January 1808
1st January 1808 – Napoleon I returned to Paris.
4 January 1808 – He visited the studio of First Imperial painter Jacques-Louis David along with Josephine; both could admire the painting of the coronation.
9 January 1808 – A new French army, the third in three months, entered Spain, under the command of Bon-Adrien Jannot de Moncey.
10 January 1808 – General Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis received the order to occupy Rome [Roma].
16 January 1808 – The final status of the Bank of France were set by decree.
21 January 1808 – The 80,000 men of class 1809 were called early.
22 January 1808 – The towns of Kehl, Cassel [Kassel], Wesel and Flushing [Vlissingen] were annexed to the Empire.
28 January 1808 – French troops received an order from Napoleon to enter in Catalonia.
February 1808
1st February 1808 – A council of government was held in Lisbon [Lisboa] by General Junot, who became Governor General of the Kingdom of Portugal.
2nd February 1808 – French troops entered Rome [Roma]. They occupated the Castle of Sant'Angelo. A proposal was done by Napoleon to the Emperor of Russia Alexander I to send a Franco-Russian army into Asia to kneel England
.
9 February 1808 – A fourth French army entered Spain, this time through Catalonia, under the command of General Guillaume Philibert Duhesme .
11 February 1808 – In Paris, Napoleon visited the Hôtel des Invalides with doctor Jean-François Coste (Director of the hospital), surgeon Dominique-Jean Larrey, Marshals Jean-Mathieu Philibert Sérurier (Governor of the Invalides), Louis-Alexandre Berthier and Joachim Murat,and Grand marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc .
15 February 1808 – The citadel of Pamplona, in Navarra, was taken.
16 February 1808 – Barcelona was taken at its turn.
20 February 1808 – Joachim Murat became Lieutenant of the Emperor in Spain.
March 1808
1st March 1808 – A new nobility was established in the French Empire.
17 March 1808 – The University of France replaced the General Directorate of Public Instruction; it was headed by a Grand Master. The Jewish worship was regulated by decree.
18 March 1808 – Uprising of the Spanish people, at the instigation of the Crown Prince Ferdinand. Abdication of King Charles IV and fall of Manuel Godoy ministry. Prince Ferdinand was proclaimed King.
23 March 1808 – The French reached Madrid.
27 March 1808 – The provinces of Urbino, Macerata, Ancona and Camerino, possessions of the Holy See, were united to the Kingdom of Italy. Napoleon was excommunicated by Pope Pius VII.
29 March 1808 – The Spanish people was called to arms by the junta of Seville [Sevilla] .
April 1808
2nd April 1808 – Napoleon I moved to Bayonne (French Basque country), on the pretext of visiting the southern French departments. He indeed awaited the arrival of the King of Spain.
3rd April 1808 – The Pope's legate, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Caprara , left Paris.
7 April 1808 – A French detachment penetrated the papal palace in Rome and disarmed the Swiss Guards.
14 April 1808 – Arrival of Napoleon at Bayonne.
20 April 1808 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain arrived in Bayonne and visited Napoleon.
May 1808
1st May 1808 – Arrival of Charles IV at Bayonne, accompanied by his wife. Napoleon received them for dinner.
2nd May 1808 – Anti-French population riot in Madrid (Dos de Mayo) , harshly repressed from the evening onwards by Joachim Murat and Emmanuel de Grouchy.
3rd May 1808 – Executions of Madrid insurgents continued .
5 May 1808 – Charles IV of Spain put his crown on Napoleon's disposal by a statement signed by him.
10 May 1808 – Ferdinand and his brothers agreed with their father's declaration.
18 May 1808 – The Spanish princes arrived at their residence of Valençay (center of France), established by Napoleon.
22 May 1808 – Pope Pius VII forbid the bishops to obey the French government.
23 May 1808 – The canon Llano Ponte called the inhabitants of Ovido (Asturias) for uprising against the invaders.
24 May 1808 – Italian duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany were united to French Empire; they became departments of Toro, Arno, Mediterranean and Ombrone.
27 May 1808 – Violent anti-French events in Valencia, Spain.
28 May 1808 – Uprising of the people of Cadiz.
30 May 1808 – Massacres in Granada.
31 May 1808 – Valladolid rose up.
June 1808
2 June 1808 – In a proclamation addressed to the Spaniards, Napoleon said: I want to be your regenerator
.
