registration of births, marriages and deaths. This benefitted the government (tracking the coming of age of taxable and conscriptable persons), but also the people. The new civil records had more consistent detail and accessibility in central repositories than the scattered religious records people had relied on previously, and the separation of church and state in record keeping is now standard in most countries. His instruction in 1811 obliging those without a surname to choose one had an unexpected legacy, however. While surnames are also standard today, many objected at the time. In an act of defiance, they chose names in Dutch which were silly, rude or plain pornographic - knowing the new French bureaucrats could not understand them. The milder names survive intact to this day, such as "De Hond" (The Dog), "Aardappel" (Potato), "Naaktgeboren" (born naked), while the ruder names were largely toned down such as "Naakt In 't Veld" (Naked in the Field) - and its variants with interesting activities in said field - which are usually only seen today as "In 't Veld" (In the Field). References Notes Sources Gijsberti Hodenpijl, C.F. (1904) Napoleon in Holland. Homan, G.D. (1978) Nederland in de Napoleontische Tijd 1795-1815. Joor, J. (2000) De Adelaar en het Lam. Onrust, opruiing en onwilligheid in Nederland ten tijde van het Koninkrijk Holland en de Inlijving bij het Franse Keizerrijk (1806–1813), p. 503-510. Schama, S. (1987) Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780 - 1830. Chapter 13 "Babylon Undone" 1810-1813. External links Inspectiereis Napoleon 1811 Napoleon bezoekt Nederland Napoleon in Nederland Napoleon in Amsterdam Napoleon in de polder Napoleon in Nederland Napoleon First French Empire 1811 in the Netherlands