This always was the most ridiculous of the myths surrounding Napoleon - even conceptually it doesn't make sense. To have demasculated one of France's national heroes would have created the mother of all diplomatic incidents. Word would have got out, it would have hit the newspapers, there would have been a big stink about it. I've always thought it only cottoned on because it fits what the old British propaganda would like us to think about him.
Yes, if you read an account of how his body was treated, there was little chance anyone could have secretly removed his penis.
This always was the most ridiculous of the myths surrounding Napoleon - even conceptually it doesn't make sense. To have demasculated one of France's national heroes would have created the mother of all diplomatic incidents. Word would have got out, it would have hit the newspapers, there would have been a big stink about it. I've always thought it only cottoned on because it fits what the old British propaganda would like us to think about him.