The tragic fate of Napoleon's only legitimate son: What prevented Eaglet from spreading his wings. sons of napoleon king of roman son of napoleon
Jr son of Napoleon Bonaparte, the only one born in a legal marriage, Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles Bonaparte lived a short life, he became heir to the throne and was proclaimed emperor by Napoleon II, but was never crowned. Despite his high origin, he was isolated from the French court and parents and actually became a prisoner at the Austrian court. A great fate awaited him, but the Eaglet did not justify the hopes of the Bonapartists, having died at the age of 21.
After 13 years of marriage, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to divorce the childless Josephine in order to marry a woman who could give him an heir to the throne. By that time, he already had two illegitimate sons - from Eleanor Denuel de la Plaine and Maria Walewska. At the same time, the marriage was supposed to become dynastic and strengthen the position of Napoleon, making him related to the current legitimate monarch of another state. Napoleon proposed to the sister of the Russian Emperor Alexander I, but was refused. Then his choice fell on the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz I, Maria-Louise. Their wedding took place in 1810, and a year later they had a son, Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles, who received the title of King of Rome.
After the economic crisis and military collapse, Napoleon abdicated in 1814 in favor of his legitimate son, but the winners declared the Bonapartes deposed and restored the power of the Bourbons in France. The Empress and son were separated from Napoleon and sent to Austria. The defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put an end to the power of Napoleon Bonaparte. His second abdication in favor of his son did not find support, and although the Paris legislature recognized Napoleon II as emperor in June 1815, he was never crowned and, in fact, never reigned.
From the age of 4, Napoleon Francois Joseph, nicknamed the Eaglet because the eagle was the heraldic symbol of the French emperor, grew up without a father. The mother was carried away by a new novel - Count Naiperg became her chosen one, from whom she gave birth to four children, and soon she was completely separated from her first son. In addition to the understandable psychological problems of a child deprived of parental attention, there were also difficulties of a political nature: the Eaglet was constantly under the supervision of the Austrian authorities and from childhood was an object of intrigue.
At the Austrian court, they made sure that the name of Napoleon was not mentioned at all, and his son was called by his middle name, in the German way - Franz. The eaglet was forced to forget French and speak only German. He was deprived of hereditary rights to the Duchy of Parma, but was granted the title of Duke of Reichstadt, after the name of one of the estates in Bohemia. He was brought up as an Austrian prince, he grew up in Schönbrunn Castle near Vienna, but despite his high position, he was a virtual prisoner at court. Members of the government did not take their eyes off him, because the Bonapartists had high hopes for Eaglet as a likely candidate for the French throne.
The young man was fond of military history, read a lot and dreamed of a military career and great deeds, but his abilities never showed up. His tutor wrote about him: Distrustful, perhaps because of his position, which he assessed very sensibly, he directed a close, searching look at people, knew how to persuade them to talk, observe them and recognize". At the age of 20, Eaglet was already in the rank of lieutenant colonel, but a year later he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis and died suddenly in 1832. For some time there were rumors that he was poisoned, but they were not confirmed.
The eaglet never fulfilled either his dreams or the hopes of the Bonapartists placed on him. There were no direct descendants of Napoleon I Bonaparte, and the French throne was taken by Eaglet's cousin, Prince Louis Napoleon, who proclaimed himself Emperor Napoleon III in 1852. Eaglet was reunited with his father only after his death, when, by order of Hitler, his remains were transported to Paris and buried next to the grave of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon II became one of the most enigmatic and romantic figures in French history. His fate inspired Edmond Rostand to create the play in verse "Eaglet", which became the reference book of Marina Tsvetaeva, who in her youth idolized Napoleon and his son and worshiped them with such passion that she even replaced the icon in the icon case with a portrait of Napoleon. Eaglet is dedicated to a number of her poems.
Marie Louise of Austria was the last of.
Napoleon was incredibly annoyed by the absence of an heir, especially considering that Josephine had two children from her first marriage, whom the emperor was now raising. Returning to France in 1806 after a brilliant victory at Austerlitz, he met the young and charming Eleanor Denuel de la Pleigne, the lecturer of his sister Caroline. In general, Caroline played a significant role in the formation of this connection: she hated Josephine and had a huge influence on her brother. In addition, a friend whom they met in a boarding school for noble maidens had an affair with her husband, so the idea of setting Eleanor with Napoleon was beneficial to her. The calculation was as follows: Eleanor will give birth to her brother's long-awaited heir and this will upset the emperor's relationship with his wife. Napoleon quickly fell in love with a slender brunette with huge black eyes, who was also quite witty. And already in December 1806, Eleanor gave birth to a boy. After that, Napoleon firmly decided to part with his beloved, but unable to bear him an heir, Josephine.
firstborn
Charles Leon Denuel was given to the education of the former nurse of the son of Caroline and received an annual allowance of 30,000 francs (almost a million euros). Napoleon was insanely happy about the birth of his son and loved the boy, but he didn’t want to have more business with his mother, who had fulfilled her role, and paid off her with an annual allowance of 22,000 francs. Eleanor tried to meet with Napoleon on her own, but the emperor was adamant, so she had to take care of her life. But in Count Leone, as the boy was called, Bonaparte did not cherish the soul. The heir often visited the castle, where his father played with him and gave him expensive gifts. The boy was raised by his grandmother Letizia, who found the incredible resemblance of Charles to Napoleon charming in childhood. Indeed, outwardly very similar to his father, Count Leon, however, did not inherit his determination at all. He led a wild and dissolute life and was extremely wasteful. He spent all his content on various adventurous projects or lost at cards. One night he lost 45,000 francs. With such a lifestyle, the young man was never enough money, even taking into account the inheritance of 300,000 francs, which his father bequeathed to him.
Eleanor Denuel de la Plaigne
Napoleon wanted Charles to become a magistrate, but Count Leon did not work out with his studies, so he spent his life at the gaming table, behind the scenes of theaters, in the boudoirs of demi-monde ladies or in the stables. He liked the attention to himself, as to the son of the great Bonaparte, and he believed that only this fact gives him the right to an appropriate attitude. In fact, Charles either shot himself in duels or ran away from creditors, who once even put him in jail. Once, in 1840, he even provoked a duel with his cousin, Prince Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, who was then living in exile in England. But the fight did not take place, because the duelists argued about weapons for so long that the police showed up and stopped the duel.
