Murat's hairstyle noted by Austrian

Princess Pauline is very pretty, the Queen of Holland very ugly, the Queen of Westphalia very fat, the King of Holland very debilitated, the King of Naples has a very funny hairstyle of two long curls of hair falling down on his shoulders like a perruque à marteaux [an ancien regime wig].

—Souvenirs du prince Charles de Clary-et-Aldringen

source

Maria Carolina of Naples, post-Leipzig, is like “every day I live in fear that my granddaughter Marie Louise will escape and leave to Elba and be with her husband, Napoleon, by approaching the guards with the co-sign ABC123, and then taking this boat I purchased rigged for Elba, it’s right there, can’t miss it.”

Marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise by proxy, Vienna, March 11, 1810, hand-coloured engraving by and after Johann Hieronymus Löschenkohl

Fancy a royal wedding? Napoleon and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, had three of them. They were married in a religious ceremony in Vienna on March 11, 1810, though Napoleon was not present for the occasion. They then had a civil wedding Château de Saint-Cloud on April 1, and another religious wedding on April 2 in Paris. For details of the festivities, see “The Marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise.”

Marie Louise’s reaction to Napoleon’s death

“I am just now in great uncertainty. The Gazette of Piedmont has announced in such a positive manner the death of the Emperor Napoleon, that it is hardly possible to doubt it any longer. I confess I was extremely startled at it, though I have never had any deep feelings of any kind for him. I cannot forget that he is the father of my son and that, far from behaving badly to me, as every one believes, he always showed me every consideration—the only thing one can look for in a political marriage. I was therefore very grieved at it and, though one should be glad that he has ended his unhappy life in a Christian manner, I could still have wished him many more years of happiness and life—provided that it was far away from me. In the uncertainty about it I have settled myself at Sala, not wishing to go to the theater till I know something positive. My health has become so frail that I have felt this shock.”

— Marie Louise’s letter to Countess Victoire (1821)

Source: Compiled by Charles A. Shriner, Wit, Wisdom and Foibles of the Great: Together With Numerous Anecdotes Illustrative of the Characters of People and Their Rulers

Marie Louise, deeply upset at not being informed of the news by her family in Vienna:

“I confess that what gave me most sorrow, in these circumstances, was that I had not had any official news, nor any private, friendly letter from Vienna—the only way by which such could reach me in safety. I confess that I expected more interest and affection on that side, and it gave me a cruel blow by showing me how little one can count on all one’s own people, and this grief can only be cured by time.”

Source: Edith E. Cuthell, An Imperial Victim: Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria, Empress of the French, Duchess of Parma

"Bella gerunt alii, tu felix Austria nube!"

Day 6 of @spaus-week 's challenge

"Let others wage war, you, happy Austria, marry!" Was the political strategy of the Habsburgs, and marry did the House of Austria! Infamously, scandalously, sensationally. A mangled wreath of a family tree. We all know this horror story. And we all know the bitter end.

After Emperor Charles V&I divided his Spanish and Austrian inheritance ((also gained through his parents' and grandparents' marriages)) to his descendants and those of his younger brother Ferdinand I respectively, the Habsburg dynasty split into two branches. The Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs notoriously intermarried for generations, right up till Charles II of Spain whose heirless death in 1700 sparked the War of the Spanish Succession. The inbreeding and this informal Latin motto behind it has been blamed to hell and back for their implosion, for the physical ugliness that ran in this royal bloodline. But it is not to say the Habsburgs never went to war, nor that dynastic marriage was a political strategy unique to them! But they were, if anything, bloody successful at it seeing how they did rule half of Europe for 200 years, and then a lot of it in the Austrian line for another 200. Before anyone figured out inbreeding was bad it was considered a privilege to marry into the Habsburgs, with Louis XV claiming that Louis XVI's betrothal to Marie Antoinette was marrying the "Daughter of the Caesars", and Napoleon Bonaparte infamously ditching Josephine for Marie Louise. Charles II was a poor sod who took the fall and the mugs were wretched from the same ugly gene being passed around countless times*, but they did wear power and privilege well.

