Feel like dumping doodles again^^

I put descriptions in each pic in case you don't know who I drew🥰

What are your thoughts on Caroline Murat’s (alleged) affair with Junot?

It’s been a long time since I’ve browsed Laure Junot’s memoirs, but I recall her saying that Caroline had told her nothing had happened between them and Laure claiming to believe her, but her non-stop vitriol and overt hatred of Caroline throughout her memoirs makes me believe otherwise. I’ve seen it argued that Caroline’s affairs were motivated more by politics than by romance, and there may be something to this. Junot at the time of the alleged affair was the military governor of Paris and one theory is that Caroline wanted to wrap him around her little finger to use his political influence if necessary. Her affair with Metternich later on has been brought up as another instance of her cultivating a politically useful alliance (and realistically, it probably did have some impact on the Murat couple’s negotiations with Austria in 1813; she also continued corresponding with Metternich during her exile). The alleged affair with Junot also occurs during a period in Murat and Caroline’s relationship where Caroline was growing disenchanted because of Murat’s affairs (I’ve written a lot more about their complicated relationship here), and Hortense says in her memoirs that Caroline was during this period “now attracted to the charms of a pure liaison.” Lastly, during this period Caroline seems to have derived a certain satisfaction from charming the men of her rivals, probably just to prove she could do it; aside from Junot, Caroline also tried to lure away Charles de Flahaut from Hortense, out of what seems to have been nothing more than sheer jealousy over the fact that Hortense could get more attention than Caroline from one of Murat’s aide-de-camps. So, if the affair with Junot did happen, I think it was a combination of a revenge fling, political maneuvering, and Caroline just enjoying the thrill of being able to seduce a rival’s husband. Whatever happened between them apparently doesn’t seem to have lasted very long and there’s no indication at all that Caroline was ever really in love with Junot.

Napoleon about Laure Junot

A letter I came across in the newly published correspondence on Napoleonica.org (thank you so much for pointing this publication out, @joachimnapoleon!). It's written shortly after Junot's death.

To General Savary, Minister of the General Police Dresden, 7 August 1813 I approve of your arrangement with the Duchesse d'Abrantès to designate a country where she can retire and live from now on. You will let her know that, having been governess in Paris, having behaved badly there, having disrupted her family's affairs in such a way as to ruin it and leave her children without bread, it is time for this to come to an end and for her not to be spoken of any more.

This strong emphasis on financial affairs and "bad behaviour" by the duchess (read: her sexual affairs) makes me wonder if dear Laure, when she enriched her memoirs with the dramatic scene of Savary breaking into Junot's safe to take out his private correspondence with Napoleon, may not have left out a tiny bit of information about other stuff he looked for...

Portrait of Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantès, and her daughter Josephine, 1805

By Domenico Pellegrini, commissioned by Napoleon

Musée des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux

Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantès (6 November 1784 – 7 June 1838) was a French writer. She was the spouse of French general Jean-Andoche Junot.

Junot crying for Napoléon in Montbard

This excerpt is from the Narrator’s POV . He was visiting Junot shortly after he was sent back home to “recuperate”. Narrator's name is Pierre.. based on the Monsieur Vial i assume.

— I see him decline too quickly my poor Alexandre*, and I am not wrong on the real cause of his unhappiness... At night I barely sleep i hear him sobbing during hours muffling his cries on his pillow. Sometimes he says « He doesn't love me anymore ! Its certain he doesn't love me anymore ! Everything is over between us! ... » « Toulon! my god, what a memory ! ... How could he forget Toulon! ...» I asked him about one of his meeting with the emperor, he told me : « The emperor told me : but I still love you my poor Junot ! » and this break me more than anything , because this sentence ....he told this in such a fake tone! » But what power have this man on him , he can kill or heal as he likes? It was like one of those wizards in Martinique that the empress Joséphine told us about.... *Alexandre was also a name Junot used

just a few pages after this, the author continues to write that due to Junot's deteriorating mental state, he had "believed himself to be the wife of Bonaparte" and says to Pierre "He loves me no more, because I am no longer beautiful…"

i skipped through the part about Albert de Permon being annoyed at his behaviour but seeing that nothing can console Junot, Pierre basically plays along and tells him:

— Patience, your husband will be back soon.

Junot proceeds to ask if there had been a courier from the Emperor yet but the answer is always no. This is one S-tier fic :)) reminder this was written way back in 1926 Naps is the top confirmed /jk

~~

In real life , i believe Junot has indeed uttered the line "He doesn't love me anymore" but in different variations. It’s a possibility that this line isn't completely fiction

in Laure's memoirs, Duroc had to yell to convince Junot that Naps still loves him after Russia:

in the book Wellington Against Junot by David Buttery he also mentions this anecdote:

*sobbing* see you guys in my next napjuno post🥲

(A while ago @apurpledust mentioned wanting to know more about Duroc's children, so here's what information I have)

Duroc and his wife, Maria de las Nieves Martínez de Hervas, had two children, both of whom died tragically young. (Hervas left instructions that her gravestone should be engraved with "To the unhappiest of mothers".)