Count Leon pulled money from all his relatives, even sued his mother and won an annual allowance of 4,000 francs. But he continued to squander everything. Characterized by adventurism, Charles even tried to build a political career. So, he wrote to Pope Pius IX that he was ready to become the Italian king. And when his cousin Charles-Louis-Napoleon ascended the throne, he demanded appointment to the public service and the payment of his debts. But Napoleon III did not forget that English duel, so he did not give the post. However, he gave Count Leon 6,000 francs of a pension and 255,000 francs, of which 45,000 went to pay off debts. In fact, Napoleon III was the only relative who continued to support his flighty and reckless cousin. After the overthrow of his patron, Count Leon finally went bankrupt. He was buried at the age of 75 at the expense of the municipality as a beggar tramp.
The offspring of the "Polish novel"
Napoleon's son almost became an aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Constantine
Napoleon was finally convinced of the need for a divorce from Josephine by the pregnancy of another of her girlfriends, the Pole Maria Walewska. If he still doubted the paternity of Charles, then he did not doubt the fidelity of Mary. She fell head over heels in love with Napoleon and moved to Paris in 1808, settling near Eleanor, who at that time was retired. In 1809, she gave birth to Napoleon a boy, who was named Alexander. However, the windy emperor soon lost interest in Mary and became interested in his future wife, Marie-Louise of Austria. Alexander was born a month after their marriage in 1810. He received 10,000 francs a month's allowance. His mother Maria remained faithful to Napoleon for a long time and was even ready to share exile on the island of Elba with her lover, but he rejected her. In 1816 she married and had a child, but soon fell ill and died. After that, Alexander was sent to Poland. At the age of 14, he turned down an offer to become personal adjutant to Grand Duke Konstantin and came under the radar of the Russian police. Alexander fled to France in 1827 and there received a secret mission to Poland from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. So he became a participant in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831. For participation in the Grokhovsky battle he received a military cross and continued his military career, and after his resignation he took up writing.
Alexander Valevsky
Unlike the Count of Leon, he immediately joined the supporters of Napoleon III in 1848 and began to build a diplomatic career. First he became the envoy of France in Florence, then he did a brilliant job in England. It was he who arranged the visit of the emperor to England and the trip of Queen Victoria to France. In 1855, Bonaparte's son became Minister of Foreign Affairs and in this position presided over the Congress of Paris. In 1868, his health failed him, and Alexander Valevsky died, leaving behind seven children.
Legal heir
The only legitimate heir of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was his son from Marie-Louise of Austria, who was named Napoleon-Francois-Joseph. In fact, he was destined to become the next emperor, but fate decreed otherwise. He was born in 1811, a year after his parents' marriage. In 1814, the father abdicated in favor of the heir, but he was never crowned. The winner, Alexander I, insisted on returning the Bourbons to the throne. It is noteworthy that it was Alexander's sister who was predicted for Napoleon instead of the Austrian Archduchess, but the Russian emperor in every possible way delayed the solution of this issue and Bonaparte settled on the "Austrian version".
Napoleon-Francois-Joseph, Napoleon II
Napoleon II never occupied the throne
Napoleon's heir was sent with his mother to Vienna, where they decided to isolate him from Marie Louise. She never saw her son again. Napoleon-Francois-Joseph, on the other hand, was kept in a golden cage: carefully guarded, kept away from everything French, and even called Franz in Austrian. However, the young man, in spite of everything, remembered his great father and admired him. His life, unfortunately, was short-lived, he died in 1832 from tuberculosis. From the Bonapartists, the heir received the name Napoleon II, although in fact he never ruled France. He was buried in the famous Viennese Kapuzinerkirche next to other Habsburgs.
Josephine's children
Eugene de Beauharnais
Although Napoleon divorced Josephine in 1809, he raised her children from her first marriage and her husband's great-niece for ten years. Eugene de Boragne, after his mother's marriage to Bonaparte, received the title of Prince of the French Empire, and in 1807 became Viceroy of Italy. Despite the fact that the title of king was Napoleon himself, the 24-year-old Eugene actually ruled Italy. He ruled firmly, but managed to earn the love and respect of the subject people. In addition, Eugene made a brilliant military career. He commanded troops in Italy in the campaign against Austria in 1809, and in 1812 Napoleon entrusted him with the leadership of the 4th corps of the French army. With the departure of Napoleon from Russia, Eugene led the transfer of the remainder of the troops to Magdeburg.
After the first abdication of Bonaparte, Alexander I even seriously considered Eugene de Beauragne as a candidate for the French throne. For the renunciation of the Italian possessions, Eugene received 5,000,000 francs and transferred them to his father-in-law, King Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria, for which he was “pardoned” and given the title of Landgrave of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstet. He promised to no longer support Napoleon, and in 1815 received a peerage of France. Until his death, Eugene lived in the Bavarian lands and no longer participated in political affairs.
Hortense de Beauharnais
Josephine's daughter Hortense was loved by Napoleon. To strengthen family ties, he married his stepdaughter to his younger brother Louis. So Hortense turned out to be her mother's daughter-in-law. Soon the couple became the king and queen of Holland and ruled there until 1810, until the country was annexed by France. The marriage was unhappy, Hortense loved another. She fell in love with Charles de Flao and even gave birth to a son from him. During the restoration of the Bourbons, she was under the protection of Alexander I and even received the title of Duchess of Saint-Leu from Louis XVIII. However, during the "hundred days" Hortense supported her stepfather, and after the defeat of Napoleon, she was expelled from France. She traveled throughout Europe and finally settled in Switzerland, where she raised her children alone. Hortense made an unsuccessful attempt to return to France. She died in Switzerland in 1837 at the age of 54.
