. Only a few months before the painting was unveiled at the Salon de Paris, an uprising in the capital, which was later immortalized by Victor Hugo in Les Miserables, had rocked the regime. Mauzaisse’s painting, which harkened back to the strength and the order brought by the Civil Code, sought to evoke for a turbulent populace the glories of the past and the timeless victory of law over chaos.

Both of these official portraits of the Civil Code carried potent symbolism, intended to speak to the now unified grandeur, history, and weight of the new rule of law. Yet, not all were content with the code as it was written, in particular, the section which dealt with family law.  The rights and obligations of marriage under articles 212, 213, and 214 came in for heavy criticism. While article 8 of the code promised that, “Tout Français jouira des droits civils.” – every French person would enjoy civil rights, – later articles denied married women full legal personhood, subjecting them to the authority of their husbands. Wives could not enter into contracts, manage property, or join the workforce, without their husband’s consent. Even at the time, these restrictions were considered by many to be archaic and draconian. Thus, throughout the 1830s and 1840s, even as nostalgia for the old days of glorious French Empire caused a rise in Bonapartist popularity, numerous satirical caricatures were penned, ridiculing these articles of the code. The images both poked fun at expected behaviors and reflected actual lived reality.

Article 212: “Les époux se doivent mutuellement fidélité, secours, assistance.” – Spouses owe each other mutual loyalty, help, and assistance.

Article 213: Le mari doit protection à sa femme, la femme obéissance à son mari.” – The husband owes protection to his wife, the wife owes obedience to her husband.

Article 214: “La femme est obligée d’habiter avec le mari, et de le suivre par-tout où il juge à propos de résider : le mari est obligé de la recevoir, et de lui fournir tout ce qui est nécessaire pour les besoins de la vie, selon ses facultés et son état.” – The wife is obliged to live with the husband, and to follow him wherever he judges appropriate to reside: the husband is obliged to receive her, and to provide her with everything necessary for the needs of life, according to his abilities and his condition.

Despite the misgivings reflected by such artwork, the marriage laws of France remained unchanged. When the centennial mark of the code’s existence came around in 1904, the state once again sought to celebrate this remarkable achievement in art. This time, rather than a portrait of Napoleon as the giver of laws, it is a genius of the French Third Republic who stands as the herald of unity, order, and justice.

The move to glorify the abstract Republic neatly dissociated the code from the Napoleon dynasty and its imperial ambitions, keeping the good laws as it were, while rejecting their progenitor. The change in imagery from the male emperor to the female republic was, however, all the more ironic considering that images from the same year depicted women gleefully burning the code in effigy. 

The feminist critique of the Civil Code would only continue throughout the century, with the Ligue d’action femininecalling for its revision and the immediate granting of suffrage; as shown here in a poster from 1926. In this depiction, Napoleon reappears as the giver of laws, but rather than a visionary hero of unity and order, he is presented as a senile, decrepit old man, out of time and out of place. 

Feminist forces would be insufficient however to see the code changed until 1938 when the first alterations were made to the marriage articles of the code; and even then it was slow going. French women meanwhile, would only gain the vote in 1944; and it was not until 1965 that married women were legally permitted to join a profession without their husband’s consent. In 1985, they acquired an equal position in the management of communal property. The unity and order of law promised in 1804 was thus contested over the succeeding two-hundred years; as marital laws which no longer matched civil mores were forced to adapt. Depictions of the code thus change with the times and temperament of the era; as a unified law which applies equally to all continues to be sought. 

Bibliography:

Code civil des Français, Paris 1804.

Ute Gerhard: Civil Law, a Tool of Masculine Domination?, in: Encyclopédie d’histoire numérique de l’Europe, online: https://ehne.fr/en/node/12265 (21.09.2023).

André Tunc: Husband and wife under French law: Past, present, future, in: University of Pennsylvania Law Review 104(1955), 1064-1079.

Cite as:

Carr-Riegel, Leslie, The Code Civil: The Art of Unity and Change, EViR Blog, 28.04.2026, https://www.evir.uni-muenster.blog/en/the-code-civil/

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.