Editing Henri Christophe

{{Short description|Haitian revolutionary; founder and ruler of the Kingdom of Haiti (1807–11)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type            = monarch
| name            = Henry I
| title           = [[Defender of the Faith]]
| image           = Henri Christophe.jpg
| caption         = Portrait by [[Richard Evans (portrait painter)|Richard Evans]], {{Circa|1816}}
| succession      = [[King of Haiti]]
| reign           = 28 March 1811 – 8 October 1820
| coronation      = 2 June 1811
| full name       = Henry Christophe
| predecessor     = ''Himself''<br>{{small|(as President of the State of Haiti)}}
| successor       = [[Jacques-Victor Henry|Henry II]] {{small|(unproclaimed)}}
| succession1     = [[President of Haiti|President of the State of Haiti]]
| reign1          = 17 February 1807 – 28 March 1811
| reign-type1     = In office
| predecessor1    = [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines|Jacques I]] {{small|(as Emperor of Haïti)}}
| successor1      = ''Himself'' {{small|(as King of Haiti)}}
| issue           = [[François-Ferdinand Christophe]]<br>Princess Françoise-Améthyste<br>Princess Anne-Athénaïre<br>[[Jacques-Victor Henry]], Prince Royal<br>Baron Thomas de Belliard (illegitimate son)
| spouse          = [[Marie-Louise Coidavid]]
| religion        = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1767|10|6|df=y}}
| birth_place     = [[British Grenada]]
| death_date      = {{death date and age|df=yes|1820|10|8|1767|10|6}}
| death_place     = [[Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Henri]], Kingdom of Haiti
| date of burial  =
| place of burial = [[Citadelle Laferriere]], Haiti
| father          = Christophe
| signature       = [[File:Coat of arms of Haiti (1814–1820).svg|100px]]
| signature_type  = Coat of arms 
|}}
[[File:Equestrian statue of Henri Christophe in Port-au-Prince 2018.jpg|thumb|Equestrian statue of Henri Christophe in the Haitian capital [[Port-au-Prince]]]]

'''Henri Christophe'''<ref>Henry Christophe spelled his first name with a 'y,' and official court documents followed the same convention, as is evidence notably in the [https://archive.org/stream/almanachroyaldha1816caph#page/n5/mode/2up ''Almanach Royal d'Hayti''.]  This is not, as is often assumed, the English spelling, but rather a traditional spelling notably adopted by eponymous French kings. See for example [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/1585_signature_of_King_Henri_IV_of_France.jpg the signature of King Henry IV of France.]</ref> ({{IPA|fr|ɑ̃ʁi kʁistɔf}}; 6 October 1767 – 8 October 1820) was a key leader in the [[Haitian Revolution]] and the only monarch of the [[Kingdom of Haiti]].

Born in the [[British West Indies|British Caribbean]], Christophe was possibly of [[Senegambia]]n descent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clammer |first1=Paul |title=Black Crown Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |date=2023 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781787387799 |page=18}}</ref> Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, he rose to power in the ranks of the Haitian revolutionary military. The revolution succeeded in gaining independence from France in 1804. In 1805 he took part under [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]] in the capture of [[Era de Francia|Santo Domingo]] (now Dominican Republic), against French forces who acquired the colony from Spain in the [[Peace of Basel|Treaty of Basel]].

After Dessalines was assassinated, Christophe retreated to the [[Plaine-du-Nord]] and created a separate government. On 17 February 1807, he was elected [[President of Haïti|president]] of the [[State of Haiti]], as he named that area. [[Alexandre Pétion]] was elected president of the [[Republic of Haiti (1806–1820)|Republic of Haiti]] in the south. On 26 March 1811, Christophe created a kingdom in the north and was later proclaimed '''Henry I, King of Haïti.''' He also created a nobility and named his legitimate son [[Jacques-Victor Henry]] as prince and heir.

