Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"It was a compromise between the ideas of the revolution in the ancien regime, blending revolutionary rationalism with authoritarian principles. It confirmed the recent abolition of feudalism and gave a fixed deed of entitlement to those with property.… The new Civil Code meant that France was governed by clear laws. Further commercial and criminal codes followed, but it was the Code Napoleon that had the most influence--across all of Europe." [1001 Days]