Their first child, Napoléon Louis Sidoine Joseph Duroc, was born on 24 February 1811 in Paris. Named for the emperor and his two grandfathers (Claude Sidoine de Michel du Roc and José Martínez de Hervas), he lived for just over fourteen months. The infant’s health was never good; Duroc wrote to Bertrand in March 1812 that “[Hervas] is doing well but her son has been and always is ill”. (As Duroc’s biographer Danielle Meyrueix notes, when writing of his wife and child he habitually referred to “her son” rather than “our son”. Perhaps not the most engaged of fathers.) Napoléon died on 6 May 1812 at Maidières in Lorraine. The architect Pierre Fontaine, noting in his journal that Hervas had asked him to design a tomb for her lost son, wrote that the child had been “a few days older than the King of Rome and destined to enjoy at that prince’s side all the favor with which the Emperor honored his father.”

Their daughter Hortense Eugénie Nieves Duroc was born on 14 May 1812, eight days after the young Napoléon’s death. (In a letter, Duroc implied that the news of the boy’s death had been kept from Hervas, who was in Paris, to avoid imperiling her health.) Named for her godmother, Hortense de Beauharnais, she was baptized in January 1813 alongside the duke of Bassano's daughter. After Duroc’s death in May 1813, Napoleon transferred the duchy of Friuli to her, writing to Hervas that Hortense would be “assured of my constant protection”. He also remembered her in his will, leaving her a large sum of money and recommending, in one last attempt at matchmaking, that she marry Bessières’s son, the duke of Istria. Hortense’s aunt wrote in 1823 that “Hortense is perfectly sweet, she’s a rare child for her spirit and intelligence, who her poor father would have been happy to see so fine in all respects”. She died of pneumonia on 24 September 1829 after three days of illness, aged seventeen.

A 1933 biography of Charles-Nicolas Fabvier (Hervas’s second husband) identifies this painting by Jeanne-Elisabeth Chaudet as a young Hortense Duroc. It was sold at an auction a few years ago with the title “Young Embroideress”, so either the sitter’s identity has been lost since then or it may never have been Hortense at all.

Duroc’s long liaison with the dancer Emilie Bigottini may also have resulted in at least one child. Felix Bouvier, writing a biographical sketch of Bigottini in 1909, claimed that “children were born of this irregular union, a daughter and a son named Odilon”. However, Odilon (full name Pierre Dominique Jean Marie Odilon Michel du Roc), born in 1801, was the son of Duroc’s cousin Géraud Pierre Michel du Roc, the marquis de Brion. On Duroc’s death, Napoleon made Odilon a page in the imperial household. (This may have given rise to Bouvier’s claim, as it seems to have confused people at the time. Caulaincourt had been tasked with sorting out Duroc’s affairs, including a substantial amount of money for Bigottini, and Duroc’s sister Jeanne implied that he had gotten the wrong impression from one of Duroc’s requests: “On the subject of the allowance for little Odilon, M. the duke of Vicenza was misled…he took a step which pained me very much”.) As for the daughter, all I’ve been able to find so far is a remark from Laure Junot that “It was known that the count Armand de Fuentès had had a daughter with Mademoiselle Bigottini, and that Duroc was in the same position”.

junot what does this mean?? "if napoleon wasnt in jail i'd do something really really bad" HUH???

IS THIS BLOOD?????

glancing at one of the volumes of laure junot's memoirs for reasons

there is so much going on in this section

Junot standing up for his English Friends

but also being extra in restating his love for Napoleon - "Ask for my blood, ask for my life, you are master of all that is mine" jesus dude no wonder laure later on says you're more romantic to napoleon than to your own wife

Still 19th century men were also kinda just over the top in general in proclaiming affection and passion, so this could be par for the course if it wasn't coming from Monsieur "I Love You Like The Sun"

But also I just want to point out Lannes "is not much delighted with eating oranges at Lisbon" what an understatement of forcing your friend to be a political ambassador in a job he fucking hates because he accidentally your money because the matter was brought to your attention by a salty bessie and supportive murat

context being Junot talking about the loyalty of his men to Bonaparte, but I can't help but to interpret this as Napoleon is doing a subtle dig at Junot's own feelings and proclamations of loyalty, like "you also say all these over the top things about me but would you actually?"

napoleon often really does think that loyalty should be unquestioned, though he does seem grateful if challenges to his opinions are substantiated

Is there a list of what order the english translations of Madame Junot's memoirs go in? I've found "Volume One of Memoirs of Madame Junot" but I dunno if that goes directly before "Volumes Two and Three of The home and court life of the Emperor Napoleon and his family" and there's six of these volumes but I'd like to find the latter three as well, I want to see Junot's fall oh that's not a great way to put it

Did you know there was a Napoleon/Junot fanfiction written way back in 1926? I found it on Gallica. It uses a lot of Laure's memoirs as a backdrop but still fascinating to read since it's fiction anyway lol.

hahaha oh man, I did not know that! How funny that someone back in 1926 was like "hmmm yeah, those two have Vibes. Let's make them be stupid about each other over it." Very in character for them, tbf

I'll have to go look it up

Lannes tried to challenge some other marshals like Soult and Bessieres to duels, but he was stopped in those cases. Did he actually fight any duels before or after he was made marshal?

