Napoleon and his women
——Remember the twenty-eighth of the "Colorful Nine Kingdoms Tour of Western Europe"
Chinese often say that behind a successful man there will always be a good woman. I don't know if this is the truth, if it is the truth, and so on, behind a successful and great man, there will be several or more excellent women. Such examples are indeed common in China, and Napoleon's glorious and short history proves that this reasoning is not unreasonable. Napoleon met many excellent women in his life, and he had a messy emotional entanglement with them, but he did not have enough women, and he lacked a good female politician like Maria Teresa, the first grand duke of Austria. If there had been such a woman, the Napoleonic dynasty would not have died in the first place, but might have been like the Windsor dynasty of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is still beautiful to this day.
Napoleon's first love, Desiré
Desiré was Napoleon's first love, the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Marseille, and her brother was good friends with Napoleon. Napoleon met Desilei when he was sixteen years old and fell in love with her. In love, Napoleon often sang "Marseillaise" to Desilei, and it can be said that "Marseille" is their love song. Then the two were engaged at the speed of light, in 1795, Napoleon suppressed the rebels of the royal party and became a hot "Portuguese general", and thus met a widowed viscount's widow- Josephine, the two people fought fiercely, Napoleon completely forgot the fiancée of Marseille, and Desiré, who had waited for months without seeing her fiancée reply, decided to go to Paris to find her husband, learned that her fiancé was attending a banquet for a certain lady, she braved the wet rain to come to the door, but because there was no invitation, she could not enter the door, Fortunately, a general without a female companion kindly helped her, but she saw her beloved fiancé holding a beautiful woman's waist and kissing her affectionately. The 17-year-old Desilei just clung to the marriage contract between the two, and did not rush up to compete with the treacherous Napoleon, let alone fight the beautiful woman in the fire. She angrily rushed out of the banquet and stood alone on the bridge, trying to jump into the river and commit suicide. But sometimes fate is such a coincidence, just at this moment, the general who had kindly helped her before saved her in time. The French general was Descié's later husband Jean. Bernardo, who later king of Sweden, Karl XIV, was also Napoleon's fiercest sworn enemy. Of course, these are the last words.
King Karl XIV of Sweden
Dramatically, napoleon surrendered after his defeat, at the advice of his first love, Desilé, and was eventually exiled to St. Helena. In his memoirs written during Napoleon's lifetime, he wrote: "Desiré was Napoleon's first lover. Napoleon's mother said in a letter to Desilé: "This proves, Madame, that my son has always forgotten his first love. They were ready to print the memoir for publication. If this is inconvenient for you, we can delete this section. With your current status as a dignitary, you may think it should be deleted. That night, Desiré replied: "Please keep the original text of Napoleon's memoirs, do not delete a word, I am glad that I am his first love." Desilei is undoubtedly the best woman.
Napoleon's righteous first wife was also the Empress of the First French Empire, Josephine Boarne. She was born on martinique in the french West Indies at the time.
Josephine Boarne
On June 23, 1763, with the first cry of a lovely baby girl coming into this world, a family of knights of the Lords of LaPajeli, France, had their children. Her parents named her Marie Rose Joseph Tucci de La Pargeli.
After 16 years of careful training, this talented and intelligent little girl has come to an end. In 1779 she replaced her deceased sister as the wife of the viscount Alexandre de Boarne, who had been highly successful at the time, and lived in Paris, where they soon had a son and a daughter: Eugène and Autans, whom Joseph had also by this time renamed Josephine Boarne.
Without what happened next, the Boarne family might have lived their lives peacefully and happily. France was in the midst of constant political power, and during this period, King Louis XVI of France sadly became the only emperor in French history to be sent to the guillotine in 1791.
On 2 March 1794, the Paris Public Security Commission ordered the arrest of Alexander, who had just been appointed lieutenant general by the revolutionary government, for dereliction of duty during the siege of Mainz by the anti-French coalition forces, and for being imprisoned for questioning his aristocratic status. During the Reign of Terror, Alexander was sentenced to death. After Robespier's personal trial, Alexander was sent to the guillotine. Josephine was also held in the same prison for three months.
