Ridley Scott’s new biopic of the legendary military commander has just arrived in UK cinemas. <\/p>
Ridley Scott\u2019s latest historical epic, Napoleon<\/a>, is now available to watch on big screens around the country, with Joaquin Phoenix bringing the titular military commander to life.<\/p>\n The film covers a lot of ground in chronicling events from the beheading of Marie Antoinette to his death while in exile on the island of Saint Helena \u2013 so much so that Scott has already confirmed that an extended four-hour cut<\/a> of the film will eventually be coming to streaming.<\/p>\n Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa take a somewhat loose approach to the true events<\/a> as they are believed to have actually happened by historians, but the film does offer a hugely entertaining spectacle that we called \u201can epic fit for an emperor\u201d in our four-star review<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although the film tells us when Napoleon died \u2013 on 5th May 1821 \u2013 and even that his final words were, \u201cFrance, the army, head of the army, Jos\u00e9phine,\u201d it\u2019s less clear about what exactly caused his death.<\/p>\n The actual answer about this is rather complicated, and has long been a source of historical debate \u2013 read on for everything you need to know.<\/p> While some aspects of Napoleon\u2019s death are up for debate, there are a few things we know for certain \u2013 such as the time and place.<\/p>\n He passed away on 5th May 1821 while in exile on the island of Saint Helena, where he had first been sent following his defeat by the Duke of Wellington\u2019s army at the Battle of Waterloo six years earlier.<\/p>\n We also know for sure that the cause of death was given as stomach cancer<\/strong> following an autopsy by physician Francesco Antommarchi, but rather more mystery surrounds the question of just what had caused the disease \u2013 with some alleging that he had been poisoned.<\/p>\n Napoleon was certainly treated harshly on the island and had been suffering from declining health for some time before his death, with his personal physician even warning the English government that their treatment of him was directly responsible for his various ailments.<\/p>\n This undoubtedly fuelled the rumours that he had been a victim of arsenic poisoning \u2013 as did the fact that traces of it were found in samples of his hair \u2013 but later research appeared to pour major doubt on these claims, showing that Napoleon had actually had high arsenic concentration in his hair throughout his life due to exposure from a young age.<\/p>\n It therefore appears most likely that it was natural causes that led to Napoleon\u2019s death at the age of 51 \u2013 although it seems certain that this will continue to be a cause of hearty debate for many years to come.<\/p> How did Napoleon die?<\/strong><\/h2>\n