What did Napoleon die of?
Why the poison theory lasted so long
Because it is a better story. An emperor murdered in exile by his gaolers beats, dramatically, a man of fifty-one carried off by his stomach. Hair analyses revealing arsenic reopened the case in the 20th century; we now know arsenic was everywhere at the time — wallpaper, dyes, medicines — and that those levels prove nothing.
The autopsy carried out the day after the death already described an extensive gastric lesion. The modern diagnosis has only confirmed and named it.
What the museum shows
The Louis XIV–Napoleon III department holds objects from Saint Helena: the grey coat, personal effects, relics of the exile. It is the part of the museum that follows on best from the tomb, and it is described on the museum page.
On this subject, be wary of anything categorical. Retrospective medicine works from reports written in 1821: it offers the most probable hypothesis, not a forensic certainty.
Book your entry
The ticket below opens the Dôme, the tomb and the four museums, for the whole day.
Frequently asked questions
What illness killed Napoleon?
Stomach cancer, on the best-supported medical hypothesis.
Was he poisoned?
The arsenic theory has not survived re-examination: arsenic was ubiquitous in the environment of the period.
Did he know he was dying?
He had long feared the illness that killed his father, and he dictated his last wishes before the end.