1805
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4 January 1805 France and Spain sign a mutual defense treaty in Paris.
8 January 1805 Eraldo ed Emma, a dramma eroico per musica by Simon Mayr (41) to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
12 January 1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Walter Scott is published in Edinburgh.
17 January 1805 Kharkov (Kharkiv) University opens, the first university in Ukraine.
18 January 1805 Spanish troops assault a Navajo stronghold (at Canyon de Chelly, Arizona) killing 115 men, women and children and taking 33 prisoner. After the battle the Spaniards kill 350 sheep belonging to the Navajo.
21 January 1805 The borders of Livorno are opened after the passing of the Yellow Fever epidemic.
22 January 1805 Nicolò Paganini (22) renews his contract with Cappella Nazionale del Potere Executivo, Lucca.
23 January 1805 Publication of the Piano Sonata op.13 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (26) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
23 February 1805 Publication of the Twelve Dances for piano op.16 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (26) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
3 March 1805 Louis Spohr (20) gives his first concert in Berlin. He asks the young virtuoso Jacob Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (13) to take part, thus swelling the audience with interested Jews.
8 March 1805 The High Police Court of Vienna issues a further finding in the case of Beethoven and Artaria. Beethoven (34) must publish a retraction of his offending announcement of 22 January 1803 to Artaria and Co. See 9 September 1805.
Haitian troops lay siege to a French garrison at Santo Domingo. They will leave at the appearance of French warships and run amok in the interior.
12 March 1805 A new music school, Le Lezioni Caritatevoli, is founded in Bergamo, led by Johann Simon Mayr (41).
Julie, ou Le pot de fleurs, a comédie en prose, mêlée de chants by Gaspare Spontini (30) to words of Jars, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
18 March 1805 The Kingdom of Italy is created by the union of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Venetia. Emperor Napoléon I is proclaimed King of Italy. Piombino is attached to Lucca.
24 March 1805 Prince Alois I of Liechtenstein dies, succeeded by his son, Johann I.
30 March 1805 A French fleet under Villeneuve slips out of Toulon heading west.
7 April 1805 Fleeing debts, Lorenzo da Ponte boards ship in London bound for America.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s (34) Symphony no.3 “Eroica” is performed publicly for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna. It was performed privately last summer at the residence of the dedicatee, Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. The work leaves the critics confused.
After wintering at Fort Mandan (North Dakota) the Lewis and Clark expedition sends about twelve men back with various natural, agricultural and anthropological artifacts. The rest of the team heads west.
11 April 1805 A treaty of alliance between Great Britain and Russia to oppose France is signed in St. Petersburg.
16 April 1805 Eight months after reaching Nagasaki, Russian envoy Nikolai Rezanov meets with representatives of the Japanese government who rebuff his request for relations.
25 April 1805 The French ambassador in Lisbon present the Portuguese regent Dom João with the demand that Portugal declare war on Great Britain.
27 April 1805 In the dispute between the United States and the Barbary States, United States forces capture the port of Derna (Darnah) on the Tripoli coast.
29 April 1805 France transforms the Batavian Republic (Netherlands) into the Batavian Commonwealth.
30 April 1805 La jeune femme colère, an opéra comique by Adrien Boieldieu (29) to words of Claparède after Étienne, is performed for the first time, in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.
1 May 1805 Duke Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Cassel becomes Elector Wilhelm I.
9 May 1805 The Portuguese regent Dom João rejects the French ultimatum of 25 April and redeclares his country’s neutrality.
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller dies in Weimar at the age of 45.
11 May 1805 Lord Nelson decides to sail west across the Atlantic in search of the French-Spanish fleet.
15 May 1805 Publication of the Romance op.50 and Piano Sonata “Waldstein” op.53 by Ludwig van Beethoven (34) is announced.