He is known for constructing Citadel Henry, now known as [[Citadelle Laferrière]], the [[Sans-Souci Palace]], the royal chapel of Milot, the [[Palais de la Belle Rivière]] and numerous other palaces.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Gauvin Alexander |title=Der Palast von Sans-Souci in Milot, Haiti - The Palace of Sans-Souci in Milot, Haiti: Das vergessene Potsdam im Regenwald - The Untold Story of the Potsdam of the Rainforest |year=2018 |publisher=Deutscher Kunstverlag |location=München, Berlin |language=de,en |isbn=978-3422074668 |pages=200}}</ref> Under his policies of [[corvée]], or forced labor bordering on [[slavery]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Henri Christophe, King of Haiti |url=https://kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/revolution!/revolution-in-haiti/henri-christophe,-king-of-haiti |website=King's College London Archives & Special Collections |publisher=King's College London |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209195256/https://kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/revolution!/revolution-in-haiti/henri-christophe,-king-of-haiti |archive-date=9 December 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Kingdom earned revenues from agricultural production, primarily sugar, but the Haitian people resented the system. He reached an agreement with the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] to respect its Caribbean colonies in exchange for their warnings to his government of any French naval activity threatening Haiti. In 1820, unpopular, ill and fearing a coup, he committed suicide. Jacques-Victor, his son and heir, was assassinated 10 days later. Afterwards, General [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]] came to power and reunited the two parts of Haiti.

==Early life==
Claims about Henri Christophe's place of birth and life before coming to prominence have been contested since the early nineteenth century. Born Christophe Henry, probably in [[Grenada]] but perhaps [[Saint Kitts|St Kitts]]<ref>Marcus Rainsford's 1802 '[https://books.google.com/books?id=0LZXAAAAcAAJ St Domingo, or, An Historical, Political and Literary Sketch of the Black Republic]' gives Christophe's birthplace as St Domingo. An 1803 letter from Edward Corbet in the UK National Archives says Grenada. Pierre McCallum's 1805 '[[iarchive:travelsintrinid01mcagoog|Travels in Trinidad During the Months of February, March, and April, 1803]]' claims St. Kitts.</ref> the son of a slave mother and Christophe, a freeman, he was brought as a slave to the northern part of [[Saint-Domingue]].  In 1779 he may have served with the French forces as a drummer boy in the [[Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue]], a regiment composed of [[gens de couleur libres]] ([[Multiracial people|mixed-race]] residents of Saint-Domingue), and fewer black residents. The regiment fought at the [[Siege of Savannah]], a battle during the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=haitianhistory.org>[http://www.haitianhistory.org/contents.php?pagetitle=History Haitian Monument Outline]{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Haitian History</ref> It is claimed that Christophe was wounded in this battle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8mRKAAAAcAAJ|title=Essai sur les Causes de la Révolution et des Guerres Civiles en Haïti|last=Vastey|first=Baron de|publisher=Imprimerie Royale|year=1819|location=Sans Souci|pages=160}}</ref>

As an adult, Christophe may have worked as a mason, sailor, stable hand, waiter, or billiard marker; if so, most of his pay would have gone to his master.<ref name="Monfried" /> One popular story claims that he worked in and managed ''La Couronne'', a hotel restaurant in [[Cap-Haïtien|Cap-Français]], the first capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue and a major colonial city.  There, the legend goes, he became skilled at dealing with the ''grand blancs,'' as the wealthy white French planters were called. However, none of the hotel's sales records support this claim. He was said to have gained his freedom from slavery as a young man, before the [[Haitian Revolution#1791 slave rebellion|slave uprising of 1791]]. On 15 July 1793 he married Marie-Louise Coidavid,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clammer |first1=Paul |title=Black Crown Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |date=2023 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781787387799}}</ref> a member of the free black community of Cap-Français. The political skills he learned as a hotelier also served him well when he later became an officer in the military and leader in the country.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Beginning with the slave uprising of 1791, Christophe distinguished himself as a soldier in the [[Haitian Revolution]] and quickly rose to be a colonel during the revolutionary years. He fought for years with [[Toussaint Louverture]] in the north, participating in numerous battles during the revolution, and eventually rising to the rank of [[commander-in-chief]] at Cap-Français. By 1801, Louverture had promoted him to brigadier-general.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clammer |first1=Paul |title=Black Crown Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |date=2023 |publisher=Hurst Publishers |isbn=9781787387799 |page=85}}</ref>

==Independent Haiti==
The French deported Toussaint Louverture to France, and brought in more than 20,000 new troops under the [[Vicomte]] de [[Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau|Rochambeau]] in an effort to regain control of the colony and re-establish slavery. [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines]] led the fight to defeat the French forces. The French withdrew their 7,000 surviving troops in late 1803. As leader, Dessalines declared the independence of Saint-Domingue with its new name of Haïti in 1804.<ref>"Haiti." The Encyclopedia of World History, edited by Peter N. Stearns, and William L. Langer, Houghton Mifflin, 6th edition, 2001. Credo Reference, https://login.avoserv2.library.fordham.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/hmencyclwh/haiti/0?institutionId=3205. Accessed 23 Oct. 2019.</ref>