Stephanie de Beauharnais
Napoleon raised Josephine's children from his first marriage
His wife's niece, Stephanie, who was the daughter of Josephine's first husband's cousin, Napoleon adopted as his own, sending her to the same boarding school as Hortense. She lived in the Tuileries, led a luxurious and carefree life. Soon her stepfather married her to Elector Karl of Baden, giving her the title of "Princess of France". For the sake of this wedding, Napoleon forced Karl of Baden to refuse marriage to Augusta of Bavaria, giving her as his wife to his stepson Eugene. Stephanie was given special attention, in all ceremonies she took second place after Josephine, which caused the envy of Hortense and Napoleon's sisters. In response, Stephanie also gave Napoleon attention, rumors spread. Jealous Josephine stopped the scandal by putting her niece in her place and reminding her of her fiancé.
The future husband, however, did not like Stephanie at all. She slammed her bedroom door in his face, the estrangement between them growing. The spouses were even sent to Karlsruhe, and Napoleon wrote paternal letters to his stepdaughter, in which he bequeathed to love her husband. But Stephanie was adamant. However, when a change suddenly occurred in her, and Stephanie became kind to her husband, he did not believe her and pushed her away from him. They did not see each other for two years, and then suddenly they became the happiest family for everyone and had five children. In 1818, at the age of 29, Stephanie suddenly became a widow. She lived modestly in Mannheim Castle, and after Louis Napoleon's accession to the French throne, she began to visit Paris frequently. Stephanie died in 1860 in Nice.
This week, a Memorandum was signed on Borisov's accession to the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities.
An event, consider, of a global scale. Now we are officially included in the "Roads of Napoleon" program, and this is another good chance to prove ourselves abroad. An incentive for the visit of tourists, because today, according to queries in Internet search engines, only Jesus Christ is more popular than the great French emperor. And now it is enough to ask the request "Napoleon" anywhere in the world - and you will receive information about the battle on the Berezina and its environs. Why not see the legendary places with your own eyes? And there really is something to see here, did not hide his emotions in a conversation with the SB correspondent, the president of the federation, Charles Napoleon, a descendant of the legendary Bonaparte, and at the same time shared the details of his family history.
Here is what he said: “As you know, there are no direct descendants of Napoleon left. My ancestor Jerome is the younger brother of the French emperor, who was the king of Westphalia - at that time a small kingdom in the territory of modern Germany. It turns out that Napoleon is my great-great ... in a word, my uncle is in the sixth generation, and our family is recognized as the main heirs.
Jerome Bonaparte is a rather interesting personality. At the age of 16, he already commanded units that conquered the island of Elba for France. If you remember, it was there that Emperor Napoleon would be exiled after his first abdication... And at the very beginning of the 19th century, the young lieutenant Bonaparte, on the orders of his older brother, accompanied General Leclerc to Haiti, where black slaves rebelled. When the general sent Jerome home with a request for help, the British attacked the French frigate, and the lieutenant only miraculously managed to take refuge in the territorial waters of America. In Baltimore, he fell in love with Elizabeth Paterson, the daughter of an American merchant from Maryland, they had a son, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte-Paterson. But family happiness was short-lived: the French emperor forced his younger brother to terminate this union and return to Paris ... Later, Jerome Bonaparte participated in the Russian campaign under the command of Marshal Davout, but even before the Battle of Borodino he returned to the capital of Westphalia, Cassel, where his brother appointed him king.
FUN FACT
Jerome's grandson, Louis Napoleon Joseph Jerome Bonaparte, served in the Russian army until 1917. He rose to the rank of general. It is known that Emperor Nicholas II patronized him. Ironically, back in the late 80s of the 18th century, Napoleon Bonaparte himself aspired to join the Russian army in order to participate in the campaign against Turkey. According to one version, he was refused, according to another, he himself did not want to agree to the conditions, because foreigners were accepted into the service with a decrease in rank ...
A couple of years ago, the book of Monsieur Charles "Unknown Napoleon - my ancestor" became a real bestseller in France. This, by the way, is not his only work on the legendary ancestor. Former financier and banker, doctor of economic sciences, Charles also managed to visit the vice-mayor of the French town of Ajaccio - the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
As far as I understand the life of my distant ancestor, he was at the same time one of the greatest military leaders on earth, and the great reformer of France. I mean that he lived in step with that era, the era of the French Revolution. And his conquests were an occasion to spread throughout Europe the socio-political achievements that she brought with her. The institutions he created still exist today. And besides the war of 1812, we can now also talk about the political struggle between the values of the French Revolution and the conservative views of the monarchy.
To resolve conflicts in that era, Europe gave preference to weapons. And Napoleon united about 20 European countries under his banners, including Austria and Prussia. Not least, his descendant believes, because he had a magnificent gift of persuasion. But when the Napoleonic army set foot on our lands in 1812, it did not at all become the usual victorious march.
When we in France talk about the Berezina, we mean a catastrophe. This is not the first time I have been to Borisov, and every time I am amazed that such a fierce battle took place on such a quiet river. And I would like through our federation to make these places known to tourists all over the world. So that they can come and see with their own eyes where and how everything happened. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the very name of the Berezina in France is a household name, almost no one knows where this river is located.
Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in our view was a short man. Hence even the popular expression "Napoleon complex". Although in reality his height was 168 centimeters - in those days even above average. But his descendant Charles is head and shoulders above those around him. Stately, with a French-Italian aristocratic appearance. However, as soon as you talk to him, you understand that the facial features, albeit remotely, but still resemble a textbook image from portraits. However, our interlocutor is also not a simpleton - with the title of prince. I wonder if he himself sees any similarities with his ancestor?
It's hard to find something in common. Still, I am me, and Napoleon is Napoleon. To be honest, it even annoys me when they see me as only the heir to the imperial dynasty. This is not my merit, but rather my karma. And in character? I think that another legacy was passed down through the centuries - a view of the world. You see, the lessons of history are how we can use them to make a difference today for the better. And most importantly, the decisions that were made in the past can help us change something now. And my distant ancestor showed that only the leader who can predict can become great. That is why Napoleon became a legend. But my philosophy is not that you can reproduce or repeat the actions of your ancestors, but to perceive life with the same optimism and the will to change.
