Attila_194cm. says on 19/Jan/12
I had read somewhere he was 168,in Paris before he became emperor he was nicknamed 'the puss in boots'...

LC says on 10/Nov/11
"Little Corporal" was a term of endearment. The English tried to demonize him by making him seem wee.

zack says on 26/Oct/11
when he was a child he was short and was made fun of his entire life the other children would call him little corporal while he was growing up

Tyson says on 12/Oct/11
Napoleon was reported to have picked up one of his dead soldiers in Egypt and moved the body to a more decent place. Plus, when Napoleon was finally captured by the British, it was a British General who reported his true height.

Les Hartung says on 11/Oct/11
He was taller than William Wallace, no wonder Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo cause he was sleeping instead of attacking the English!!

theenforcer22 says on 12/Sep/11
Surely, if he was short, it makes his achievements even more impressive?

Shaun says on 20/Jul/11
Rob can you start a page on Henry VIII? We need more historical figures on here, although they are difficult to estimate because of exagerrations but exhumed bodies will give a legit measurement of course..

Shaun says on 20/Jul/11
Henry VIII was a legitimate 6'2" and his height was estimated at 6'4" by his armoury. Hell and he was in the 1500s. Henry VIII would have been the 21st century's version of Scott Schwarz. A virtual giant in those times and at his heaviest clearly over 300 pounds.

Shaun says on 20/Jul/11
Average height actually for a man from this period would have been 5'4-5'5" range. I read that the average height of a British soldier in the Boer War, 3/4 century after Napolean in 1898 was 5'5.5".

Shaun says on 20/Jul/11
This guy was the Tom Cruise of the early 19th century, everybody claimed he was a midget when in reality he was almost average height. I've read 5' flat for this guy.

English Propaganda says on 10/Jul/11
Well above the average height of his time (including England). Not short at all. Another creation of English propaganda (they are masters).

Rikashiku says on 30/Jun/11
The French foot had him at 5'2.5". In english conversion, he was 5'6.6", a whole inch taller than the average Frenchman at the time.

What would of made him appear short in his life was the fact that his royal guard comprised of mostly tall soldiers giving the illusion that he was a short man. Though compared to the English, he would still be short since the average Englishman at the time was 5'7"(or 5'8"?), well at the time they were the tallest people in the world.

Hermann says on 8/Jun/11
The English said that Napoleon was short, because they were scared of him, and wanted their soldiers and general population to think that he was just a small man which would not pose a threat to great Brittain.
He was actually a little above the average height of his time.

Thierry says on 4/May/11
The question of Napoleon's height is part of his legend. But it doesn't seems to have any influence upon his decisions or actions.
The few time Napoleon himself refered to his physicals was not to complain about his height, but about his gain of weight and the lost of energy with age. Size never appears to have been an issue for him. It is more likely that he must have been average (smaller or not), but the question of his size will remain a non-ending debate now...

DURO says on 21/Apr/11
Napoleon being short was a myth started by the English.

If some people ACTUALLY had a history degree, they'd know this.

Ora et labora says on 31/Mar/11
Napoleon was 1.686 meter, what was french average height at his time. To compare. Swedish soldiers at that time had an average height of 1.634 meter.
That Napoleon was little is English propaganda from that time that still is alive. The Famous Lord Nelson and Napoleon was at same height.

louis the first says on 10/Mar/11
this argument isn't really an argument at all -- nappy's remains have been exhumed/observed multiple times, to test for residual poisons in an effort to try and pinpoint cause of death. his remains clearly and unambiguously indicate that in his prime, he stood about 5 ft 7 using today's english measure. this was average height for a european male in the 19th century.

the reason he was perceived as being short was because of his personal bodyguard retinue, who always accompanied him in the field, and frequently accompanied him in his civilian routine. they were former HRE and alsatian mercenaries, all of them at least 6 feet tall. they were selected for their size, as they could fully shield him. thus, he appeared 6 inches shorter than his "posse" and the english took the perception and used it as propaganda.

nappy was, in fact, taller than many of the generals and colonels who served with him. again, he was average height for that era.

Richard says on 4/Mar/11
I saw his uniform at the Paris War Museum years ago and thought at the time he must have been no more that 5'.

Cornelius Lucian says on 17/Feb/11
he was about 5' 2" in the old French measuremnt which is about 5' 6" or 5' 7" in our measurement. He's about 6" taller than me to he was pretty average height. maybe the other guys were just extremley tall :D

unknown says on 31/Jan/11
He was about 168 cm which is 5 foot 7 ish in English measure of the time or 5 foot 2 inches in the old French system, but 168 cm is 168 cm

Edd says on 25/Jan/11
His height was measured in an autopsy. He could very well have been 5'7 to 5'7.5 when he was younger.

TruebloodFan says on 10/Jan/11
He was short, because the people of his time, even his soldiers knew him as short. He wore lifts too. The French were always famous for their lifts, Luis XIV. wore them a century and a half before Bonaparte. Bony was probably 5ft4 or 5ft5, then with lifts achieved a 5ft6, 5ft7 look.

Legend says on 5/Jan/11
I think he was 5'2 - 5'3 range. The real propaganda is people now trying to say he was actually taller. He was short, deal with it.

edin taslidza nino says on 3/Jan/11
i think he was small men about 169 cm en biggest historical person all time sure.

Franco says on 23/Dec/10
That was english propaganda, for that age if the were 5'7 he would be really tall as 6'4 today, so is stupid to say he was shortnwhen he was above average height in that time.

addie says on 14/Dec/10
I hate to argue with, "HistoryMajor," but my degree is in Philosophy and I am going to go with the ancient Greeks and trusting my senses.

I stood next to Napo's uniform, including boots (it was not in a case or anything) and the shoulder was just an inch or so below my own and I'm a solid 5 foot 9 and was in sneakers.

That makes him, about, the sites stated, "5 foot 6.5 - 5'7"

Not to be a smart ass, but---
Sharon, Napolean was not French.


He must have just been the target of pretty saavy English propganda.

relux says on 6/Dec/10
I've seen a "redingote" some kind of an overcoat in A museum in Pareis, France. he was 5'2" tops.

Karen says on 16/Nov/10
Who was the French general who was shorter than Napoleon and served with him in Egypt?

? says on 21/Oct/10
he was pictured small in cartoons by the English and refered to as a small man as he was the bogey man and seen as a person who could over throw the state.