Perhaps god's mercy, perhaps history has a more important task entrusted to her, the people of Paris believe that Josephine did not commit any heinous crimes, and her beauty and benevolent maternal love are so touching that they voted to acquit her.
Widow Josephine
But from then on, the beautiful Madame de Boarne became the widow Josephine. Although she can make a living by sitting on the mountain and eating the sky, her aristocratic status and the future of her two children still torment her all the time. Therefore, Josephine, who had been standing for many years, finally broke through all kinds of concerns and decided to go to society. Since then, she has wandered among the Aristocrats of Paris, becoming a socialite in Paris with her beauty, intelligence and excellent communication skills.
In 1796, the 33-year-old Josephine was tired of the wandering social career, and her lover at the time was also fighting with her girlfriend at the moment, and in order to get rid of each other's burden to alleviate the guilt in her heart, in a carefully arranged banquet, Josephine befriended a young general with a rising career- Napoleon.
Napoleon at that time was not yet famous or rich. He had just returned from a battle outside, and his only regret about coming back from the battle was a scabies. To prevent ringworm from growing on his head, he shaved his head, but Josephine took a fancy to Napoleon's potential stock at a glance. The next day, she asked her 12-year-old son to see Napoleon, who, at her behest, asked Napoleon to return the sword that the soldier had seized from his father, and Napoleon granted the child's request, and the child tearfully took the sword and kissed the relic.
The next day, Josephine came to thank him and poured out his admiration. Josephine's beauty, purity, and kindness also deeply touched Napoleon. Napoleon believed that union with the young widow had a great bearing on his happiness; that it would be a strong support for his achievement of his ambitions. After only three months of acquaintance, they had a wedding. Two days after his new marriage, Napoleon returned to the Italian front and commanded the ill-trained and poorly armed French army to defeat the powerful Austrian army, which shocked all of Europe and spread the world.
Napoleon Josephine together
Josephine's delicacy, purity and kindness were deeply loved by Napoleon. He wrote in a letter to her: "I have received a letter from you, and you seem to be accusing me of saying bad things about women in the letter. Here's the thing, what I hate the most is the female schemers. I am accustomed to seeing kind, gentle, gentle women, and I love them. If they spoiled me, it wasn't my fault, it was your fault. But you'll see that I've been lenient with a reasonable, respectable woman when I showed her her husband's letter of betraying me. She began to cry, shouting in a tone of great sadness and honesty: "This is indeed his handwriting!" This touched my heart enough that I said, "Well, Madame, throw the letter into the fire, and I will have no evidence to target your husband." She burned the letter and turned sadness into joy. Now her husband was saved, and if two hours later he had been executed. So, you see I like women who are delicate, pure and kind, because only they are like you.
Josephine's greatest misfortune in union with Napoleon was the lack of children, and Napoleon's preoccupied desire to dominate Europe and have sons to inherit his inheritance became more apparent after he was honored as emperor by Senate edict in 1804. Napoleon, who was over 40 years old, finally proposed to divorce Josephine on November 30, 1809. That day, when Josephine and Napoleon had lunch as usual, Napoleon had just finished his coffee and ordered him to step back. He approached Josephine and took her hand and pressed it to his heart, stared for a moment and said, "Josephine, my dear Josephine!" You know I loved you, and the only moments of happiness I've ever had in this world have been given to you alone. But, Josephine, my destiny is higher than my will; my most precious love must give way to the interests of France. ”
Josephine after divorce
But divorce could not erase Napoleon's love affair with Josephine. Although he eventually divorced her, he did so only because he needed a son, and Josephine couldn't get him there. Divorcing Josephine made Napoleon so sad that when he signed the divorce papers, he couldn't help but cry. On the third day after the divorce, he sat in the palace, staring at the sky and meditating behind closed doors, refusing to receive anyone and having no intention of doing anything.
After the divorce, Josephine had been living in Malmaison's bedchamber, and Napoleon often visited her, but her spirit was always depressed. After Josephine's death, Napoleon went to her grave and wept bitterly. Since Josephine was a victim of Napoleon's arrogant ambitions, the Restoration Dynasty and the Coalition eventually forgave her. Out of respect, and probably out of curiosity, the Russian Tsar also paid a special visit to Malmaison. For twenty-five years Europe has experienced a nightmare, and this woman is intimately connected to this incredible adventure.