Charles Napoleon personally knows the mayors of more than 60 cities included in the European Federation of Napoleonic Cities. Now we have also got acquainted with the chairman of the Borisov regional executive committee, who is going to Paris in December to present an issue of the federation's magazine dedicated to the Belarusian city. All mayors are to some extent members of a large union, they meet, cooperate and, Monsieur Charles shared his plans for the future, it is possible that one day they will gather in Borisov.
On March 11, 1810, in Vienna, with great solemnity, in the presence of the entire Austrian imperial family, court and diplomatic corps, the solemn marriage of Archduchess Marie-Louise with Emperor Napoleon, who was represented by proxy by Marshal Berthier, took place. This marriage ended a long string of years during which the French emperor, who freely controlled the fate of European monarchies, could not solve his own dynastic problem and acquire offspring. The Bonaparte clan wove a very intricate intrigue to convince the emperor of the ability to bear children. As a result, after Napoleon, three sons remained, whose fate was very different. Photo: top: AKG/EAST NEWS
Napoleon married Josephine de Beauharnais in March 1796, but they never had children in ten years of marriage. Meanwhile, Josephine had two children from her first husband, Viscount Alexander de Beauharnais, and this circumstance terribly unnerved her new husband. A man accustomed to brilliantly solve any problems that arose before him, simply could not believe that in this family-dynastic business he had suffered a final failure.
In 1805, Napoleon won the greatest victory of his career, defeating the combined forces of two emperors at Austerlitz - Russian and Austrian. At the beginning of 1806, he returned triumphantly to France and immediately struck up a relationship with the young beauty Eleanor Denuel de la Plaigne, his sister Caroline's lecturer.
She was a slender brunette with huge black eyes, lively, flirtatious and witty. A girl from a good family, the daughter of a Parisian bourgeois, who graduated from the famous boarding school of noble maidens Madame Campan (where she met Caroline Bonaparte), she unsuccessfully married. Her first husband introduced himself as a dragoon officer, Jean Revel, but turned out to be an ordinary swindler and soon ended up in prison. Having settled in the service of her friend, Eleanor soon became close to her loving husband, Marshal Joachim Murat. The emperor himself, who did not like to spend a lot of time on preludes, also did not have to persuade her for a long time - Caroline, who hated Josephine, who had influence on her older brother, took care of this. Napoleon had by this time been married to Josephine for ten years and considered himself barren. Therefore, he did not expect that young Eleanor would be able to give birth to a child for him. However, their love meetings soon led to a result that Caroline and the entire Corsican Bonaparte clan, who dreamed of divorcing Napoleon with the "foreigner" Josephine, were counting on. Eleanor became pregnant and gave birth to a boy nine months later. It happened on December 13, 1806 at two o'clock in the morning.
The emperor at that time fought in Poland. When Marshal François-Joseph Lefebvre told him the good news, overjoyed Napoleon exclaimed: “At last I have a son!” At first, a crazy idea even came to his mind to adopt a child, but he soon changed his mind - the emperor needed a legitimate heir. Napoleon refrained from formal recognition of his son and even forbade giving him his full name. But now he firmly decided to part with his beloved, but unable to give birth to an heir, Josephine.
Little Charles, Count of Leon, was placed in the care of Madame Loire, the former nurse of Achille, son of Caroline and Marshal Murat. Napoleon gave his son an annual allowance of 30,000 francs (in current prices, approximately 1 million euros), and his mother - 22,000 francs, but he no longer wanted to see her - she ceased to be interesting to him. When in 1807 Eleanor came to Fontainebleau without permission, the emperor even refused to accept her. After that, on February 4, 1808, she married the young lieutenant Pierre-Philippe Ogier, but four years later he went missing in Russia during the infamous crossing of the remnants of the French army across the Berezina.
And only in 1814 she successfully entered into a new marriage with a major of the Bavarian army, Count Karl-August-Emil von Luxburg. The first husband, who had been released from prison by that time, tried to protest the divorce and regain the newly-minted countess, but to no avail. The von Luxburgs lived comfortably for thirty-five years - first in Mannheim and then in Paris, where the count was appointed ambassador.
firstborn
Eleanor, who played her part, was no longer interested in the emperor, but he welcomed the young Charles and even spoiled him. The boy was often brought to the Tuileries to his father, who loved to play with him and gave him expensive gifts. It seemed that the emperor could not get enough of the child, who dispelled doubts about his ability to become a father. Napoleon appointed Baron Mathieu de Movière, father-in-law of his personal secretary Claude-Francois de Meneval, as the guardian of his son. And after Waterloo, when the Bonapartes from the august family became just private individuals, Napoleon's mother Letizia and his uncle, Cardinal Joseph Fesch, took up the upbringing of the child. From early childhood, Count Leon showed a violent and rebellious temper. He was like two drops of water similar to his father in childhood, which especially touched his grandmother Letizia.
In a will written on the island of Saint Helena, Napoleon allocated 300,000 francs to his son and expressed the wish that he become a magistrate. However, the imperial son was not interested in a quiet life. Having reached adulthood, the young man, whom everyone around called Count Leon, began to lead a dissolute and wasteful life. Being outwardly a copy of his father, he did not possess his purposefulness at all. He entered the University of Heidelberg, but quickly abandoned his studies. Then he tried to implement one after another a variety of projects (up to the construction of a submarine). He entered military service as the commander of a battalion of the National Guard of Saint-Denis, but he was soon dismissed "for negligent attitude to official duties." He even tried to become a priest, but failed. But he turned into an inveterate duelist. In 1832, Count Leon killed in a duel in the Bois de Vincennes Karl Hesse, the illegitimate offspring of one of the English princes (cousin of the future Queen Victoria), adjutant of the Duke of Wellington. It was not an act of revenge for his father, as one might think - Count Leon and Hesse quarreled at the card table. The Count was a passionate gambler. Once, in one night, he lost 45,000 francs (in modern money - about a million and a quarter euros).
