rock the boat. 1. Lit. to do something to move a boat from side to side, causing it to rock. (Often in a negative sense.) Sit down and stop rocking the boat.
The Bumpy Coronation of Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. A victorious general who had become leader of France through a coup dâÃ©tat, Napoleon wanted to establish the legitimacy of his regime.
Between 1809 and 1811, Napoleon's empire stood at its greatest extent. In 1809, Napoleon turned 40, and became concerned at his lack of an heir. Hoping that a younger woman would conceive more readily, he had his marriage to Josephine annulled and started looking for a suitably aristocratic second wife.