Napoleonic code

According to Article 324 of the Napoleonic Code of 1810, if a husband found his wife in their marital bed with another man, killing her was considered excusable.

Most important was completion of the Napoleonic Code, which collected and made clear all of the country’s civil laws.

The Napoleonic Code, long since amended, said “a woman owes obedience to her husband,” not an uncommon view at the time.

Not so in continental Europe, where legal systems are usually based on unbending Napoleonic code.

The legal concept of a force majeure is derived from the French Napoleonic Code.