With such squandering, the money left by the emperor could not be enough for a long time. Meanwhile, the count believed that, being the son of a great man, he had a natural right to an outstanding role in society. And many considered it an honor to make acquaintance with the son of Napoleon. But Count Leon did not accomplish great deeds. He spent his life at the gaming table, behind the scenes of theaters and in the boudoir of the ladies of the demi-monde, as well as in the stables. An excellent rider and great lover of horses, he could shell out a fortune for a good horse. And he threw huge sums left and right, and when the money ran out, he easily got into debt. In 1838, creditors even put him in jail, but not for long.
In 1840, Count Leon decided to try his luck in England, where his wealthy relative, Prince Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew and grandson of Josephine de Beauharnais, lived in exile, and began to extract money from his cousin. He did it in such a brazen manner that it came to a duel. But, fortunately, not to bloodshed. The seconds of Charles-Louis-Napoleon brought two swords to the intended place of the duel in Wimbledon, and the seconds of Count Leon brought two pistols. A long argument about which weapon to choose ended with the appearance of the police, who separated the failed duelists. Deported back to France, Count Leon successfully led a lawsuit against his mother, Countess von Luxburg, the court ordered her to pay him an annual allowance of 4,000 francs. He was also good at malicious and vicious pamphlets. They began to bring good fees, which, however, he immediately squandered.
In the late 1840s, Napoleon's son finally had the opportunity to try his hand at political battles. On the Apennine Peninsula, there was a struggle for independence from Austria and unification, and many expected that Pope Pius IX would help the Italian states unite. Count Leon wrote to the pope and offered himself as king of Italy, but apparently no one but Leon himself could imagine him in this role.
Having suffered a fiasco in Italy, Count Leon seriously took up French affairs. In March 1848, after the expulsion of King Louis-Philippe, he solemnly promised to preserve the French Republic, speaking out against all monarchists, including Bonapartists, who wanted to enthrone his cousin Charles-Louis-Napoleon. When the unloved relative nevertheless became Emperor Napoleon III, Count Leon began to seek his appointment to the public service and the payment of his debts. The cousin could not forgive the Wimbledon duel and did not give the post. But he provided a pension of 6,000 francs and allocated 255,000 francs, of which 45,000 went to pay off the count's debts, and the remainder provided an annual income of 10,000 francs. But even this money turned out to be too little for a hardened player. And soon Count Leon began again to beg for money from his crowned kinsman. Old age was approaching, funds were becoming scarcer, and the old reveler finally settled down somewhat. He reconciled with his mother, with whom he had been at enmity for so long, and in 1862 he married a woman with whom he had already lived for nine years and who bore him six children. And although Francoise Jaunet was immeasurably lower than his position - her father once served as a gardener for Count Leon - she remained faithful to her husband and was 25 years younger than him.
Finally, the first-born of the great emperor went bankrupt after the overthrow of Napoleon III, the man he once wanted to kill in a duel was the last one who helped him stay afloat. Poverty has set in. Count Leon died in Pontoise on April 14, 1881 at the age of 75, and was buried at the expense of the municipality as a beggar vagabond.
Polish novel
The need for a divorce from Josephine became finally clear to the emperor after the news of the pregnancy of his new girlfriend, Maria Walewska, whom he met in 1807 in Warsaw. If Eleanor Denuel de la Plaigne was a rather windy person and Napoleon could still have some doubts about his paternity, then this time he was ready to vouch for the loyalty of his beloved. They say that at first Mary gave in to the courtship of the emperor out of patriotic feelings: the gentry hoped that a love affair with a Polish woman would make Napoleon think more about the interests of her homeland. But soon the twenty-year-old girl, not out of love given by her parents to the elderly aristocrat Anastasia Colonna-Valevsky, fell head over heels in love with Napoleon. Having moved to Paris at the beginning of 1808, she settled on Victory Street, not far from the apartment in which Eleanor Denuel de la Plaine, already known to us, lived, who had already received her resignation at that time. And in 1809, Maria, in love, followed the emperor to Austria. It was there, in Schönbrunn, that Maria announced to Napoleon that she would soon become a mother.
In October 1809, Walewska went to Poland to give birth there on May 4, 1810, to a child named Alexander. Six months later, with her son in her arms, she returned to Paris, but the place next to Napoleon, and all his thoughts, was already occupied by another woman - Princess Marie-Louise of Austria.
Marriage of convenience
Having divorced Josephine, Napoleon immediately set about choosing a new wife, who was supposed to give birth to a legitimate heir to the throne. On January 28, 1810, a special meeting of the highest dignitaries of the empire was convened on this issue. The choice was not rich. The marriage alliance was supposed to guarantee the Napoleonic dynasty a place in the sun, and therefore, it had to be concluded with a great power. In addition to France, there were three of them in the then world. But with England there was a constant war not for life, but for death, and the choice remained between Russia and Austria.
Most ministers supported the candidacy of Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, sister of Emperor Alexander I, and only a few, including Foreign Minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, for the Austrian Archduchess Marie-Louise, daughter of Emperor Franz I. Russia was much stronger than Austria , just once again defeated by the French troops. However, Alexander I clearly did not want to marry his sister to a “Corsican”, coming up with more and more excuses: young age, different religions, and, finally, the fact that only her mother could marry her, and he did not have such power. Napoleon, irritated by the obstinacy of the Russian court, declared that he was leaning towards the "Austrian version."
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, while still the Austrian ambassador in Paris (since October 1809 - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria), assured him that Austria agreed to marry Napoleon to her young Archduchess. In early February 1810, a marriage contract was prepared, completely copied from a similar contract drawn up at the marriage of the French king Louis XVI to another Austrian archduchess, Marie Antoinette, the aunt of Napoleon's bride. The Austrian emperor ratified the treaty, and on February 21 a message about this arrived in Paris. And the very next day, Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon's chief of staff, went to Vienna to represent the emperor of the French during the solemn marriage ceremony. He arrived in the capital of Austria in early March 1810, and already on March 11, a traditional marriage by proxy was concluded - in the presence of the entire Austrian imperial family, the entire court, the entire diplomatic corps, dignitaries and generals. The next day, Bertier went to France, and 24 hours later, the future Empress Marie-Louise left Vienna after him. The eighteen-year-old princess was on her way to a country she had always been taught to hate.