Christophe was in charge of the northern section of the country, where he notably supervised the first steps of the construction of [[Citadelle Laferrière]]. In 1805, General Nicolas Geffrard, commander in the south, approached Christophe with a plot to kill Dessalines, the self-proclaimed emperor of Haiti; Christophe did not warn Dessalines. Christophe's influence and power in the north was such that Dessalines, though aware of opposition brewing against him in the highest circles of power, found himself unable to strike against his general.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R98CAAAAYAAJ|title=Histoire d'Haïti Tome 3|last=Madiou|first=Thomas|publisher=Courtois|year=1849|pages=226–290}}</ref> The conspiracy involved the majority of Dessalines's senior officers, including his minister of war and navy [[Étienne Élie Gerin]], General [[Alexandre Pétion]], commander-in-chief of the second division in the west, [[Nicolas Geffrard (general)|General Nicolas Geffrard]] and many others. On 16 October 1806, they signed a proclamation entitled "Resistance to Oppression", declaring the necessity to overthrow Dessalines's government, and proclaimed Christophe head of the provisional Haitian government.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R98CAAAAYAAJ|title=Histoire d'Haïti, Tome 3|last=Madiou|first=Thomas|publisher=Courtois|year=1849|pages=313–316}}</ref> Dessalines was assassinated on 17 October 1806.

==Failed military invasion of 1805==
{{Main|Siege of Santo Domingo (1805)|Beheadings of Moca}}

In 1805, French troops still controlled Santo Domingo, where they were led by General [[Jean-Louis Ferrand]]. He ordered his troops to seize all black children of both genders below the age of 14 years to be sold into slavery. Learning of this action, Dessalines said he was outraged, and decided to use this a pretext to invade Santo Domingo, with his forces [[looting]] several towns, such as [[Azua, Dominican Republic|Azua]] and [[Moca, Dominican Republic|Moca]], and finally laying [[siege]] to the city of [[Santo Domingo]], the stronghold of the French.

Christophe (referred to as '''Enrique Cristóbal''' in Spanish-language accounts), under Dessalines, attacked the towns of Moca and [[Santiago de los Caballeros|Santiago]]. The barrister Gaspar de Arredondo y Pichardo wrote, "40 children had their throats cut at the Moca's church, and the bodies found at the presbytery, which is the space that encircles the church's altar..."<ref name="auto">Gaspar de Arredondo y Pichardo, ''Memoria de mi salida de la isla de Santo Domingo el 28 de abril de 1805'' (Memoirs of my leaving the island of Santo Domingo 28 April 1805)</ref> This event was one of several documented accounts of atrocities perpetrated by Christophe under the orders of Dessalines; they retreated to Haiti after Dessalines lifted the siege of Santo Domingo.

On 6 April 1805, having gathered all his troops, Christophe took all male prisoners to the local cemetery and proceeded to slit their throats, among them Presbyter Vásquez and 20 other priests. Later he [[Scorched earth|set on fire]] the whole town along with its five churches. On his way out he took along, fashioned like a herd, 249 women, 430 girls and 318 boys, a steep figure considering the relatively low population of the town at that time. Alejandro Llenas wrote that Christophe took 997 from Santiago alone, and "[[Monte Plata]], [[San Pedro de Macorís|San Pedro]] and [[Cotuí]] were reduced to ashes, and their residents either had their throats slit or were taken captives by the thousands, like farm animals, tied up and getting beaten on their way to Haiti."<ref name="auto"/>

Before leaving Santo Domingo, Dessalines "gave the order to... commanders posted in conquered communities, to round up all dwellers and subdue them to prison, and thus, at first command, have them stomped by mules and other beasts upon arriving to the Haitian side."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsglobaldaily24hours.com/2012/01/la-verdad-de-la-historia-del.html |title=La verdad de la Historia del autoproclamado Rey Henri Christophe, o Henri I de Haití y Jean Jacques Dessalines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727065545/http://www.newsglobaldaily24hours.com/2012/01/la-verdad-de-la-historia-del.html |archive-date=27 July 2013 |newspaper=Noticias Globales Diarias |date=13 January 2012 |language=es |access-date=29 August 2018}}</ref>