3 June 1808 – Segovia was the scene of violent unrest.
6 June 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder brother, was appointed King of Spain. The junta of Seville declared war to France.
11 June 1808 – French army entered Valladolid after the battle of Cabezon.
12 June 1808 – First meeting, in Bayonne, of a francophile Spanish Junta.
13 June 1808 – The Counselor of the Inquisition of Spain requested the Junta of Bayonne to maintain his institution.
14 June 1808 – French admiral François-Etienne de Rosily-Mesros and his squadron surrendered to the spanish insurgents outside the harbor of Cadiz.
16 June 1808 – Battle at Zaragoza.
18 June 1808 – Joseph 1, the new King of Spain, was presented to the Junta of Bayonne, which was put in charge of writing a new constitution.
19 June 1808 – The French left Cordova [Cordoba] and retired to Andujar.
20 June 1808 – The Kingdom of Naples received its constitution from Napoleon I.
28 June 1808 – Moncey failed in front of Valencia.
July 1808
1st July 1808 – An assault on Zaragoza by French troops was repulsed.
15 July 1808 – Joachim Murat became King of Naples in place of Joseph Bonaparte.
20 July 1808 – Arrival of Joseph Bonaparte in Madrid.
21 July 1808 – Surrender of Bailen, the first major failure of the Napoleonic armies; 20,000 French soldiers, uncercled in Andalusia, were
taken prisoners.
25 July 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte was proclaimed King of Spain during a ceremony in Madrid.
30 July 1808 – The new king had to leave his capital hastily. English army landed in Portugal.
August 1808
1st August 1808 – Evacuation of Madrid by French troops. English General Arthur Wellesley of Wellington landed in Portugal.
4 August 1808 – The French seized a portion of Zaragoza...
14 August 1808 – ...before abandoning the siege.
21 August 1808 – General Junot was defeated at Vimiero, by English troops strengthened with Portuguese patriots.
30 August 1808 – Junot signed the Convention of Cintra with the English. The French evacuated Portugal.
September 1808
8 September 1808 – French Senate approved a special levy of 160,000 soldiers, bringing together the provided classes from 1807 to 1809 and conscripts of 1810 called in advance.
17 September 1808 – The monopoly of education was granted to the University.
22 September 1808 – Napoleon left Saint-Cloud at five o'clock a.m.
27 September 1808 – He met Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, on the day of his arrival in Erfurt.
28 September 1808 – In Erfurt, Napoleon received Baron Nicolas-Charles de Vincent, ambassador of Francis I of Austria, bearer of a letter from his sovereign . Behind the scenes, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord warned the Tsar against Napoleon's madness
.
October 1808
1st October 1808 – Napoleon 1 had his first visit from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
2nd October 1808 – Another visit from Goethe.
12 October 1808 – Both Emperors of France and Russia signed an agreement renewing their alliance. The Grand Army of Germany was abolished by decree; it took the name Army of the Rhine and was reduced to a hundred thousand soldiers.
14 October 1808 – Both sovereigns separated with touching demonstrations of friendship.
15 October 1808 – Nearly simultaneous entry in Spain of an English army and the vanguard of the French army.
18 October 1808 – Return of Napoleon at Saint-Cloud.
22 October 1808 – A decree substituted the words "French Empire" for "French Republic" on coins. Napoleon I visited the painting salon of the Louvre and awarded crosses of the Legion of Honor to artists .
27 October 1808 – Victory of Michel Ney at Logroño.
28 October 1808 – Napoléon set Gaspard Monge a plan to invade England by hot air balloon.
29 October 1808 – New leaving of the Emperor, this time for Spain.
November 1808
5 November 1808 – The King Joseph and his court, refugees in Vittoria, saw the Emperor Napoleon's arrival.
6 November 1808 – Napoleon proclaimed that The Emperor would command his army in person
.
7 November 1808 – The evacuation of all hospitals between Tolosa and Vitoria was ordered to make room for future injured soldiers.
10 November 1808 – The Spaniards were defeated at Espinosa.
13 November 1808 – From Napoleon to General Dejean, Director of Administration for War, from Burgos: I've never seen a country where the army was better and more abundantly fed. But shoes and coats, this is what we missed.