💅✨ Symbolism bc I'm a NERD and this my Category 10 autism event ✨💅 :

Charles V & Ferdinand I's joint portrait based on that propaganda woodcut, behind them the colours of the Habsburg flag.

The Spanish branch, comprising Charles V & I's descendants, is represented with a black background, and the Austrian branch, comprising Ferdinand I's descendants, gold, both colours pulled from their flag, a dynasty intertwined but split in two.

Round frames denote that the individual had no heirs.

Only the most influential ruler on both sides, the King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, are represented as framed portraits, explaining Archduke Charles II's unframed depiction.

The unconventional placement of Charles II of Spain and Emperor Rudolf II's nameplates are a nod to their queerness: their intersexuality and bisexuality respectively.

Ferdinand III's portrait is lopsided because of the losses of the 30 Years War.

Cracks in Charles II's portrait: 🙃🙃🙃

BOOK REPORT

Marie Walewska Napoleon's Great Love by Christine Sutherland was a nice break from the monotony of another giant Napoleon biography. At this point, I know how the story goes and they can get tedious at points. Yes, it was the same story but from a new and different perspective. From the views of Poland and specifically Marie Walewska, I saw a different side of the story. A country longing for Napoleon to be their savior. A young girl who hero worshipped the very man she became a mistress to.

It told of Marie's beginnings and her first marriage to the old Count Anastase Colonna Walewska, the birth of her first son Anthony, how she came to meet Napoleon, captivated him, and was encouraged to become his mistress for Poland's cause. She was reluctant at first but continued to go and see him, for Poland. It seemed that she and Napoleon were truly happy when they were together and it makes me prefer Marie over his wives and any of his other mistresses. She became pregnant and it was heartbreaking for me to read how Napoleon took such good care of her, but he was already planning his divorce from Josephine and marriage to Marie Louise, now that it was confirmed that he could father children. (He had doubts about his son with Eleonore Deneulle de la Plaigne.) Their son, Alexandre Florian Joseph was born and officially called the son of Count Walewski to prevent scandal on Marie's part. Napoleon made sure to provide for Marie and his son and even visited with them many times throughout the years, including when he was in exile on Elba. Once Napoleon was defeated and sent to St. Helena, Marie finally remarried (she had gotten a divorce, but waited until after Count Walewski died, and there was no more chance with Napoleon). She married Napoleon's cousin, Phillipe-Antione d'Ornano. They had a son, Rudolph Augusta, shortly before she died at the young age of 31. Napoleon did not learn of her death before he died.

It was a very good book and I learned a lot. Not just about Marie Walewska, but Poland as well! I would definitely recommend having some background knowledge on Napoleon before reading.

what did Louise Lannes do then for you to have such a low opinion of her?

Why I Dislike/Disapprove of/Loathe/Condemn The Lovely Louise

!800 – 1809: Greed, Pettiness, and Bargain-Basement Bourgeois Mentality

She had the intellectual curiosity of a housefly and the education of the lowest of the bourgeoisie. Not surprising since her mother home-schooled her in the basics, and she had one year only with Madame Campan.

She was greedy and overly fond of collecting trinkets, ornaments, and similar items of no particular quality or style. She demanded, with some degree of shrill relentlessness, plenty of money to pay for all her crap.

She was often unrelenting in her demands for all sorts of things: that her brother be promoted to Lannes’ premier aide-de-camp; that her brother-in-law be promoted to head of V Corps’ engineers; that her father be given a higher-paying, more prestigious position in the imperial bureaucracy. She managed to give blatant nepotism a bad name.

She refused to be social. Ever. She hated the Imperial Court functions and refused to go, using the kinds as an excuse. She didn’t want Lannes to go either, and when he went because Napoleon expected him to, she engaged in monumental pouts. The myths that she was always so lovely, graceful, and sweet on these occasions were just that—myths.

