Four ladies who conquered the heart of Napoleon Bonaparte

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the beginning of the 19th century Napoleon Bonaparte was considered the most powerful man in Europe. The monarchs hated him, but were forced to reckon with his opinion. The ladies, on the other hand, wanted the emperor to at least glance in their direction. There were many romantic "episodes" in Napoleon's life, but this article will focus on the four main women in his life.

Desiree Clari

Désirée Clary was born in 1777 into a wealthy family of a silk merchant. Her childhood and growing up were no different from others until the revolution broke out. The girl was imbued with the ideas of equality and brotherhood and became a republican.

When her brother was arrested, Desiree, trying to help him, met the politician Joseph Bonaparte. Fortunately, the brother was released, and the new acquaintance fell head over heels in love, and then married Desiree's sister Julie. Joseph, in turn, introduced a new relative to his brother - the general of the revolutionary army Napoleon Bonaparte. They had a dizzying romance. Napoleon officially offered his hand and heart to Desiree.

This love story would surely have ended with a wedding, if Marie Rose of Joseph Tache de la Pagerie, who is now known as Josephine, did not catch the eye of Napolene. The engagement was upset, and saddened Desiree went with her sister to Italy.

In 1798, Desiree Clari returned to France, where a new acquaintance awaited her. The future Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte became her husband. In 1810, by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, Bernadotte received the title of Crown Prince of Sweden, and in 1818 he became the official king.

Desiree was in no hurry to leave France and rush to the newly made king, because she believed that his throne could easily be taken away. She came to Sweden only in 1823, and in 1829 she was crowned as Queen Desideria of Sweden. She did not love her husband, but was rather grateful to him. Her only love was Napoleon.

Josephine

When it comes to the beloved women of Napoleon Bonaparte, the first name pops up Josephine … She became the most sincere love of the French emperor. Marie Rose Joseph Tachet de la Pagerie (Josephine) hails from the island of Martinique in the Caribbean. When the girl was 16 years old, her father married her to the Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais. The Viscount did not burden himself with marital fidelity. They parted in 1785. Josephine got two children, her husband's loud surname and good compensation.

When Alexander de Beauharnais was executed by the revolutionary government in 1794, Josephine was imprisoned. Fortunately, not for long. The beauty and charm of the woman allowed her to find a wealthy patron and soon become one of the most influential ladies in Paris.

In 1795, fate brought Josephine to Napoleon. The general immediately lost his head from love for her, he was not even embarrassed by the age difference (she was 32 years old, and he was 26 years old). Unlike previous gentlemen, Napoleon could not pay all her bills, but he offered his beloved marriage and the official adoption of her children. Josephine agreed. They married in 1796, and in 1804, Napoleon crowned her as empress.

Napoleon was obsessed with the idea of succession to the throne, but Josephine could not give birth to his child. In 1809, the marriage broke up. Napoleon kept his ex-wife's titles and several castles. When, a few years later, the already disgraced ruler was exiled to Elba, Josephine begged the Russian Emperor Alexander I to allow her to follow Napoleon, but was refused. In 1814, the Empress caught a bad cold and died suddenly.

Maria Louise of Austria

Leaving Josephine, 40-year-old Napoleon started looking for a new applicant for his wife's place. The emperor needed an heir, and his choice fell on the 18-year-old Marie-Louise of Austria, daughter of the Austrian emperor Franz I. The bride's father hated the future son-in-law, but behind Napoleon there was an army of many thousands. Young Marie-Louise was delighted to be the wife of the most influential man in Europe.

In a marriage of convenience in 1811, a long-awaited heir appeared, who was named the same as his father. When in 1814 Napoleon lost the war and abdicated the throne, Marie-Louise only breathed a sigh of relief and retired to her lands, which had ceded to her by a preliminary agreement. The child was given to the grandfather to be raised. Franz I called his grandson not Napoleon, but Franz. The boy knew whose son he was, but his entourage vigilantly made sure that he had no connections with his father and the French government. At the age of 21, the young man died of tuberculosis.

Maria Valevskaya

When, in 1806, hostilities moved to the territory of Poland, and Napoleon went there, there he (supposedly by accident) caught sight of 20-year-old Maria Walewska. The emperor could not resist the charm of the beauty and all the local elite with bated breath followed the development of the novel of the powerful emperor and their compatriot.

Soon Maria became pregnant, and in 1810 gave birth to Napoleon's son Alexander. The emperor could not officially recognize him, but he did not leave his son to his fate. The boy received the title of Count of the Empire, and when he grew up, he first became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, and then the Minister of Fine Arts.

The pregnancy of Maria Valevskaya finally strengthened Napoleon's confidence that he was not sterile. This fact allowed the emperor to divorce Josephine and marry Marie-Louise of Austria. After that, the romantic relationship with Maria Valevskaya ended. It is only known that Maria and her son secretly came to Napoleon on the island of Elba.

When the emperor was exiled to the isolated island of St. Helena, all visits were prohibited. However, supporters of hoaxes tend to believe that on the island it was not Napoleon at all who lived out his life, but his double.