==State and Kingdom of Haiti==
[[File:Crown, Henry I of Haiti (Henri Christophe), Haiti, 1820 - Bode-Museum - DSC02719.JPG|thumb|right|[[Haitian gourde#First gourde, 1813–1870|Haitian gourde]] coin with portrait of Henry I in the style of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Solidus (coin)|solidus]], minted {{Circa|1820}}.{{efn|The coin is inscribed in [[Latin]] as ''"HENRICUS DEI GRATIA HAITI REX"'' ({{langx|en|Henry, by the Grace of God, King of Haiti}}).}}]]

Following a power struggle with Pétion and his supporters in the south, Christophe retreated with his followers to the [[Plaine-du-Nord]] of Haiti, the stronghold of former slaves, and created a separate government there. Christophe suspected he was also at risk of assassination in the south. In 1807, he declared himself "''président et généralissime des forces de terre et de mer de l'État d'Haïti''<nowiki/>'" (English: President and [[Generalissimo]] of the armies of land and sea of the State of Haïti).<ref name="ceac"/>  Pétion became President of the "Republic of Haïti" in the south, where he was backed by General [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]], a ''personne de couleur'' who controlled the southern armies.

In 1811, Christophe declared the northern state of Haïti a [[Kingdom of Haiti|kingdom]] and had himself crowned by [[Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle]], the archbishop of [[Milot, Haiti|Milot]]. The 1 April 1811 edict gave his full title as

{{blockquote|''Henry, par la grâce de Dieu et la Loi constitutionelle de l'État Roi d'Haïti, Souverain des Îles de la Tortue, Gonâve, et autres îles adjacentes, Destructeur de la tyrannie, Régénérateur et bienfaiteur de la nation haïtienne, Créateur de ses institutions morales, politiques et guerrières, Premier monarque couronné du Nouveau-Monde, Défenseur de la foi, Fondateur de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Henri.''}}

{{blockquote|Henry, by the grace of God and constitutional law of the state, King of Haiti, Sovereign of [[Tortuga (Haiti)|Tortuga]], [[Gonâve Island|Gonâve]], and other adjacent islands, Destroyer of tyranny, Regenerator and Benefactor of the Haitian nation, Creator of her moral, political, and martial institutions, First crowned monarch of the [[New World]], [[Defender of the Faith#Haiti|Defender of the faith]], Founder of the Royal Military Order of Saint Henry.<ref name=ceac>Cheesman, 2007.</ref>}}

He renamed Cap-Français as ''Cap-Henry'' (later renamed as [[Cap-Haïtien]]).<ref name="Cap-Haïtien">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/haiti/northern-haiti/cap-haitien/history|title=History of Cap-Haïtien}}</ref>

Christophe named his legitimate son [[Jacques-Victor Henry]] heir apparent, giving him the title of Prince Royal of Haïti.<ref name="Monfried">Monfried, Walter, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZToDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Henri+Christophe%22&pg=PA41 The Slave Who Became King: Henri Christophe]", ''Negro Digest'', Volume XII, Number 12, October, 1963.</ref> His second son was a colonel in his army.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Christophe built six châteaux, eight palaces and the massive Citadelle Laferrière, on a mountain near Milot. With the remains of the Sans-Souci Palace, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nine years later, at the end of his monarchy, Henry increased the number of designated nobility from the original 87 to 134.<ref>Cheesman, 2007, p. 10.</ref>

The two parts of Haiti struggled to increase agricultural production to recover from the expensive and damaging wars. The United States had only recently ended its arms and goods embargo against Haiti, and began war with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in the [[War of 1812]]. Christophe had to choose whether to enforce a version of the slave plantation system to increase agricultural production, or to subdivide the land into parcels for peasants' subsistence farming. The latter was the policy of President Pétion in the south. King Henry chose to enforce ''[[corvée]]'' plantation work, a system of forced labor, in lieu of taxes, but also began his massive building projects. During his reign, Northern Haiti was [[Despotism|despotic]], but the sugar cane economy generated revenue for government and officials.