She had two close—unhealthily close—friends, the slimy Dr. Corvisart, whom her equally slimy father introduced to Napoleon, and a second-rate perennially off-duty chevalier. No women friends of any rank. Just as well, because according to almost all the extant memoirs, no woman of any rank liked her, apparently able to see through the “I’m so sweet and demur” act.

She never went to Lectoure, Lannes’ hometown, and threw a real bitch fit when he wanted to go or went without her “approval” simply because he wanted to see his father and his siblings, and a lot of friends.

She insisted if they visited anyone, carting the kids with them, it was only and always to see her family. Full stop.

1809-1822: Treachery, Treason, Malfeasance, and Suspicious Death

She had to deal with claims from Lannes’ first wife, the much-maligned Polette Meric, on behalf of her son, Jean-Claude, until Naps ended that by a sharp letter to Cambaceres.

She actually went to the Tuileries to demand that Naps grant—posthumously, of course—the title “Prince of Seviers” so she could be a for-real princess just like Mesdames Massena, Berthier, and so forth and so on. She threw a significant shit-storm when Naps refused, and he reminded her that Lannes never applied for the letters patent because he didn’t care about the title, so she shouldn’t either.

No one—literally, no one other than Naps—thought she was a suitable choice for Marie-Louise. The historical record is replete with examples from the folks surrounding Marie-Louise, who was no winner herself.

She and her partner in crime, Dr. Corvisart, worked to insinuate themselves into M-L’s life so that when 1814 arrived, they could work to keep her away from Naps.

She made sure, as her letters show, that M-L and Naps II went back to Vienna, accompanied by her soon-to-be lover, Count Neipperg.

She offered her mansion that Lannes had bought and paid for to Wellesley for his headquarters. He refused, graciously, it is said.

Her parents immediately pledged their loyalty to Louis XVIII.

She lawyered up for the next legal battle with Polette, now that Naps was out of the picture.

She went into higher gear after Waterloo, now with nothing to stop her other than Jean-Claude’s attorney, who began to show that her marriage and Lannes’ divorce from Polette were riddled with illegal points.

Jean-Claude died in mysterious circumstances in November 1817. He had never been ill, and died three days after contracting an unknown illness. This has always been suspicious for obvious reasons.

She packed up the kids and went to Lectoure in 1818—she stayed in Auch, however, about 20 miles south—and, in a large PR event, donated Lannes’ house to the town. She never returned nor allowed any of the kids to return.

To be fair, which I always try to do regarding interpreting historical facts and figures, read Regis Bob-Crepy’s bio of Louise. His family married into hers back in the day before she married Lannes, and he is remarkably talented in glorifying his view of Louise. Besides the sheer comedic value for me, the best thing about his book is the letters he uses, which were/are maintained in the family’s hands and never before shared. Of course, we cannot know if others shed a different light on the subject. Given the family’s cavalier and almost criminal way they have treated anything to do with Lannes, his possessions, or his legacy, opting instead for celebrating their ties with the de Broglies and the Berthiers, I can almost guarantee that any shred of anything detrimental about Louise disappeared ages ago.

I have often sneered at the men who wrote biographies and articles about Lannes buying the Louise myth in its totality. But then, the poor dears simply can’t see things that are very clear to us.

Hope this answers your question.

I saw the Napoleon movie at the cinema today and here are some of my thoughts (spoiler warning I guess?):

everything about this film was so unintentionally funny

not a single person was casted correctly (except for Vanessa Kirby as Josephine. I think she did a good job with a bad script)

I loved all the military uniforms

Paul Barras was so slay

can't believe that they had Junot at Toulon and didn't even include the iconic way that he met Napoleon

Thermidor was very lacklustre. I wish it had been more accurate to what actually happened because the real events were very dramatic

so sad that they erased Napoleon's friendship with Bonbon Robespierre. it would have made such a good tragic backstory

its weird how they include Napoleon and Josephine lying about their ages when they got married, but didn't state the reason why. because now it just looks like they were saying their actual ages.