Not that I'm aware of, other than the small skirmish in 1797 with Albert Permon over the alleged favors of a Milanese lady; she had apparently preferred Albert, who could quote Italian poetry with a certain flair. It was also reported that the duel stopped midway through when both combatants decided the lady in question wasn't worth shedding blood over. This story comes from Laure Junot's memoirs, decades after the fact and doubtless colored by family ties and hefty doses of opium.

Fuck, marry, Exile to Masséna bed

Hortense de Beauharnais

Laure Junot

Aimée Davout

Fuck Hortense, but it’s complicated.

Marry Aimée

Exile… Laure, for all the things she’s said about my husband!

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate that Andrew Roberts, out of all the adjectives he might have chosen to describe the memoirs of Laure Junot, ultimately decided to go with bitchy.

The Metternichs about Junot

Metternich to Mme Metternich, 14 February 1810 It is with true sorrow that I take up my quill today. Your letter of 26 January contains one of the scenes that show us the people of 1792 and 1793 exposed and naked. Place a being like J[unot] in a very high position, he will drink blood without letting any misgivings stop him.

That’s Metternich reacting to the news of the scandal Junot had caused after having discovered the correspondence between his wife Laure and Metternich, proving they had had an affair. Metternich himself was not in Paris at the time but had left some time after the war of 1809 between France and Austria had begun, and in the meantime had taken over the ministry of foreign affairs in Austria. However, Lorel Metternich with the kids had stayed in Paris, and Junot had dragged her right in the middle of a scene of severe domestic violence that she immediately informed her husband of, with the help of a secret agent Metternich had in Paris, Benoit des Androuins.

Interestingly, Lorel Metternich at first does not mention any involvement of Caroline Murat in this event, she only lists her as one of the people gossipping about it.

Other than that, Lorel apparently behaved as prudently as she could once she had entered Junot’s house. According to the letter by Androuins, Junot had forced Laure to write a message to Lorel, urgently inviting her over. On entering, Lorel found Laure Junot crying on the sofa, hiding her face in both hands. - According to Laure’s own journal intime, the last hours had been a nightmare for her, including attempted rape and attempted murder. - Once Lorel Metternich was in the room, Junot locked the door behind both women and started to rage against Metternich, demanding Lorel take revenge upon him etc. The only thing Lorel answered was: "But you are mistaken, Monsieur le Duc. This is not my husband’s handwriting." - Despite the fact she had obviously recognized it. Again, according to Laure’s journal intime, she at some point managed to silently ask Laure if she could do something for her.

Despite Lorel’s calm reaction, the scene must have scared her a lot. At least she seems rather relieved to learn that the Junots were to leave the capital, when she writes to her husband:

Bluebeard has finally left with his amazon and, as I am assured, probably never to return.

"Bluebeard" obviously referring to Junot.

Edit: Forgot to add the source for the two letters: Conti, "Metternich und die Frauen", Vol. 1 - The description of what may (or not) have happened during the night when Laure was alone with Junot are a brief summary of the excerpts from Laure's "journal intime" quoted in Toussaint du Wast, "Laure Junot". It is to be noted that this "journal intime" may have been written years after the event for Balzac, and that it is per se unverifiable.

However, Lorel Metternich calling Junot "Bluebeard" at least strongly hints at her, too, being convinced that Junot had physically abused and possibly tried to murder Laure.

Edit II: On second reading, I added an "attempted" to the accusation of rape. Of course, by the reasoning of the law at the time, rape in the judicial sense would not even have been possible between spouses. Obeying to the husband's needs was the wife's job. - As to Laure's "journal intime", she describes that Junot tried to force himself on her, but claims that she managed to make him stop. (I am not sure I fully believe her.) Junot then at some point attacked her with a pair of scissors, wounding her, before trying to strangle her. He only stopped when Laure was close to loosing consciousness and when he literally saw her blood on his hands. That's how Madame Metternich found Laure on entering.

Honoré de Balzac

Happy birthday to the guy with the funniest name in the world. He also had an affair with Junot’s wife, Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantès, and published her memoir. According to Andrew Roberts, he ghost-wrote several of its 18 volumes.

La folle vie d’une duchesse de Napoléon, de Gilles de Becdelièvre

La folle vie d’une duchesse de Napoléon, de Gilles de Becdelièvre

Laure Permon, épouse du général Junot, faite duchesse d’Abrantès par la volonté de l’emperuer, raconte sa vie calquée sur celle de Napoléon. Une vie fastueuse dans un tourbillon d’excès pour marquer la réussite du petit corse devenu empereur. L’argent coule à flots et les fêtes dans les hôtels particuliers, luxueux, s’enchaînent. La France se doit se rayonner pour signifier la gloire du chef à…

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