20 May 1805 Publication of Familiar Airs, in Various Styles, for the Piano Forte no.3 by John Crotch and William Crotch (28) is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
21 May 1805 In Paderborn, in Germany, Friedrich Wilhelm Sertürner first crystallizes morphine from opium. He calls it morphium from the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus. It is the first time a medicinal plant is broken down to its active ingredient.
26 May 1805 Emperor Napoléon I is crowned King of Italy in Milan Cathedral. Some of the music is the first performance of a Te Deum by Johann Simon Mayr (41) for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra.
The Lewis and Clark expedition see the Rocky Mountains for the first time.
28 May 1805 Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini dies in Madrid of a “respiratory complaint”, aged 62 years, three months and nine days. His earthly remains will be laid to rest in the crypt of San Justo, Madrid.
3 June 1805 Lorenzo da Ponte arrives in Philadelphia from London.
4 June 1805 France annexes the Ligurian Republic which includes Genoa.
The British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom is founded in a London tavern. It is a private group assembled to exhibit art.
5 June 1805 Simon Mayr’s (41) farsa Di locanda in locanda e sempre in sala to words of Buonavoglia is performed for the first time.
10 June 1805 Fould, the largest foreign exchange dealer in Paris, collapses in ruin.
A peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Sultan Yusuf Pasha of Tripoli.
13 June 1805 Il fonte prodigioso di Orebbe, a cantata by Giovanni Paisiello (65) to words of Rota, is performed for the first time, in Piazza del Pendio, Naples.
The Lewis and Clark expedition reach the Great Falls of the Missouri (in present Montana).
24 June 1805 Napoléon makes Lucca a principality and his elder sister Elise Baciocchi is named Princess. She rules along with her husband, Felice Baciocchi.
25 June 1805 Concerto for Organ no.3 by William Crotch (29) is performed for the first time, in Oxford.
26 June 1805 The Paris Conservatoire grants its membership diploma to Franz Joseph Haydn (73). In late July, Luigi Cherubini (44) will carry this, a membership medal and a letter from L’Institut National to Haydn in Vienna. Cherubini and his wife depart Paris today to produce two operas in Vienna.
L’amor coniugale, a farsa sentimentale by Simon Mayr (42) to words of Rossi after Bouilly, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Nuovo, Padua.
6 July 1805 Publication of the Fantasy for Piano op.18 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (26) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
9 July 1805 The dynasty of Muhammad Ali begins in Egypt.
13 July 1805 Luigi Cherubini (44) reaches Berlin from Paris.
18 July 1805 Luigi Cherubini (44) departs Berlin for Vienna.
21 July 1805 The lands of Parma are ceded to France.
22 July 1805 British ships meet a combined French-Spanish fleet off El Ferrol, Spain. Two Spanish ships are lost.
24 July 1805 Publication of the Concerto for piano, violin and orchestra op.17 by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (26) is announced in the Wiener Zeitung.
27 July 1805 The Principality of Hohenlohe-Ohringen is absorbed by Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen.
Luigi Cherubini (44) reaches Vienna from Berlin.
30 July 1805 Three days after arriving in Vienna, Luigi Cherubini (44) conducts a performance of Les Deux Journées. The composer’s reputation precedes him, several of his operas having been performed in the city, and the day is a success with public and press.
1 August 1805 United States ships bombard Tunis.
5 August 1805 Louis Spohr (21) is appointed Konzertmeister in Gotha, the youngest person to hold that position in Germany.
An inaugural concert takes place on the organ of St. Peter’s Church in Salzburg, newly rebuilt by Georg Joseph Vogler (56). Michael Haydn (67) is moved by the majestic sound.
7 August 1805 Adrien Boieldieu’s (29) opéra comique Abderkan to words of Dégligny is performed for the first time, in the Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg.
9 August 1805 In reaction to Napoléon proclaiming himself King of Italy and his annexation of Genoa, Austria adheres to the Anglo-Russian alliance.