Immediately afterward, the King of Prussia also came to visit with his son. After this, the imperial relatives of Prussia, Britain, Russia and Germany flocked to the court, which had been snubbed for many years, and suddenly there was a lively scene. Even the impregnable Bourbons appeared to be gracious, and they told Josephine that she could continue to occupy Malmeson Castle for the rest of her life.
Malmaison Castle, Paris
In this way, Josephine finally stayed safely at Malmaison Castle. Later, Louis XVIII's younger brother also came to pay his respects to her. These royalists had received her strong help when they fled abroad, and they remembered this vividly, and she was also a royalist. Didn't she, like many people who returned from abroad, suffer from prison in the age of terror? For this unexpected situation, she quickly adapted. As always, she did not hesitate to entertain people from all walks of life, including emperors, kings, princes and nobles returning from exile. Her salon became the liveliest place in the upper class at that time, and even when she was most proud, she never received such a special honor. What's more, King Louis XVIII also offered to see her. Therefore, she was invited to return to the Tuileries Palace on 26 May to meet him. But it didn't happen. On May 25, she suddenly felt discomfort in her throat, and four days later, she left the world at the age of 51. Throughout Josephine's life, she could not but be a good woman.
Napoleon welcomed in 1870 – "My Lady of Poland" Mary Vallewska, a woman whom Napoleon I fell in love with. She originally came to Napoleon for her native Poland, and it can be said that she was initially with Napoleon as a political necessity, but in the end she fell in love with Napoleon deeply. Whether it was when Napoleon was triumphant in the spring breeze, or when he was frustrated and exiled in his life, Valeska was obsessed; and Napoleon's love for Vallevska was a process of mixing love and desire.
Mary Valevska
In 18th- and 9th-century Europe, the Church condemned adultery, both men and women, although kings, counts, nobles, and knights usually had lovers. The same was true of Napoleon, who could not recruit concubines, but did not prevent him from having many mistresses. On January 1, 1807, in the Polish town of Bunilo, Napoleon met Madame Marie Vallewska.
Mary's father was a former lord and governor of Gosten, Poland, where she grew up and was educated in her family's homeland of Kilnozia. At the age of 18, due to the family's forced arrangement, she married an old man who could be her grandfather----- Count Ansenisvalleski, who was the governor of Poland's Warka and the steward of the last polish king, and Mary gave birth to a son in 1805.
Mary's empathy and idyllic charm made Napoleon fall madly in love with her. Their spiritual communication was unmatched by other women, but she never wanted a share of Napoleon's possessions, and when all the people betrayed Napoleon, only Valevska was still at Napoleon's side. On his deathbed, Napoleon recalled that by Vallevska's side, he could get the most relaxed and comfortable moments, which was entirely a kind of communication between hearts.
In 1810, the crystallization of their love, Count Alexander Valleski, was born. But Vallevska failed to replace Napoleon's Empress Josephine, who had been deposed for not being able to have children. Valevska did not complain in the slightest, and Napoleon did not use the wealth of the country as compensation for her lack of fame.
Broken Lun likes the Palace of Fontainebleau
The seat of Napoleon the Great
When the French League invaded Paris in 1814 and Napoleon signed an abdication at the Palace of Fontainebleau, Countess Vallevska came to the man who had reneged on his word, heard that all the emperor's property had been confiscated, and she left all the jewels that the emperor had given her. But since she never appeared at the French court, no one knew her, and she did not see Napoleon all night.
Soon after Napoleon arrived at the first penal colony, Mary arrived on the island of Elba in an English ship and brought with her her four-year-old son. When Napoleon was satisfied, she never took the initiative to approach him, and when he was in a dilemma, she did not wait to summon the initiative to come to his side, such as the Palace of Fontainebleau, and the same was true of the island of Elba, and they spent two days and two nights together. Napoleon wanted to keep her by his side, but he still looked forward to the Habsburg princess bringing the King of Rome to the island to reunite with him. On the way back, Mary's ship encountered wind and waves, and Napoleon was very worried, until the next day when he got the news that Mary was safe and sound.