He made an agreement with Britain that Haiti would not threaten its Caribbean colonies; in return, the [[Royal Navy]] would warn Haiti of imminent attacks from French troops. In 1807, the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] passed the [[Slave Trade Act 1807]] to abolish the importation of slaves into the [[British Empire]]. Because of increased bilateral trade with Britain, Christophe's government earned an enormous sum of [[Pound sterling|British pound]]s for his treasury. By contrast, Petion's southern Haiti became much poorer because the land-share system reduced agricultural productivity, and exports fell.<ref>Griggs and Prator, James.</ref>

==Nobility and heraldry==
[[File:Royal Coat of arms of Haiti (1811–1814).svg|thumb|right|Coat of Arms of the First Haitian Empire 1811-1820]]
[[File:Henry I, King of Haiti.jpg|thumb|In this portrait executed by [[Johann Gottfried Eiffe]], a German artist in the Royal Court, Henry wears the grand cross of the [[Royal and Military Order of St. Henry]] (''Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint Henry'')]]
As king, Christophe created an elaborate Haitian [[peerage]] (nobility), originally consisting of four princes, eight dukes, 22 counts, 40 barons, and 14 knights ("''chevaliers''").  Christophe founded a [[College of Arms]] to provide armorial bearings for the newly ennobled. For his personal coat of arms, Christophe chose a crowned phoenix rising from flames, and the motto ‘''Je renais de mes cendres’'' (‘I rise from my ashes’), presumably referring to the rebirth of Cap Henry after he burned it in 1802 to repel the invading French army.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Some Europeans mocked his creation. The titles of the ''Duc de Limonade'' (Julien Prévost, Christophe's secretary of state) and ''Duc de Marmelade'' (Jean-Pierre Richard, governor of Cap Henry) were considered particularly comic by those unaware that they were actually derived from place names given by the previous French colonists.<ref name="ceac" />

== French attempt to regain Haiti ==
After Napoleon abdicated in April 1814, King [[Louis XVIII]] attempted to take back St Domingue.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History|last=Araujo|first=Ana Lucia|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2017|isbn=978-1350010604|location=London & New York}}</ref> The [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]], ratified on 30 May, gave neighboring Santo Domingo back to Spain, and granted an extra five years of slave trade in which to recoup losses entailed by abolition of slavery. In October 1814, Henry I's ministers made public evidence of French schemes to try and recover its former colony, in the form of letters carried by French agents captured on the island.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Procès verbal d'interrogatoires de Agoustine Franco, dit Medina, espion français. Royaume d'Hayti. Commission militaire spéciale|publisher=chez P. Roux, imprimeur du Roi.|year=1814|location=Cap-Henry, Haiti}}</ref> In the ensuing uproar, the nation mobilized for the expected French invasion and began an international public relations campaign. From November on, reprints of Haitian pamphlets, newspapers and open letters appeared in print media across the Atlantic world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=McIntosh & Pierrot|first=Tabitha & Grégory|date=July 2016|title=Capturing the likeness of Henry I of Haiti (1805–1822)|journal=Atlantic Studies|volume=14, 2017 |issue=2|pages=127–151|doi=10.1080/14788810.2016.1203214|s2cid=163772175}}</ref> Such broadsides and editorial interventions were accompanied by critical theoretical texts on race and colonialism such as [[Pompée Valentin Vastey]]'s ''The Colonial System Unveiled'' (''Le Système colonial dévoilé'').<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le Système colonial dévoilé|last=Vastey|first=Pompée Valentin|publisher=P Roux|year=1814|location=Cap-Henry, Haiti}}</ref> Simultaneously, Henry opened up communication with the most prominent English abolitionists: his letter to [[William Wilberforce]] arrived on 5 January 1815, and began a new level of engagement between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Haiti.<ref name=":0" />

==End of reign==
[[File:Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (8070550861).jpg|150px|thumb|left|The pistol used in Henri Christophe's suicide]]

Despite promoting education and establishing a legal system called the ''Code Henry'',<ref name=CodeHenry>Henri Christophe, King of Haiti, 1767–1820. ''[https://archive.org/details/codehenry00hait Code Henry],'' Roux, P. (Pierre), printer, Au Cap-Henry [Cap-Haïtien, Haiti], 1812, {{ISBN|0548822247}}</ref> King Henry was an unpopular, [[Autocracy|autocratic]] [[monarch]]. His realm was constantly challenged by Petion's government of the south, in which ''gens de couleur'' held power. Toward the end of Christophe's reign, public sentiment opposed what many considered his feudal policies of forced labor, which he intended to use to develop the country.<ref name="ss">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/httoc.html Smucker, Glenn R. "Social Structure"], ''A Country Study: Haiti'' (Chapter 6 – Haiti: Historical Setting (Anne Greene, editor), [[Library of Congress]], December 1989</ref> Ill and infirm at age fifty-three, King Henry died by suicide by shooting himself with a [[silver bullet]] rather than risk a [[Coup d'état|coup]] and assassination.<ref name="Monfried" /> His son and heir was assassinated 10 days later. He was buried within the [[Citadelle Laferrière]].<ref name="Post-Gazette-26-aug-1942">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19420826&id=dtkOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1878,1037024 The Black Hitler]", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 26 August 1942</ref>