12 August 1805 Meriwether Lewis reaches the source of the Missouri and climbs a peak at the Continental Divide (Lemhi Pass) from which he sees more mountains.
29 August 1805 Emperor Napoléon gives up the idea of invading Britain and orders the three army corps at Montreuil, St.-Omer and Bruges to march east.
9 September 1805 In the final resolution of the Beethoven (34)-Artaria squabble, the lawyers of the two sides sign an agreement that Beethoven will not have to publish a retraction and Artaria will publish a future quintet along with a Paris publisher. Beethoven will never compose the quintet and Artaria will take no further action against him.
10 September 1805 Austria attacks Napoléon’s ally, Bavaria.
11 September 1805 Russia and the Ottoman Empire conclude a treaty of alliance.
15 September 1805 Lord Nelson, commanding a British fleet, sails from Portsmouth amidst much fanfare.
17 September 1805 Muzio Clementi’s (53) 20-year-old wife Caroline dies in Berlin, nine days after giving birth to their son.
23 September 1805 Emperor Napoléon announces to the French Senate that he has changed his plans. Instead of invading Britain, he will presently lead a campaign east against Austria, Russia, Great Britain and Sweden.
24 September 1805 The advance guard of Napoléon’s Grand Armée cross the Rhine at Strasbourg.
Emperor Napoléon and Empress Josephine depart Paris for the front.
Hafiz Isamil Pasha replaces Yusuf Ziyaüddin Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
1 October 1805 Napoléon reaches Ettingen where he meets the Duke of Baden and forces him to sign an alliance with France.
2 October 1805 Napoléon reaches Louisbourg where he receives aid from his ally, the Elector of Württemberg.
7 October 1805 The Grand Armée crosses the Danube.
The Lewis and Clark expedition reaches the Clearwater River (near present Orfino, Idaho) having crossed the Continental Divide.
11 October 1805 Austrian troops almost trap 4,000 French around the village of Albeck but they escape before superior forces.
14 October 1805 French troops capture Elchingen on the Danube and establish a bridgehead across the river.
16 October 1805 Napoléon orders his artillery to bombard Ulm.
The Lewis and Clark expedition reaches the Columbia River.
17 October 1805 Austrian forces in Ulm agree to surrender to the French if no help arrives by 25 October.
20 October 1805 30,000 Austrians surrender to the French at Ulm.
21 October 1805 A British fleet under Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish force off Cape Trafalgar near Cadiz. The British sink or capture 22 ships while only 11 escape. 7,258 men are killed or wounded, including Lord Nelson who is killed in action. Vice-admiral Pierre de Villeneuve is captured and transported to Britain.
23 October 1805 23,000 Russians arrive in Braunau, Upper Austria joining 22,000 Austrians to oppose Napoléon.
25 October 1805 The French Grand Armée crosses the Isar in Bavaria making for Vienna.
26 October 1805 Prussian forces occupy Hannover.
Simon Mayr’s (42) melodramma eroicomico La roccia di Frauenstein to words of Rossi after Anelli is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
29 October 1805 French troops attack the Austrian defenders of Caldiero but are beaten back.
30 October 1805 French forces capture Salzburg.
3 November 1805 By the Treaty of Potsdam between Prussia and Russia, Prussia agrees to end neutrality and join the coalition against France.
4 November 1805 The Austrian Imperial Court evacuates Vienna.
7 November 1805 After a journey of a year and a half from St. Louis, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reach the mouth of the Columbia River at Gray’s Bay, 30 km from the Pacific Ocean.
8 November 1805 French forces defeat the Austrians at Mariazell, 90 km southwest of Vienna.
9 November 1805 Russian troops effect their escape across the Danube.
Rumors of impending financial collapse so worry French citizens that troops are called in to keep order among investors.
11 November 1805 5,000 French troops blunder into a Russian force eight times their size at Dürenstein. The day is saved for the French by reinforcements and the Russians withdraw. The fight costs 7,000 casualties.