Josephine's dogs were very cute, but I think that instead of having Napoleon play with one of the dogs there should have been a whole sequence of him being attacked by Fortuné every time Josephine turns her back

very sad at the Italian campaign erasure

I find it weird that Napoleon had short hair for Egypt and Brumaire because surely it would have made more sense for narrative purposes to have a scene of him cutting his hair short after becoming first consul to symbolise the change?

so mean of Napoleon to deny Junot his dessert

I'm actually so glad that Junot disappeared after Egypt because I doubt they would have been able to handle his mental illness and death with an appropriate amount of sensitivity

Brumaire was actually hilarious I was laughing so much when he fell down the stairs

thankfully there weren't as many cringy sex scenes as I thought there were from reading the reviews. but maybe that's because those scenes are in the directors cut and not the cinema version?

literally the only time we ever see Eugene and Hortense during Napoleon and Josephine's marriage is at the divorce. and they don't even say anything they just stand there looking awkward.

can't believe the iconic Tilsit kiss wasn't included

why was Tsar Alexander such a slutty Twink I'm not complaining though

Marie-Louise somehow looked like the exact opposite of historical Marie-Louise. the casting director wasn't even trying

poor Napoleon II only got about two seconds on screen time. come on after everything he went through he deserves at least one scene to play with his dad

can't believe they actually used the classic 'blue-grey Eastern Europe' filter on Russia

I am still laughing about how Napoleon said he wanted to spank Alexander

Waterloo felt so lacklustre for some reason? I feel like it should have been a lot more dramatic and theatrical to really convey how important the battle was

the bullet hole in Napoleon's hat at Waterloo looked so fake

WHY DID HE JUST FALL OF HIS CHAIR LIKE THAT AT THE END OF THE FILM LMAO

Albrecht Friedrich (r. 1568-1618)

Duke of Prussia

Thanks to his pedigree and fluency in Polish, he was a serious contender for the Polish throne for a time.

Married Marie Elenore of Cleves, whose marriage alliances secured Brandenburg's claim to Jülich...on paper.

Four years into his reign, he began to display signs of an unspecified mental disorder. That didn't inhibit his ability to produce many, many heirs.

Friedrich Wilhelm III (r. 1797-1840)

An inconsistent ruler. His instinctual need to find balance impeded him from choosing a decisive action. I believe in modern parlance this is called a 'centrist.' (Note: Political humor may be divisive to readers -T)

Suffered a string of humiliating defeats against Napoleon that reached their pinnacle with Jena and forced alliance with France. This was the event that forced him to finally listen to his wife, Louise, as well as the pro-reform ministers Gneisenau and Sharnhorst (among others).

In spite of his many flaws as a statesman, he was a better family man than the Hohenzollerns typically produce. By all accounts his marriage with Louise was one of mutual love and respect. One of my sources revealed to me that he was shocked to learn his children referred to him as 'the king' instead of 'papa.'

So, you know that "Napoleon inspired version of Luo Binghe AU" option I had on my poll? Sounds boring right?

But!

Look at the gem I found from The Napoleon Series! It really is a gem - I wanted to copy of sections from it, but I would end up copying the whole thing. It reads so much like Luo Bingge getting rid of his harem to marry Shen Yuan.

Here are some highlights:

Napoleon decided to divorce his first wife, hoping that he would be able to sire a heir with his second wife... who was 19 years old to his 40

He instructed the knight of honor escorting his bride to be to not touch the future Empress: "He had made the Count de Beauharnais, the knight of honor of the new Empress, with special instructions not to use the prerogatives of office, that is to say, not to offer his hand to the Empress when she would have to climb or descend stairs.  Napoleon was so jealous that he did not want another to touch the hand of his wife, or was the recommendation inspired by a sense of propriety and delicacy?  Later we knew what to expect: Napoleon became jealous, and was very jealous of Mary-Louise: he became even more in the future."

Napoleon got very fussy about his appearance, wanting to dress to impress for his new bride: "The Emperor was at that moment, with everyone, even more affable than usual; he increased attention to his appearance; we believe that it was coquettish, because he instructed his chamber valet to completely renew his guard dress, to make his clothes more stylish in cut and less rococo, if we may use the expression, to select the finest linen, and to order a hat new!"

