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In this article Maria Sofia Corciulo has analyzed the Constitution for France, drawn up by the Napoleonic Senate and issued on 6 April 1814, after its decision to withdraw recognition from the Emperor. It had in reality been initiated and largely drafted by Talleyrand in order to secure a negotiated settlement with the Allies and a non-violent transfer of power within France. The aim was to secure the basic principles of the Revolution of 1789 and the political and economic interests of the current officeholders and beneficiaries, against a possible Bourbon counter-revolution. The article shows how the Constitution sought to defeat the Ultra-royalist demand for the re-establish men t of hereditary sovereignty by divine right and maintain the Revolution principle of the sovereignty of the people. By the use of carefully formulated ambiguities, a text was evolved that could be acceptable to all but the extremists at the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Despite its enforced failure to resolve clearly some of the important issues of the location of power, the Constitution did provide a basis which ensured that, over time, the restored Bourbon monarchy would be parliamentary, not absolutist.
