The Importance of Verifying Birth Data

Recently I was watching a video about a somewhat complicated Vedic technique in which the presenter attempted to explain well-delivered theoretic ideas with an actual chart. Unfortunately, the chart chosen was that of Napoleon I Bonaparte, which is in dispute by historians. A commonly cited birth chart for Napoleon uses the data: 15 August 1769 in Corsica with a birth time of approximately 11 A.M. because his mother was noted to have gone into labor while attending church on the morning of the Catholic Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

Unfortunately, this commonly used chart has been discovered to be in error by reputable scholars of Napoleon’s life, and using invalid birth data to illustrate astrological principles calls their validity into question. For example, historian Mary Brett Ashley has written: “Although Napoleon’s Birthday is recognized as Aug 15 – indeed, his true birthday is January 7, 1768, Corte, Corsica. His father was going to send him to military school in France but Napoleon was too old, so his father took his brother Joseph’s birthday of August 15, 1769 and switched so that Napoleon could enter Brienne. This is substantiated by historical records in Corsica where Joseph was born on Aug 15 and the child Napoleon was actually born on Jan 7 [1768].” In addition, the school required proof of French citizenship, and Corsica was not annexed to France until June 1769, the month before Napoleon’s younger brother was born. It appears that many astrologers have been using the birth chart of Napoleon’s younger brother instead to that of the actual historical figure, Napoleon I Bonaparte. 

I have been unable to find any historical sources of the time of birth of the “real” Napoleon I Bonaparte, so here is a sunrise square chart in South Indian format of the famous general whose time of birth is currently unknown:

[image error]Napoleon I Bonaparte, born 7 January 1768, time unknown, cast for sunrise in Ajaccio, France.