被黑格尔誉为“马背上的世界精神”的拿破仑,由于著名的滑铁卢战役而成为军事上的失败者。然而,他却因为一部法典长留青史。令拿破仑如此引以为傲的1804年《法国民法典》,是资本主义国家产生最早影响最广的民法典,它的问世开辟了一个新纪元。从一定意义上讲,正是这部法典开创了现代两大法系之一的大陆法系。由于拿破仑在编纂过程中所起的重要作用,该民法典在1807年和1852年先后两次被命名为《拿破仑民法典》。1870年以后,法国政府和法院一般都称之为《法国民法典》,但习惯上仍称为《拿破仑法典》。 Known by Hegel as “Napoleon on Horseback ”, Napoleon became a military loser due to the famous Battle of Waterloo. However, he remained in the history of a Codex chief. The French Civil Code of 1804, so proud of Napoleon, was the earliest and most influential civil code in the capitalist countries, and its advent opened up a new era. In a sense, it is this code that created the civil law system of one of the two major legal systems in modern times. Due to the important role Napoleon played in the compilation process, the civil code was named twice in 1807 and 1852 as the Napoleonic Civil Code. After 1870, the French government and courts generally referred to as the “French Civil Code,” but it is customarily still referred to as the “Napoleonic Code.”