His descendants continued to be among the powerful of Haiti. [[Pierre Nord Alexis]], President of Haiti from 1902 to 1908, was Christophe's grandson.<ref name=BGeorges>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/000064.htm|title=Blézine Alexis née Georges}}</ref> [[Michèle Bennett]], who married  [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]] and was First Lady of Haiti during his administration (1980 to 1986), is Christophe's great-great-great-granddaughter.<ref name=EBennett>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/008224.htm|title=Ernest Bennett}}</ref><ref name=GBennett>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/125965.htm|title=Georgie Bennett}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
* {{Citation |last =Cheesman |first =Clive |title = The Armorial of Haiti: Symbols of Nobility in the Reign of Henry Christophe |publisher = The College of Arms |year= 2007 |location= London |isbn= 978-0950698021 }}.
* {{Citation |last =Clammer |first =Paul |title = Black Crown: Henry Christophe, the Haitian Revolution and the Caribbean's Forgotten Kingdom |publisher = Hurst Publishers |year= 2023 |location= London |isbn= 9781787387799 }}.
* {{Citation|title=Christophe: King of Haiti |last= Cole |first= Hubert |publisher= Eyre & Spottiswoode |place= London |year= 1967 }}.
* {{Citation|title= Henry Christophe and Thomas Clarkson: A Correspondence |editor1-last= Griggs |editor1-first= E.L. |editor2-first= C.H. |editor2-last= Prator |year= 1968 }}.
* {{Citation|title=The Black Jacobins |last= James |first= C.L.R. |year= 1968 }}.
* {{Citation|title= Black Majesty: The Life of Christophe, King of Haiti |first= John |last= Vandercook |publisher= Harper and Brothers Publishing |place= New York |year= 1928 }}.

== External links ==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070403183412/http://www.haitianhistory.org/ Haitian American Historical Society Savannah Monument Project]}}
* [http://marvintjones.com/wordpress/?p=23 Marvin T. Jones's blog "Photographing Haiti's Citadelle Henry"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005222337/http://marvintjones.com/wordpress/?p=23 |date=5 October 2013 }}
* The story of Christophe and slavery in Haiti is retold in the 1949 radio drama "[https://archive.org/details/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-08-14_ep057-Black_Hamlet_Part_I.mp3 Black Hamlet, Part I]" and "[https://archive.org/details/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-08-21_ep058-Black_Hamlet_Part_II.mp3 Black Hamlet, Part II]", presentations from ''[[Destination Freedom]]'', written by [[Richard Durham]]

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| title = [[File:Coat of arms of Haiti.svg|60 px]]<br /><small>[[President of Haïti|President of the State of Haïti]]<br />1807–1811</small><br />[[File:Coat of Arms of the First Haitian Empire.png|60 px]]<br /><small>[[Kingdom of Haiti|King of Haïti]]</small>
| before = [[Jean-Jacques Dessalines|Jacques I]]<br /><small>Emperor of Haïti</small>
| after = [[Jean-Pierre Boyer]]<br /><small> President of Haïti</small>
| years = 1811–1820
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Heads of state of Haiti}}
{{Haitian Revolution}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christophe, Henri}}
[[Category:Monarchs of Haiti]]
[[Category:Presidents of Haiti]]
[[Category:Haitian independence activists]]
[[Category:1767 births]]
[[Category:1820 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Haitian Revolution]]
[[Category:19th-century heads of government]]
[[Category:Mass murderers]]
[[Category:Haitian people of Grenadian descent]]
[[Category:Haitian rebel slaves]]
[[Category:Haitian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Haitian slaves]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in Haiti]]
[[Category:Haitian politicians who died by suicide]]
[[Category:Heads of state who died by suicide]]
[[Category:Presidents for life]]
[[Category:1800s in Haiti]]
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[[Category:19th-century monarchs in North America]]
[[Category:Self-proclaimed monarchy]]
[[Category:Christophe family]]
[[Category:War criminals]]
[[Category:Royalty who died by suicide]]