French Civil Code, 1804
After four years of debate and planning, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte enacts a new legal framework for France, known as the “Napoleonic Code.” The civil code gave post-revolutionary France its first coherent set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, the family, and individual rights.
In 1800, General Napoleon Bonaparte, as the new dictator of France, began the arduous task of revising France’s outdated and muddled legal system. He established a special commission, led by J.J. Cambaceres, which met more than 80 times to discuss the revolutionary legal revisions, and Napoleon presided over nearly half of these sessions. In March 1804, the Napoleonic Code was finally approved.
It codified several branches of law, including commercial and criminal law, and divided civil law into categories of property and family. Though not officially a part of the Code Napoleon, this document is an addition to the Concordant, which was an agreement with the Catholic Church and plays a critical role in redefining Napoleon's France.
General Provisions For All The Protestant Communions.
Article 1. No one can conduct the performance of worship except a Frenchman.
Article 7. A stipend shall be provided [by the Government] for the pastors of the consistorial churches; it is understood that the estates which these churches possess and the product of the offerings established by usage or by the regulations shall be utilized towards this stipend.
Article 10. There shall be a seminary at Geneva for the instruction of the ministers of the reformed churches.
Article 11. The professors of all the academies or seminaries shall be appointed by the First Consul [Napoleon].