Napoleon met her on March 27, 1810, not far from Paris, and only then did the couple see each other for the first time in their lives. When concluding a marriage, the emperor sought to find a wife who could give birth to an heir to him, and was not very worried about appearance and feelings. But in the carriage, he found a delightful, childishly naive young woman and fell in love with her. On April 2, 1810, the wedding of Napoleon and Marie Louise was celebrated again at the Tuileries Palace.
Middle-brother
A month later, Alexander Walevsky was born, the son of Napoleon from his Polish lover. The emperor allocated 10,000 francs a month for its maintenance. Of course, this was a huge amount, which spoke of how important his “Polish wife” was to him, but the emperor’s romance with Walewska was finally interrupted - largely due to the jealousy of his legal wife. The countess quietly left for Warsaw, but remained faithful to her former lover for a long time. When the deposed Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba and many of his former friends and associates turned their backs on him, Valevskaya secretly visited him there with four-year-old Alexander. However, the deposed emperor met his “Polish wife” rather dryly, who was ready to voluntarily share exile with him.
Only after Napoleon was exiled to the island of St. Helena, Maria Walewska considered herself free from obligations towards him. In September 1816, in Brussels, she married the former colonel of the Napoleonic Guards, Philippe-Antoine d'Ornano. But she did not have long to enjoy the happiness of a new marriage. The birth of a child on June 9, 1817, named Rodolphe-Auguste-Louis-Eugene, became fatal for her. Seriously ill, the beautiful Polish woman died on December 11 at the age of only 31 years.
Alexander-Florian-Joseph Colonna-Walevsky, Napoleon's second son, was brought to Poland after his mother's death. At the age of 14, he turned down an offer from Grand Duke Konstantin to become his personal aide-de-camp, and he was closely monitored by the Russian police. So in 1827 he fled to France. In December 1830, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Horace de Sebastiani, entrusted Alexander with a secret mission to Poland - thus Napoleon's son was among the participants in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831.
On February 13, 1831, with the rank of captain, as an adjutant to the commander, he took part in the famous battle of Grochow, in which the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Ivan Dibich and the Polish army under the command of Prince Radziwill opposed. In this battle, both sides suffered huge losses, but the Poles considered themselves victorious, since the Russian troops did not dare to storm the Polish capital and retreated.
For this battle, Alexander Walevsky received a military cross, and then was sent by the Polish rebel government to London to negotiate the future fate of Poland. After the defeat of the Polish uprising, he again returned to Paris, where, as the son of Napoleon, he met a very gracious reception and was enlisted as a captain in the French army. After retiring in 1837, Alexander became a publicist and playwright: he wrote a number of pamphlets ("Speech on the Algerian Question", "English Alliance" and others), as well as one five-act comedy. At the same time, he began to carry out various diplomatic missions for influential members of the government of Guizot and Thiers. He was sent on especially important assignments to many countries, including Egypt and Argentina. When Alexander Valevsky returned from Buenos Aires and was assigned to Copenhagen, the French Revolution of 1848 broke out, and he, unlike his brother Count Leon, immediately joined Charles-Louis-Napoleon, the future Emperor Napoleon III. He was appointed envoy of France by a distinguished relative, first in Florence, then in Naples, and finally in London, where Alexander managed things so flexibly that he managed to achieve recognition of the Second Empire by the British, despite all the horror that the name of Napoleon caused in them. It was he who organized the visit of Napoleon III to England and Queen Victoria to France, and also ensured the cooperation of the two powers in the Crimean War. As a reward for such a brilliant success, in May 1855, Alexander was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of France and had the pleasure of presiding over the Congress of Paris in 1856, where Russia, which he hated, was humiliated. During the negotiations, he became a Knight Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
But the career of the Napoleonic offspring did not end there either. In 1868 Walewski was elected president of the Legislative Corps and a member of the Academy of Fine Arts. However, the earl's health was undermined, and on September 27, 1868, at the zenith of his success, he died, leaving behind seven children. His wife Maria-Anna di Ricci, in which the blood of Italian and Polish aristocrats mixed (she was the daughter of Count Zanobio di Ricci and the great-niece of the last king of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski), bore him four children, including the son of Charles-Zanobi-Rodolf, who became a lieutenant colonel and died in 1916 in World War I, fighting for France. But the most beloved son of Valevsky was Alexander-Antoine, whom the actress Rachel Felix gave birth to. His father not only recognized him, but also left him the title of count as an inheritance. The current Count Colonna-Walevsky, born in 1934, is the great-grandson of Alexandre Antoine.
Eaglet
The third son of the great emperor from Marie Louise of Austria, who was named Napoleon-Francois-Joseph, was born a year after the first meeting of his crowned parents - on March 20, 1811. Immediately after his birth, he was proclaimed King of Rome and heir to the empire. It would seem that this legitimate son had a great future ahead of him. But fate decreed otherwise. In early April 1814, Napoleon abdicated in favor of Napoleon-Francois-Joseph, who was proclaimed emperor of the French, but was never crowned: the victorious emperor Alexander I, not without the assistance of the ubiquitous Talleyrand, insisted on returning to the Bourbon throne. The four-year-old son of Napoleon left with his mother to visit relatives in Vienna. It was decided to isolate Marie Louise and her son from Napoleon as well as from each other.
The former empress, who received the Duchy of Parma in exchange for her former possessions, began to be accompanied everywhere by the Austrian officer Adam-Adalbert von Neipperg. He was about forty years old, and he had a very attractive appearance, except for a wide black band that hid an empty eye socket. Neipperg was ordered by the Austrian emperor to spy on Marie-Louise and stop any attempts to contact the exiled emperor. But soon the spy became a lover, and in 1821 the husband of the Duchess of Parma. Marie-Louise never saw Napoleon again, and gave birth to four children to her new husband. She lived the rest of her life in Parma. Widowed for the second time (Adam-Adalbert von Neipperg died in 1829), she married again on February 17, 1834 - to her chamberlain, Count Charles-Rene de Bombell.