Napoleon wrote letters to his future Empress every day as he waited for her arrival..."Every day Napoleon wrote a letter in his own hand, it was taken by one of his pages, who went at full speed and reported the response of the Empress."

...until he couldn't bear it any longer and rushes to the bridal procession as a surprise and hops into the bridal carriage... And a tour guide in Vienna claimed that Napoleon consummated his marriage on the spot... in the carriage.

Napoleon had already passed Soissons and arrived in Courcelles when the first courriers of the Empress were engaged in preparing for the relay.  As it was unnecessary to go further, he descended from his carriage, put the arrangements aside, and as at this time the rain fell in torrents, he went to hide under the porch of the church, located outside the village, in the vicinity of a little hill that dominated the road.  He had a quarter of an hour he stood on the sidelines and with the King of Naples, when he saw the first carriage of the entourage; at once he turn back and when they were about to change horses, he hurried alone to the Berlin in which the Empress was.

The service equerry, M. de Saluces, who recognized him, but was not informed of the secrecy of the incognito, rushed to the ground, roll out the step and announced: the Emperor!  But Napoleon did not waste time; he climbed into the carriage and jumped onto the neck of Marie-Louise and kissed her several times.  She, not prepared for this sudden visit, remained totally frozen; she struggled, pushed and cried; the Queen of Naples, who was with her, reassured her repeating:

Marie-Louise was then placed at the knees of Napoleon, who guessed his intention and opposed any new embraces as a sign of respect, which cooled his ardor very little; finally he gave the order to move in haste and directly to Compiègne. Eleven o’clock rang from the ancient clock of the chateau when the carriage of Their Majesties came at full gallop into the courtyard.  That evening there was no party; each retired immediately after the Empress entered her apartment.

The next morning Napoleon had the honor to take a succulent lunch he made, at eleven o'clock, next to the bed of Marie-Louise.  It was not served by the women of the Empress, who got up that very late. This morning had to be doubly tiring for her, in that people she barely knew presented a host of others she did not know at all.  After these presentations of etiquette, Their Majesties went to Saint-Cloud, where a prodigious number of people from all walks of life awaited the newlyweds.

I really need an AU of Luo Bingge time traveling back into the earlier years of his empire and deciding that instead of merging the human and demon realm by force and violence, that he should marry an imperial prince. Specially the imperial prince Shen Yuan who has the same soul as that shizun who married the cry baby version of him.

And since Shen Yuan and his servants are going into this marriage under the expectation that Luo Bingehe is marrying him for an heir... some smutty things happen. Well, specifically that the servants do all sorts of things to help get their master pregnant faster like jade dildos, a pillow to elevate the hips, and more. *wipes away a nosebleed*

Shen Yuan feels very much like a special roast turkey being stuffed and carrying preened everyday to be hairless and smooth by his servants, to say nothing else about what's going on down there. Bad enough that he was forced to consume some medicine to ensure that he could get pregnant! He's really hoping that he gets pregnant quickly so that the Emperor can stop paying so much attention to him and leave him alone in peace for once...

Hahaha tough luck bro.

You're going to be screwed every day for your entire life.

hey, re: one of your latest posts, is there any merit whatsoever to the rumours that napoleon had an affair with his stepdaughter? and if not, why did they arise?

[Muttering under her breath - I never should have opened this can of worms… why can I never keep my mouth shut...]

Well, hi and thank you for the question. 😁

Okay, first of all: No, I do not think there is a single serious historian today who actually believes the rumours about Napoleon being the father of Hortense‘s oldest son. And while I don‘t like Napoleon much myself I also don‘t believe it. Napoleon‘s early letters, particularly from the time of the Consulate, to Hortense are a fun read and show a (step-)father talking to his daughter, and that‘s just that. The child was born ten months after Hortense‘s marriage, so there is no reason to even assume the father was anybody but Hortense‘s husband.

