Theories that Napoleon was betrayed, poisoned, or a victim of inappropriate medical treatment have been undermined by new research based on the emperor’s trouser collection. The research has shown that his weight loss in his final year is consistent with a severe progressive illness. It lends credence to the idea that Napoleon died of stomach cancer, which was the cause of death specified in the original autopsy.

Napoleon died in exile on the island of St Helena and almost since the day of his death in 1821 there have been conspiracy theories about the cause. There have also been suggestions that chronic exposure to arsenic and medication errors were involved, while the theories that he had been poisoned was given a considerable boost in 1961, when a raised arsenic concentration was found in his hair.

Share This