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| Joséphine in coronation costume - François Gérard (1770-1837, French) - oil (214×161 cm) c.1807-1808 - Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau |
"Her marriage to Napoleon I was her second; her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais was guillotined during the Reign of Terror." Before the jailed Josephine's turn could happen, the Reign of Terror was ended by guillotining Robespierre. Her two children by Alexandre were Eugene and Hostense.
N first met J when she brought Eugene boy to receive Alexandre's sword returned via General N, who fell head-over-heel in love with J. Very charming and well connected, she introduced N to high society. In 1796, widowed J married N, 6 years younger than she.
In 1799 Josephine fell from a balcony that collapsed and sustained injuries that made child-bearing impossible. They were divorced in 1809 when Josephine (aged 46 then) could not give birth an heir to N's throne.
In 1810 N married Marie Louise (aged 18 then) of Austria, who in the following year gave birth to a healthy son also named Napoleon and named King of Rome.
Hortense married Napoleon's younger brother Louis, and gave birth to 3 sons:
- Napoleon Charles (1802-1807)
- Napoleon Louis (1804-1831)
The divorce was quite amicable. N insisted that J should retain the title of Empress and maintain her court at Malmaison:
While N was in exile on the island of Elba: (1) Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) was on good terms with J; (2) J later died of deadly pneumonia. When the death news reached N at Elba, he locked himself up in a room for two days (to mourn).
Finally, when N himself died in exile to the island of St Helena, his last words were, "France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine". N never stopped loving J, but N had stopped respecting J, because J had not stopped seeing other men.
"Through her son, Eugène, she was the great-grandmother of later Swedish and Danish kings and queens. The reigning houses of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg also descend from her."
"Through her daughter Hortense, Josephine was the maternal grandmother of Napoléon III."
While N was in exile on the island of Elba: (1) Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI) was on good terms with J; (2) J later died of deadly pneumonia. When the death news reached N at Elba, he locked himself up in a room for two days (to mourn).
Finally, when N himself died in exile to the island of St Helena, his last words were, "France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine". N never stopped loving J, but N had stopped respecting J, because J had not stopped seeing other men.
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| Eugène de Beauharnais - Andrea Appiani, 1810 |
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| Hortense de Beauharnais - François Gérard |
Hortense married Napoleon's younger brother Louis, and gave birth to 3 sons:
- Napoleon Charles (1802-1807)
- Napoleon Louis (1804-1831)
- Charles-Louis Napoleon (1808-1873)
The youngest son managed to make himself Napoleon III of France, Emperor of the Second French Empire.
Queen Hortense with her second son, Prince Napoléon Louis.
Portrait by François Gérard, 1807
Portrait by François Gérard, 1807
Portrait of Napoleon III
- Franz Xaver Winterhalter
- oil on canvas (240 × 155 cm) 1853
- lost, several copies extant
Source: Wikipedia
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