Also in December 1813
6th: After nearly 20 years of exile, William, Prince of Orange, is invited by the provisional government of the Netherlands to become king. He declines, but instead proclaims himself Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands and requests that the rights of his people are guaranteed by ‘a wise constitution’. This change of government is the result of French forces having departed the country after defeat at the battle of Leipzig in October. 11th: With defeat in the Peninsular War now imminent, Napoleon agrees the Treaty of Valençay with the Spanish Crown. By this, French troops are to withdraw from Spain and Ferdinand VII, usurped by Joseph Bonaparte in 1808, is to be restored to the throne.
The treaty is named after the Château de Valençay, where Ferdinand was kept prisoner. 18th: In Milan, the Teatro Re is inaugurated with a performance of Rossini’s opera Tancredi. Named after the impresario Carlo Re, the lavish new venue has a seating capacity of 1,000 – about half that of the nearby La Scala. Over the next half-century, it will host the premieres of more than 20 operas before closing in June 1872.
19th: As the War of 1812 continues well into its second year, British infantry capture Fort Niagara, an important post on the Niagara River, from the US in an overnight assault.
The attack comes as a surprise to the US garrison, whose commanding officer Captain Nathaniel Leonard is later found drunk at his house, two miles away.
25th: William Debenham becomes a partner of William Clark’s drapers’ store at 44 Wigmore Street, London, which specialises in expensive fabrics, bonnets, gloves and parasols. Now renamed Clark and Debenham, the business looks to expand beyond London, and soon opens another shop on the Promenade in Cheltenham.