14 November 1808 – From Napoleon to the same Dejean: I have nothing, I am naked, my army is in need, and your offices make fun of me. Those who are in charge are fools or knaves
.
16 November 1808 – To Marshal Soult: I long to hear that you went to Santander. Try to seize what belongs to the English. Please put the receiver on all wools and the British and colonial goods
. Entry of Soult in Santander.
17 November 1808 – Again to General Dejean: My army lacks everything. I am obliged to use extraordinary means, which always produces a bad effect. Your dress office is composed of idiots.
19 November 1808 – To Emmanuel Crétet, Interior Minister: The Duke of Infantadoand grandees of Spain own half of the kingdom of Naples; evaluate their properties in the kingdom to 200 million Francs is not too much. They also have possessions in Belgium, and Piedmont in Italy, my intention is to sequester
.
22 November 1808 – Marshal Ney entered Soria. His troops began to march towards Madrid.
23 November 1808 – Battle of Tudela.
28 November 1808 – The British troops left Spain and returned to Portugal.
30 November 1808 – Battle of Somo-Sierra.
December 1808
2nd December 1808 – Arrival of the French before Madrid . In Paris, a ceremony presided over by the Minister of the Interior celebrated the arrival of the waters of the Ourcq in the La Villette basin.
4 December 1808 – Surrender of Madrid. Order of Napoleon I: monasteries will be reduced to third; provincial customs are abolished, the Council of Castile is removed, its members will be arrestedThe feudal rights are abolished in Spain and the court of the Inquisition is abolished; the number of existing
.
5 December 1808 – From Napoleon to General Belliard, governor of Madrid: officer ... Please also prepare stables in convents and houses of emigrantsBillet the officers in the houses of the emigrants, taking care to reserve the best room for a general
.
7 December 1808 – Proclamation to the Spaniards: my nation. I've heard that clemency. Some men, perpetrators of all your woes will only be punished.I went to Madrid. The Rights of War authorized me to give a great example and wash in the blood the wrongs made to me and
Start of requisitions, under the authority of Anne-Jean-Marie-René Savary, Duke of Rovigo, who has come specially from Paris.
9 December 1808 – The Corregidor of Madrid, received in audience by Napoleon, heared the Emperor declaring to him: I do not refuse to cede my conquest rights to the King [Joseph Bonaparte] and set Him in Madrid, when the thirty thousand citizens of the capital have expressed their feelings and loyalty.
10 December 1808 – It was ordered that the Gazette of Madrid would appear daily.
11 December 1808 – Reappearance of English troops in Spain. General Savary reported to the Emperor: The operation of the first seizure in ten large houses designated by Your Majesty is completed. Yesterday the taxman had received five thousand and a few hundred marks of silver and about 600,000 Francs silver coin. There was still something to receive. I do not count some gold jewelry, diamonds and some pearls he received too.
14 December 1808 – The amount of money seized in the treasury of the Inquisition, according Belliard, equaled 613,493 Francs in French money. Napoleon decided: Give the order that the funds be deposited promptly at the taxman's, and research all other funds belonging to the Inquisition.
15 December 1808 – Order was given to proceed with the creation of a Spanish National Guard in Madrid as in provincial towns.
18 December 1808 – From Napoleon to Joseph, King of Spain: paying in about fifteen or sixteen quintals of silverware, and the accountant of the house gave a statement to nine million reals revenueTo live in a year, we must live today, live for today, it takes money ... This is already a fortnight ago, and it is the most precious moments, as are those of force. There is no time to lose to get a stock of thirty million rials in cash
. From Savary to the Emperor: Research done at the Dowager Duchess of Osuna had a full success. We just carry on
.
20 December 1808 – The new headquarters were set in Zaragoza.
21 December 1808 – Three hundred quintals of bark of Spain would, by order of Napoleon, be distributed to forty-two cities of the Empire.
22 December 1808 – Napoleon crossed the Guadarrama river with part of his guard. He decided to personally take charge of operations against the English army.
27 December 1808 – Concentration of the English army in Benavente.
29 December 1808 – Napoleon defeated the English at Benavente.