Meanwhile, Napoleon-Francois-Joseph, the dream and hope of all the Bonapartists of the world, lived in Vienna, and he was guarded as carefully as even the most dangerous criminals are sometimes not guarded. He was forced to practically forget the French language and speak only German, and everyone called him exclusively “in Austrian” - Franz. In 1818, Napoleon's son was given the title of Duke of Reichstadt. They say that, while living at the court of his grandfather, the young man, in spite of everything, remembered his great father, was his ardent admirer (believing that Napoleon was unlucky with Marie-Louise) and was weary of the Schönbrunn orders. Unfortunately, his life was short - he died of tuberculosis on July 22, 1832. This young man went down in history under the dynastic name of Napoleon II, given to him by the Bonapartists. In fact, he never reigned, although from June 22, 1815 (that is, after the second abdication of Napoleon) in Paris for several weeks, it was he who was recognized as emperor. Under the repressive Bourbon regime, it was not safe to talk aloud about Napoleon. Therefore, everyone sang eagles - the eagle was the heraldic symbol of the French emperor. And his son, whom it was also not recommended to talk about, became Eaglet. This nickname was glorified by Edmond Rostand, who wrote the drama "Eaglet" in 1900 - about the sad life of Napoleon II, who lives in a golden German cage.
He was buried in the famous Viennese Kapuzinerkirche next to other Habsburgs. And when Adolf Hitler was looking for a way to show respect to the French, he remembered the young heir and decided to transfer his remains from Vienna to German-occupied Paris (at the same time, interestingly, the drama "Eaglet" was banned by the Nazis). In December 1940, Napoleon II rested in the Cathedral of the Les Invalides, next to the tomb of his father, whose ashes were transferred here exactly one hundred years before. So the crowned father and his unfortunate son finally met.
french emperor Napoleon Bonaparte enjoyed great success with women, but did not abuse his popularity. In terms of the number of ladies with whom he had amorous connections, Napoleon is not a champion even among European monarchs. And if we talk about women with whom the emperor has developed what can be called a serious relationship, the bill will go even to a few.
We will talk about the four main "ladies of the heart" of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Desiree Clary: from the abandoned bride to the Swedish queen
Desiree Clary Born November 8, 1777 in Marseille in the family of a wealthy silk merchant. Like many girls of her origin, she went to school at the convent. When the revolution broke out in 1789, her parents took her home.
The young girl became a staunch Republican, but her brother aroused suspicion in the revolutionary government and was arrested.
Trying to help her brother, she met an aspiring politician Joseph Bonaparte. Joseph's connections helped free his brother, and the girl introduced him to the family.
Joseph fell in love with Desiree's sister, Julie, and soon married her. He introduced a relative to his brother: the young general of the revolutionary army, Napoleon Bonaparte.
It was a passionate romance between two temperamental people, and soon Desiree became the official bride of General Bonaparte.
She would have become a wife, but on the path of Napoleon she met a luxurious beauty Marie Rose Joseph Tache de la Pagerie, better known as Josephine. The general lost his head and abandoned his bride.
Desiree went with her sister to Italy, where Joseph Bonaparte carried out diplomatic missions.
And in 1798, returning to France, Desire met Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, the future marshal, whom she married.
In 1810, Napoleon made Marshal Bernadotte crown prince of Sweden, and in 1818, after the fall of Napoleon, the former marshal became the Swedish king.
Desire did not believe in the strength of the crown on her husband's head and lived in France until 1823. But then, making sure that the throne of her husband is strong, the former republican moved to Sweden.
On August 21, 1829, her official coronation took place in Stockholm as Queen of Sweden under the name Desiderius. She lived a long life in Sweden, died at the age of 83 and was buried in the Chevalier Church next to her husband, the King of Sweden. Charles XIV Johan: this was the official name of the former French marshal.
Desiree's only son, Oscar, became King of Sweden Oscar I. The Bernadotte dynasty is ruling in Sweden to this day.
Josephine Beauharnais. Portrait by Gerard (1801), together with the Josephine collection, ended up in the Hermitage.
Josephine Beauharnais: Crazy Empress
Josephine became the main woman in the life of Napoleon. Tradition says that her name was the last word that fell from the lips of the dying emperor.
Marie Rose Joseph Tachet de la Pagerie, who today is known to the whole world simply as Josephine, was born on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea in the family of a French planter Joseph Gaspard Tachet de la Pagerie.
At 16, Josephine was married to a viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais. There was no great love between the spouses: the viscount de Beauharnais was successful with women and did not take seriously the obligation of marital fidelity.
In 1785, the couple de facto separated. From the marriage, Josephine left two children, an influential surname of her husband and good financial capital, which, however, the woman quickly spent.
In 1794, the revolutionary government sent Alexandre de Beauharnais to the guillotine. Josephine herself ended up in prison, and she was threatened with the same fate.
In the end, she was lucky: she was released. She became a mistress Viscount de Barras, one of the leaders of the Thermidorian coup and the Directory.
A new lover rented a mansion for Josephine and paid for all her expenses. Soon she became one of the most influential ladies of Paris, a trendsetter.
In 1795, 32-year-old Josephine met 26-year-old General Napoleon Bonaparte. He was smitten with Josephine's charms and fell passionately in love with her. Josephine found the new boyfriend to be sweet and funny, however, unlike her former wealthy lovers, he was unable to satisfy her financial needs.
Napoleon proposed a formal marriage and the adoption of Josephine's children. In the end, she agreed. On March 9, 1796, the marriage between Josephine and Napoleon was concluded.
Josephine used the feelings of an ardent husband to engage in financial fraud behind his back. She did not remain faithful to him either, and once Napoleon, returning from a campaign, dumped his wife's things in a corner, making it clear that their relationship was over.
Josephine managed to beg for forgiveness, and in 1804 her husband placed the crown of the empress on her head.
Consecration of Emperor Napoleon I and coronation of Empress Josephine at Notre Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804. Jacques-Louis David.
The marriage did not collapse because of betrayal: Josephine's female health did not allow giving Napoleon an heir. After waiting for several years, in 1809 the emperor announced a divorce to his wife.
He left for Josephine the title of empress, the Champs Elysees, the Navarre castle and the castle of Malmaison. She did not know the need for financial resources, she lived luxuriously, surrounded by her former courtyard. Having experienced the nervous shock of parting with Napoleon, she then accepted her fate with humility.
