April 11, 1814

Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)

Treaty of Fontainebleau signed in Paris, settling Napoleon's abdication and exile

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was not signed at Fontainebleau. Six plenipotentiaries signed it at Talleyrand's Paris residence, at about half past eleven in the morning.

11 April 1814, at a house in Paris

At about 11:30 a.m. on 11 April 1814, Napoleon's plenipotentiaries — Caulaincourt, Ney and Macdonald — signed the convention traditionally called the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Metternich for Austria, Nesselrode for Russia and Hardenberg for Prussia, at Talleyrand's Paris residence.

Napoleon was not among them. He was at Fontainebleau, which gave the treaty its conventional name, and ratified the agreement on 13 April.

Article I, and everything it did not take away

Article I made Napoleon renounce sovereignty over the French Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and every other country, for himself and for his family.

He was not reduced to a private citizen. He and Marie-Louise kept their imperial titles for life; Elba became a separate principality held by Napoleon in sovereignty and in property; and Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla were assigned to Marie-Louise and her direct descendants.

The price list of an exile

The treaty specified pensions, escorts, transport and a guard. Napoleon was promised 2,000,000 francs a year from French state revenue, half reversible to Marie-Louise, with 2,500,000 francs in total reserved for other members of the Bonaparte family.

He could retain 400 willing officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers as a personal guard, while an escort of 1,200 to 1,500 Imperial Guard troops would go with him only as far as his embarkation point. He left Fontainebleau on 20 April and landed at Portoferraio on 4 May.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

The treaty is firmly dated 11 April, but Napoleon did not personally sign it that day: his plenipotentiaries signed in Paris, and he ratified it on 13 April.
Napoleon had drafted or accepted an unconditional act of abdication during the night of 5–6 April, but its delivery and legal settlement were tied to the treaty negotiations. Sources therefore variously label 6 or 11 April as his first unconditional abdication.
Despite its conventional name, the treaty was negotiated and signed in Paris, not at Fontainebleau.