Does it rule out the possibility? No, of course not.

According to Hortense‘s memoirs, the first rumours of this kind came from British newspapers. Which is quite possible, as the Peace of Amiens was shaky from the beginning and some parties were actively working to break it up. There were nasty rumours and disparaging pamphlets galore. Also according to Hortense, Napoleon was secretely quite content about this, as he suspected this nephew might be more easily accepted as Napoleon‘s successor if people supposed Napoleon to be the father. Later, it‘s the pamphlets by Lewis Goldsmith, an Anglo-French publicist working for both sides, who repeated and invented the most disgusting slander (including incestuous relationships).

In truth, there are some passages from Laure Junot‘s memoirs (for what those are worth, of course!), relating to the time of the Consulate, describing how Napoleon entered Laure's bedroom in Malmaison at nights and how he got really furious when she locked her door, to the point she insisted Junot spend the night with her at Malmaison. This would point to Napoleon really taking some liberties with the young ladies of his entourage. That Napoleon in general was not the most virtuous of husbands is a well-known fact, even if we do not have to go as far as Bausset, who years later in a fit would claim to Marie Louise that Napoleon »had had every lady of her court for a shawl« (except for Madame de Montebello, for whom it took three).

Hortense, from 1808 on and with a short interruption in early 1810 stayed, far away from her husband, in Paris at court and at the least lived a life in a dubious position for a married woman. She had one lover she admits to in her memoirs (Flahaut), but all her life she loved to be surrounded by a circle of admirers, so she was rumoured to have many more. The birth of future Napoleon III gave reason to much gossip in Paris and was the reason why Louis broke with Hortense completely. Apparently, everybody and their grandmom was convinced Louis was not the father, despite pretending the opposite. At the very least, Hortense was the only one among the not-altogether-virtuous Imperial ladies who managed to get herself so deeply into trouble that she had to secretely escape to Switzerland in order to give birth to a child. But even that cannot have been all that much of a secret later, considering that the Duc de Morny was openly talked about as being »né Hortense«.

Many memoirs of the time mention or hint at the rumours about Napoleon's alleged affair with Hortense, and the vast majority declare them as false. The only important memoirs that I know of that explicitely confirm them are Fouché‘s. But those are, while not entirely apocryphal, of dubious authenticity, as they were published after his death under the Bourbon Restauration, put together from Fouché‘s papers. The Bourbon Restauration again produced an abundance of pamphlets and of course jumped at the occasion to repeat these allegations over and over again.

To sum up: There were plenty of rumours already during the Empire, and neither Napoleon‘s nor Hortense‘s personal way of life did much to disencourage them. There is, however, also not a single piece of evidence for them to be true. I'm not sure if this really answers your question, and I wish there was a way to disprove them entirely, but this is the best answer I can give. If anybody has additional information, I'd love to hear it!

As to Napoleon, he on Saint Helena dismissed the idea of an affair with his stepdaughter at one point as stupid because »everybody knows Hortense is ugly«.

Well, thank you, I guess.

Wedding of Napoleon and Marie-Louise dished by Austrian Prince

[This was originally a letter to his sister or mother. That's the reason he is so blunt.]

The Emperor seemed in a mood like a dog throughout the ceremony. This is because in the morning there were incredible scenes. Queens and princesses, it is said, had tried like the devil not to carry the mantle: tears, prayers, fainting, absolute refusal, it is claimed that they tried all this in vain. The furious master treated them from Turk to Moor, and an emphatic “I want it” finished the affair. The most angry was the Westphalian turkey, who is incredibly proud. Also, nothing was more comical than seeing the way in which they carried out their chore: one pouted, the other, with her bottle under her nose, threatened to feel ill, the third let the mantle drop which was much worse because it had to be picked up. The two sisters, one of whom is fat and the other in truly terrible health, had a great time. The only one who put a good face on a bad game and brought dignity to it was the Queen of Holland, because she has wit and tact; and then “my cousin, Julie” [he jokes that they are related] also carried the mantle very well, but she is such a slut that I would have advised her to do otherwise. I wouldn't have given up this show for anything. It is claimed that one of the porters having dropped her part of the train or not being at her post, the Empress gave her a very imperative look which said: “Well!" I didn't see this.