12 November 1805 French troops reach Vienna.
13 November 1805 French troops march into Vienna unopposed.
14 November 1805 Napoléon enters the Schönbrunn Palace and takes up residence.
Fanny Mendelssohn is born in Hamburg, the first of four children born to Abraham Mendelssohn, a banker, himself the son of the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and Lea Solomon, daughter of the Prussian court jeweler and granddaughter of Daniel Itzig, a financial advisor to King Friedrich II of Prussia and one of the most affluent citizens of Berlin.
19 November 1805 French forces occupy Istria.
Archchancellor Jean-Jacques-Regis de Cambacérès writes to Emperor Napoléon in Vienna that the Récamier Bank and the Swiss Deville Bank have recently failed. Many prominent Frenchmen, including members of the Bonaparte family, entrusted their savings to the former.
20 November 1805 Leonore (Fidelio), an opera by Ludwig van Beethoven (34) to words of Sonnleithner after Bouilly, is performed for the first time, in the Theater-an-der-Wien, Vienna with the Leonore Overture no.2. Those few who review the work are unimpressed. The hall includes some French officers. Many of the Viennese aristocrats, traditional supporters of the composer, have fled the city. As a result, the work is not a success and enjoys only two more performances. One interested audience member is Luigi Cherubini (45). See 29 March 1806 and 23 May 1814.
23 November 1805 A treaty of peace is concluded between Sindhia and the East India Company.
2 December 1805 The French Grand Armée defeats a combined Russian and Austrian force at Austerlitz (Slapanice) just east of Brunn (Brno). The defeated flee in panic so fast, Tsar Alyeksandr is almost captured. 16,300 people are killed.
The Ninth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. Voting for the House of Representatives took place between April 1804 and August 1805. President Jefferson’s Republican Party gains eleven seats, giving it 114 to 28 for the Federalists. In the Senate the Republicans increase by two seats to 27 out of 34.
3 December 1805 The Emperor Franz I of Austria calls on Napoléon to sue for peace.
4 December 1805 A private performance in honor of Napoléon is given at Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna directed by Luigi Cherubini (45). 300 political and military men of Napoléon’s staff and government attend. At the conclusion, Napoléon rises and leaves without applauding or acknowledging the music.
6 December 1805 An armistice is concluded between France and Austria.
7 December 1805 Ludwig van Beethoven (34) writes a testimonial for his student Carl Czerny (14), saying “he has made such extraordinary progress on the pianoforte, exceeding his age of 14 years; in view of this fact, and also because of his admirable memory, he is deemed worthy of all possible assistance.”
11 December 1805 News of the victory at Austerlitz reaches Paris. The financial markets, so recently desperate, begin to turn around.
15 December 1805 A treaty of alliance is signed in Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna between France and Prussia. Prussia gives up Cleves, Neuchâtel and Ansbach in return for Hanover.
25 December 1805 Johann Philipp Karl, Count Stadion-Warthausen is named Lord Chamberlain and Chancellor to Emperor Franz I of Austria.
26 December 1805 A treaty of peace between France and Austria is signed at Pressburg (Bratislava). Austria cedes Dalmatia and Venetia to the Kingdom of Italy. Tyrol, Voralburg and other Alpine lands go to Bavaria, a French ally, and Swabia is ceded to Württemberg. Bavaria and Württemberg are made kingdoms while Baden is created a Grand Duchy. Würzburg is made an electorate under Ferdinand Joseph Johann Baptist of Austria.
By edict of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, all internal customs in Prussia are abolished.
Gli americani, a melodramma eroico by Johann Simon Mayr (42) to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
28 December 1805 Napoléon leaves Vienna.
31 December 1805 Napoléon takes up residence in Munich.
By decree of Emperor Napoléon I, the Revolutionary calendar adopted in 1793 goes out of use.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
6 June 2012
Last Updated (Wednesday, 06 June 2012 04:49)