The Consulte de Lyon (consulta of Lyon) or consulte de la république cisalpine (consulta of the

Cisalpine Republic The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802. Creation After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...

) was an extraordinary meeting in the former chapel of the Jesuit college of the Trinity in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

during the

French Consulate The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Co ...

. It was held from 11–26 January 1802 and converted the

into the

Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, 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 ...

as its president.

Course

As first consul, Bonaparte decided to call an extraordinary ''consulta'' or meeting of the Italian deputies of the Cisalpine Republic in Lyon. This republic had been created after the first Italian campaign and was made up of Lombardy,

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

, Bergamo,

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, Cremona,

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

, the

duchy of Modena A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

and

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...

and three legations from

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, Ferrara and Romagna. The proposal for the meeting was highly successful - 452 deputies were named to attend it, though it was effectively a parody of a

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, with its members vetted by Bonaparte, an order of business imposed upon it and pressure exerted upon it to approve Bonaparte's wishes.Catherine Brice: Histoire d'Italie Hatier Nations d'Europe page 304 Over the following days the consul received deputations from the neighbouring towns and departments, while the 'consulte' continued with its business. On 26 January it met in the presence of the French ministers, generals, major functionaries and Joséphine in the chapel of the Jesuit college of the Trinity (now lycée Ampère). The First Consul presided and opened the meeting with a speech in Italian, under pressure from Talleyrand, who wished to end the quarrel between Aldini and Melzi, both of whom had been offered presidency of the meeting but had both in turn rejected it. In this speech Bonaparte converted the Cisalpine Republic into the Italian Republic, bringing applause from the assembly.

Notable figures present

Italian delegation

* Antonio Aldini * Vincenzo Brunetti, as secretary of the meeting, read the new constitution on 26 January en tant que secrétaire de la séance, lu la constitution le 26 janvier. * Francesco Melzi d'Eril * The archbishops of Ravenna ( Antonio Codronchi) and Cesena, the bishops of Pavia, Bergamo, Lodi and Cremona. * Filippo Maria Visconti, archbishop of Milan, aged 82, a friend of Bonaparte, travelled to Lyon for the meeting but died of a heart attack whilst talking to Talleyrand at a dinner on 31 December 1801 - Pietro Moscati tried in vain to save him. * Antonio Cagnoli, president of the Italian Society of Sciences * Giuseppe Fenaroli *

Luigi Porro Lambertenghi Count Luigi Renato Porro-Lambertenghi (July 12, 1780 in Como – February 9, 1860 in Milan) was an Italian nationalist, businessman, and politician. He was the son of politician and essayist Luigi Lambertenghi (1739–1813). He inherited Villa ...

Giuseppe Lechi Giuseppe ("Joseph") Lechi (5 December 1766 – 9 August 1836) was an Italian general in the Kingdom of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Born in Aspes and being the first son of Faustino Lechi and his wife Doralice Bielli, the genera ...

* Ferdinando Marescalchi * Giovanni Martinengo * Pietro Moscati, doctor''Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours'', p. 705-706
/ref> * Giovanni Paradisi ; * Giuseppe Prina * Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery *

Giuseppe Zola Giuseppe Zola (5 March 1672 – 27 March 1743) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, mainly active in Ferrara. He mainly painted landscapes with small figures. Born in Brescia, where he studied with Giuseppe Tortelli. His sister was als ...

French delegation

Napoléon 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 who ...

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Cou ...

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

* Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord *

Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...

References

External links

The convocation

Detailed history

Monsiau's painting of the event
{{Authority control 1802 in France 1802 in Europe 1802 in politics 1802 in international relations History of Lyon France–Italy relations Cisalpine Republic 1802 conferences