Sketch by the Prince. Clockwise from bottom: Pauline, Elisa, Hortense, Marie-Louise, Julie Bonaparte, Catherine of Westphalia, Jerome's wife.

Souvenirs du prince Charles de Clary-et-Aldringen

Mmm. There has to be another way to say, “Napoleon consummated the marriage with Marie-Louise.” (From napoleon’s other wife by Deborah jay)

On the topic of little Franz, it’s reminded me that it’s unfortunately still a common thing to see articles or books relishing the fact that he died, as a “payback” for Josephine. The reasoning behind it is that Napoleon was sexist and wrong to divorce Josephine. One of the reasons Napoleon and Josephine separated was so Napoleon could have an heir. So Franz only existed due to Napoleon’s second marriage to Marie Louise, who he married after separating from Josephine. The fact that Napoleon’s only legitimate son died young and without any children of his own is then paired with the fact that Josephine’s children (without Napoleon) have descendants. This in itself is pretty dumb because it ignores the fact that Napoleon had illegitimate children and also has descendants. But the premise is that little Napoleon II bore the guilt of a perceived slight committed by his father against Josephine and therefore had to be destroyed as a sort of revenge against the father. Little Franz was Napoleon’s greatest dream and the person he loved the most in the world. So the people who hate Napoleon rejoice in an event which they believe would have caused him pain (he was already dead at the time Napoleon II died).

Joséphine Bonaparte (23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was Empress of the French as the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Her marriage to Napoleon was her second. Her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until five days after his execution. Through her children by Beauharnais, she was the grandmother of the French emperor Napoleon III and the Brazilian empress Amélie of Leuchtenberg. Members of the current royal families of Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway and the grand ducal family of Luxembourg also descend from her. Because she did not bear Napoleon any children, he had their marriage annulled in 1810 and married Marie Louise of Austria. Joséphine was the recipient of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist.

A patron of art, Joséphine worked closely with sculptors, painters and interior decorators to establish a unique Consular and Empire style at the Château de Malmaison. She became one of the leading collectors of different forms of art of her time, such as sculpture and painting. The Château de Malmaison was noted for its rose garden, which she supervised closely.

*BOOK REPORT!*

Napoleon's Letters to Marie Louise by Charles de la Ronciere

The first paragraph drew me in:

The story of Napoleon and Marie Louise is that of a middle-aged man married to a young woman, a dynamic and egocentric man trying to create from an unformed and naïve girl the figure of an empress. He trusted her with state secrets, even with the regency, and, in the manner of a good bourgeois husband, expected her to be both loyal and clever. She was too weak to be either.

And I was not disappointed with the rest.

It was a collection of the letters that Napoleon wrote to his second wife, Marie Louise, filled in with commentary explaining what was going on at the time and what the letters were referring to. I really liked the flow of it. My only complaint was that the formatting sometimes made it hard to discern whether a new paragraph was the start of a letter or the narration but upon reading it was always obvious.

Unfortunately, it made me like Marie Louise more, at least at the beginning. Napoleon seemed genuinely happy and affectionate towards her and it seemed like they could have had a happy marriage. Unfortunately with everything going on, Marie Louise sided with her father's country and Napoleon never saw his son again. That would have been maybe forgivable if Marie Louise had at least been a good mother but she was not. I digress...

It was funny that the author was poking fun at Napoleon's bad handwriting and amused me that he left in a bunch of Napoleon's misspellings of names and places. Sometimes he spelled the same name a different way every time! Also it was noted when he wrote the wrong thing and wrote over it.

Anyways, I thought it was a great book. You definitely need some Napoleonic background knowledge, as some things are not really explained, like leaving Elba or going to St. Helena. And everything that happened before Marie Louise as it was only focused on the letters to her.