In 1815 Napoleon ascended to the throne again, failed again, and was exiled to the Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he never had the possibility of returning to the European continent. In 1816, Valevska agreed to the marriage proposal of her long-time admirer, his distant cousin Count de Ornano. After their marriage, the count was deeply in love with his wife, and in order to escape the influence of their former enemy Napoleon, they left Paris and moved to the province of Liège to prepare for their new life, however, at the age of 31, Valevska died the following year after leaving a son in childbirth. Valevska is a model for Women in Europe!
Alexander Valevsky, the son of Napoleon and Valevska, was the most outstanding of Napoleon's sons. After completing his education with a knighthood, he allied himself with the Orleans and joined the French Foreign Legion, where he was granted French citizenship for his meritorious service during the War in North Africa. Count Alexander Vallesky later held many important positions in the French Second Reich, including Senator, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State, and held considerable power in his hands, and was a rare outstanding figure of beauty and talent among napoleon's immediate descendants.
After Napoleon divorced his first wife Josephine on December 15, 1809, the selection of empresses has been under consideration, and Napoleon at this time is the emperor of France, and the second empress must of course be carefully selected. After consultation with the ministers, there were two main plans: one was to marry the sister of The Russian Emperor Alexander II, and the other was to marry Maria Louise, the daughter of the Austrian Emperor Francis.
Sister of Emperor Alexander I of Russia
The Russian Emperor's sister, Princess Anna, was a European beauty at the time, and Napoleon also had an alliance with Russia, and marrying Alexander's sister should not be a problem, but when Napoleon came to propose marriage, Alexander I rejected him. He did not intend to marry his beloved sister to Napoleon, for in Alexander's eyes Napoleon could not have been emperor all the time, and his sister's happiness was not guaranteed in him. It has to be said that the Russian tsar's vision is very sharp. But there were also rumors that the Tsar was in love with his sister, and as the marriage negotiations broke down, the alliance between the two countries ended. Napoleon, on the other hand, launched an attack on Moscow in 1812, leading him to the road of defeat.
Unable to establish an alliance with Russia, Napoleon had to re-choose a spouse, and he decided to become an in-law with the Austrian Emperor. But Princess Mary Louise was also not interested in Napoleon, first, napoleon was not like the person she loved, but more like the enemy of her country, and second, the education she received had always told her that Napoleon was just a slur, and that being emperor was not a nobleman, and that there was no noble blood. She was a princess of the great Holy Roman Empire, of noble status and blood. Franz I also did not like the son-in-law, but hoped that her sacrifice would bring peace to Austria for several years and temporarily save the country from danger. So the two parties hurriedly entered into a marriage contract. On 11 March 1810, Mary Louise married Napoleon I in the Augustinian Church in Vienna. The bride's uncle, Archduke Karl, attended the wedding in place of Napoleon. According to the French ambassador, it was a palatial wedding that would be difficult to surpass in later generations. After marriage, Mary Louise became Queen of France and Queen of Italy.
Marie Louise, second empress of Napoleon
On 13 March, Marie Louise left Vienna. On 27 March, Marie Louise met Napoleon for the first time in Compiègne, to whom she said, "You yourself are much better than your portrait." On April 1, 1810, Marie Louise and Napoleon held a civil wedding ceremony inside St. Joseph's Church. The next day, Marie Louise and Napoleon traveled to Paris in a coronation carriage. The Imperial Guard cavalry led the march, followed by the herald and the carriage. The French marshal rode on either side of the carriage and followed near the carriages. When the procession reached the Tuileries Palace, the couple went to the church of the Louvre and held another religious wedding. The wedding was officiated by the Cardinal. Ferdinando Peel also composed a wedding march for this purpose. Through this marriage, Napoleon also became the niece and granddaughter-in-law of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. Because Louise was the granddaughter of Marie Antoinette's favorite sister, Maria Carolina, Queen Louis XVI. When Mary Louise was asked to agree to the marriage, she replied: "I agree only because my duty requires my consent." ”
Mary Louise was an obedient wife who soon settled in the French court. She developed a deep friendship with her maid, Louise Antoinette Lannis, Duchess of Montebello. Napoleon had initially told his assistant that he had married a "womb", but the relationship between them soon developed. He was effortless to please her, and he claimed to prefer Mary Louise to his first wife, Queen Josephine. Although he had loved Josephine once and claimed that he and Josephine were still friends after they had divorced peacefully, he did not care to respect Josephine, and with Mary Louise, they "never lied, never had an affair"—presumably to satirize Josephine's rumored extramarital affair and her profligacy. In a letter to her father, Mary Louise wrote: "I assure you, dear Father, that the views of the Emperor are extremely unfair. The more a person knows him, the more he will appreciate and love him. However, this marriage is not without contradictions. Napoleon would sometimes tell his assistant that Mary Louise was too shy and timid, and mary Louise was upset whenever he maintained close contact with the more cheerful and enthusiastic Josephine.
