Napoleonic Code

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/napoleonic-code

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the date of enactment?March 21, 1804
2. What is the original title?Code civil des Français (later renamed Code Napoléon)
3. Why did Napoleon want to make the Napoleonic Code?He saw that before the Revolution, different parts of France had very different laws, which made life confusing. The Code combined old Roman law, customs, and new ideas to create one simple, fair system.
4. How did the Napoleonic Code reach other countries?When Napoleon's armies went to places like Belgium, Italy, and parts of Germany, they brought the Code with them. Even after he lost battles, many of those countries kept the rules because they were clear and helpful.

Codification: The process of collecting and arranging laws into a systematic code or body of statutes.
Civil Law Tradition: A major legal system originating in continental Europe, characterized by comprehensive statutes and codes.
Jurisprudence: The theory or philosophy of law; the collection of laws or a body of laws.