On April 6, 1814, Napoleon abdicated at the Fontainebleau Palace near Paris. Abandoned by almost all his relatives, on the night of April 12-13, he tried to commit suicide by taking poison. But even the deadly potion betrayed him, losing its properties from long storage.
On April 16, 1814, Napoleon wrote his last letter to Josephine: “My fall is bottomless. Farewell, my dear Josephine. Humble yourself, as I did. Never forget someone who has not forgotten you. I will never forget you." On April 20, he went into exile on the island of Elba.
The winners who entered France treated Josephine with respect and reverence. The Russian emperor visited her Alexander I, whom she begged for one thing: to let her go into exile with Napoleon. Alexander considered this desire very worthy, but still refused Josephine.
At the end of May 1814, the Empress fell ill with a bad cold.
A native of Martinique was honored with an imperial funeral. On June 2, 1814, about 20 thousand people gathered to say goodbye to her. The ceremony was attended by a representative of the Russian emperor, a representative of the king of Prussia, numerous French princes, marshals and generals.
Josephine's children, adopted by Napoleon, like his other relatives, became members of the ruling monarchic houses. Josephine's grandson, her daughter's son, hydrangeas, became emperor of France under the name Napoleon III. Josephine's granddaughter, her son's daughter, Evgenia, who, like her grandmother, was called Josephine became wife of the King of Sweden Oscar I son of Desiree Clary abandoned by Napoleon. In such a bizarre way, fate connected the two beloved women of Napoleon.
Marie Louise of Austria, Empress of France. (c. 1810) Portrait by François Gerard.
Marie-Louise of Austria: marriage of convenience
Emperor Napoleon, who needed an heir, was able to obtain consent to marry Marie Louise of Austria, daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz I.
Princess Marie-Louise, great-niece of the guillotined Marie Antoinette, was born in Vienna on December 12, 1791. In 1810, at the age of 18, she married the 40-year-old Napoleon.
It was a typical "marriage of convenience." The father of the bride hated Napoleon, but was forced to subdue his pride in the face of his army. Marie-Louise herself was flattered that she became the wife of the most powerful man in Europe.
On March 20, 1811, she gave birth to a son, who, like his father, was named Napoleon. Immediately after his birth, he was proclaimed King of Rome and heir to the empire.
In 1814, when Napoleon, who lost the war, abdicated, Marie-Louise not only easily abandoned her husband, but actually stopped paying attention to her son.
The elder Napoleon twice abdicated in favor of his son, but the victors refused to recognize the younger Napoleon as ruler of France.
The son of Napoleon was brought up at the court of his grandfather, the Austrian Emperor Franz. From childhood, he was taught the German name Franz, not Napoleon. His grandfather gave him the title "Duke of Reichstadt".
The young man knew who his father was, dreamed of military exploits, but the politicians of Europe vigilantly followed his every step, fearing that the Bonapartists would try to elevate him to the throne.
July 22, 1832 at the age of 21 Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles Bonaparte, the only legitimate child of Emperor Napoleon, died of tuberculosis.
As for his mother, Marie-Louise got herself a favorite, the Austrian general Count Adam Albert von Neipperga, with whom, after the death of her lawful husband, she entered into a morganatic marriage.
She controlled Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, given to her with the title of Imperial Majesty under the Treaty of Fontainebleau. She lived in Parma, where she built hospitals, schools, bridges, remaining in the memory of local residents as the best ruler in history.
Having buried her second husband in 1829, Count of Neipperg, in 1834 Marie-Louise entered into another morganatic marriage, this time with Count Carl-Rene de Bombel. She died in Parma on 17 December 1847 at the age of 57.
Maria Walewska: love for Poland
Maria Lonchinsky, daughter of the headman of Gostyn Matvey Lonchinsky, was born on December 7, 1786 in Kernoz, Poland.
In 1804 she married a gentleman Anastasia Valevsky, to whom in 1805 she gave birth to a son Anthony.
When in 1806 the conquests of Napoleon reached the Polish lands, the local elite lit up with hope for the restoration of an independent Poland. To strengthen ties with the emperor, it was decided to win his heart with the help of a smart Polish beauty. The choice fell on 20-year-old Maria Valevskaya.
Maria claimed that she decided to definitely see Napoleon, for which she came to the city through which the emperor followed, and jumped out to meet him from the crowd with greetings.
Napoleon himself claimed that he first saw Mary at a ball at Talleyrand in Warsaw on January 17, 1807.
Be that as it may, the calculation of the gentry turned out to be correct: the emperor could not resist the Polish beauty and entered into a relationship with her.
“Mary, sweetest Mary, my first thought is yours, my first desire is to see you again. You will come again, won't you? You promised me this. If not, then the Eagle himself will fly for you ... Deign to accept this bouquet, let it be a secret sign of our love in the midst of human turmoil and a pledge of our secret relationships ... Love me, my charming Maria, and may your hand never come off this bouquet " - wrote Napoleon to his new passion.
Maria followed him, spent several months with Napoleon at Finkenstein Castle. She soon became pregnant.
Born May 4, 1810, a boy named Alexander, could not become Napoleon's heir, but his father tried to take care of his fate. By decree of May 5, 1812, he became the owner of the majorate in the Kingdom of Naples and received the title of Count of the Empire.
Marie and Napoleon's relationship ended after his marriage to Marie-Louise of Austria. After divorcing her husband, Maria Valevskaya married a French general Philippe Antoine d'Ornano, who was a distant relative of Napoleon.
It is known that Maria Walewska and her son secretly visited Napoleon on the island of Elba.
On June 9, 1817, Maria, who became Countess of Ornano, gave birth to her husband's son, who was named Rudolf August. After giving birth, her health condition deteriorated significantly, and on December 11, 1817, having barely crossed the line of her 30th birthday, Maria died.
Son of Mary and Napoleon Count Alexander Florian Joseph Colonna-Walewski, participated in the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, then made a diplomatic career in France, holding the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for five years. Later, Napoleon's illegitimate son became Minister of Fine Arts of France.