The grand wedding of 1812 also ushered in a new period of peace and friendship between France and Austria, which had been at war for the past two decades. The people of Vienna, who had hated Napoleon a few months earlier, suddenly became full of praise for the French Emperor. During the wedding, Emperor Napoleon even exchanged flattering letters with Emperor Franz II, Empress Maria Ludwika and Archduke Karl. In public, the shy Mary Louise rarely spoke, which led some to mistakenly believe she was too arrogant. She was considered a virtuous woman who never interfered in politics. Privately, she was very polite and gentle.
Mary and her newborn son
In July 1810, Mary Louise became pregnant, and on March 20, 1811, she gave birth to a boy. In accordance with the customary practice of the heirs of the Holy Roman Empire being called Kings of the Romans, the baby boy named Napoleon François Charles Joseph Bonaparte was also given the title of King of Rome. Napoleon was so pleased that his wife had survived the pain of childbearing, saying, "I would rather not have any more children than see her suffer so much again." Mary Louise took care of her son single-mindedly. She took him to her side every morning and visited him every day at his residence.
Mary visits her son every day
In May 1812, a month before the French invasion of Russia, Marie Louise accompanied Napoleon to Dresden, during which time she met her father and stepmother. Emperor Franz told Napoleon that for the coming war, he could count on "co-creating" with Austria. Mary Louise's stepmother was jealous of her stepdaughter for stealing the limelight on her appearance, and there was a small rivalry between the French queen and the Austrian queen. It was also in Dresden that Marie Louise met her future second husband, Count Adam Albert von Nijberg, for the first time. On 29 May, Napoleon left Dresden in order to reorganize his army.
Marie Louise then travelled to Prague, where she spent several weeks of happy hours with her Austrian family before her return to St. Cloud on 18 July. During the war, she remained in touch with Napoleon. The invasion of Russia eventually brought disaster to the French army, and most of France's main forces were annihilated by the cold Russian winter and guerrilla attacks. In October 1812, Marais plotted a coup d'état in Paris to overthrow Napoleon. Marais and his henchmen were executed after a failed coup. After the failed coup d'état in Marais, Napoleon hurried back to France and was reunited with his wife on the evening of 18 December.
Emperor Francis of Austria
After Napoleon's defeat, Marie Louise was prevented from meeting Napoleon again due to the obstruction of her father Francis, even after Napoleon fled Elba and returned to Paris in 1815 as Emperor of the Hundred Days, and was later exiled to Santa Helera until his death in 1821. Mary Louise soon developed a relationship with count Nepar, but Napoleon did not understand this and continued to have feelings for her until his death.
Mary Louise fell ill on December 9, 1847, her condition continued to deteriorate, and on December 17 she vomited several times and never woke up, and that night she died quietly, and her cause of death was determined to be pleurisy. Later, Mary's body was transferred to the Royal Catacombs in Vienna for burial. The combination of Mary Louise and Napoleon, although a product of politics, mary's way of being a woman is also excellent.
In this way, the great Napoleon had a lover, two legal queens and an open mistress, and how many anonymous lovers were unknown. But judging only by the lifelong performance of these four women, they are undoubtedly excellent women. This confirms the inference that "behind a successful and great man, there will be several or more excellent women". Regrettably, these women of Napoleon lacked the talent of civil strategy and could not assist Napoleon in conquering Europe, resulting in the final defeat of Waterloo and the death of saint Helena in exile.