Joséphine de Beauharnais

Empress of the French from 1804 to 1810

For her granddaughter, the queen consort of Sweden and Norway, see Josephine of Leuchtenberg. For the racehorse, see Empress Josephine (horse).

Joséphine de Beauharnais

* Viscountess of Beauharnais
* Duchess of Navarre

Portrait by Antoine-Jean Gros, c. 1809

Empress consort of the French
Tenure| 18 May 1804 – 10 January 1810
Coronation| 2 December 1804
Queen consort of Italy
Tenure| 23 May 1805 – 10 January 1810

Born| Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie
(1763-06-23)23 June 1763
Dauphin, Saint Lucia, Lesser Antilles
Died| 29 May 1814(1814-05-29) (aged 50)
Rueil-Malmaison, Kingdom of France
Burial|

Church of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul, Rueil-Malmaison, France

Spouses|

Alexandre, Viscount of Beauharnais

(m. 1779; died 1794)​

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French

(m. 1796; ann. 1810)​

Issue|

* Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg
* Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland

House| Tascher de La Pagerie
Father| Joseph Gaspard Tascher de La Pagerie
Mother| Rose Claire des Vergers de Sannois
Signature|

Joséphine Bonaparte (French: [ʒozefin bɔnapaʁt], born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie; 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Emperor Napoleon I and as such Empress of the French from 18 May 1804 until their marriage was annulled on 10 January 1810. As Napoleon's consort, she was also Queen of Italy from 26 May 1805 until the 1810 annulment. She is widely known as Joséphine de Beauharnais (French: [ʒozefin də boaʁnɛ]).

Joséphine's 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 Emperor Napoleon III of France and Empress Amélie of Brazil. 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 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.[1] The Château de Malmaison was noted for its rose garden, which she supervised closely.

## Name

[edit]

Although she is often referred to as "Joséphine de Beauharnais", it is not a name she herself used. "Beauharnais" is the name of her first husband, which she ceased to use upon her marriage to Napoleon, taking the last name "Bonaparte".[2] She did not use the name "Joséphine" before meeting Napoleon, who was the first to call her such, perhaps from her middle name, Josèphe. Before she met Napoleon, she went by the name of Rose, or Marie-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, later de Beauharnais. She sometimes reverted to using her maiden name in later life. After her marriage to then-General Bonaparte, she adopted the name Joséphine Bonaparte. The misnomer "Joséphine de Beauharnais" emerged during the restoration of the Bourbons, who were hesitant to refer to her by either Napoleon's surname or her imperial title.[citation needed]

## Family background

[edit]

The Taschers were an ancient French noble family of landed gentry, and Joséphine's grandfather, Gaspard-Joseph was the first to settle in Le Carbet on Martinique in 1726.[3] He seems to have lived in poverty there, but secured a position for his son, Joseph-Gaspard (1735–1790) as a page in the household of the Dauphine of France, Maria Josepha of Saxony.[3]

After spending three years from 1752 in France, Joseph-Gaspard returned to Martinique and married Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois (1735–1807), whose maternal grandfather, Anthony Brown, may have been Irish.[4] Rose-Claire was from one of the oldest European families on the island, and the Tascher family home near Les Trois-Îlets, a sugar plantation, which is now a museum,[5] was part of her dowry.

On Martinique, Joseph-Gaspard earned his living as a plantation owner and a lieutenant of the Troupes de marine, apart from a small pension for his previous work in the royal household. He was almost always close to bankruptcy and suffered from ill health.[3]

## Disputed birthplace

[edit]

Josephine and the Fortune-Teller by David Wilkie, 1837

Officially, Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de La Pagerie was born in Les Trois-Îlets on Martinique on 23 June 1763. However, this has been disputed by several sources. The church registry in Les Trois-Îlets states that Joséphine was baptised there by Emmanuel Capuchin but does not say she was born there.[citation needed]

Joséphine's father owned an estate in Soufrière District on Saint Lucia, called Malmaison, which later was also the name of her famous French residence. In 1802, Dom Daviot, parish priest in Gros Islet on Saint Lucia, wrote a letter to one of his friends, stating that "it is in the vicinity of [my] parish that the wife of the first consul was born". He asserted that he was well acquainted with Joséphine's cousin, his parishioner.[6]

In Henry H. Breen's 1844 The History of St. Lucia, he stated that he had met with "several well-informed persons" who were convinced that Empress Joséphine had been born there.[7] Breen presented some evidence for this, including a newspaper clipping from 1831 which said that it was "alleged" that the de Taschers were among the first settlers of Saint Lucia, and that the future empress was born on a small estate on a hill then called La Cauzette, and later known as Morne Paix Bouche.[7] According to this story, the family lived there until 1771, when the father went to serve as intendant of Martinique.[8] Some people even claimed to have been among Joséphine's playmates, and one of them said that he had been "graciously received" by the empress in Château de Malmaison outside Paris. Breen received further confirmation from Joséphine's enslaved nanny, Dede, who said that she nursed Joséphine at La Cauzette.[8]

According to those who believe that Joséphine was born on Saint Lucia, the de Tascher estate in Martinique was only a pied-à-terre, occasional lodging, for when they wanted to stay with his mother-in-law. Saint Lucia switched hands between Great Britain and France fourteen times, and there were no civil registers on the island when Joséphine was born.[9] Saint Lucia's frequent change of ownership between Britain and France could be seen as the reason her birthplace was left out of her birth record, as it would have affected her nationality.[9]

Regardless of where she was born, Joséphine was her parents' first child, and they had two more: Catherine-Désirée in 1764 and Marie-Françoise in 1766.[3] At the ages of ten and nine, Joséphine and Catherine-Désirée were sent to a boarding school in Fort-Royal, run by the Bénédictines de la Providence. There, they learned to read, write, sing, dance, and embroider for four years. After the death of Catherine-Désirée, Joséphine returned to her parents' plantation. Joséphine's nurse was an enslaved person called Marion, whose freedom she would secure in 1807.[3]

## First marriage

[edit]

Alexandre-Francois-Marie, Vicomte de Beauharnais by Georges Rouget

Joséphine's paternal aunt, Marie-Euphémie-Désirée Renaudin, was the mistress of a French naval officer, François de Beauharnais, from a less ancient but richer noble family.[3] While living on Martinique, de Beauharnais had a son, Alexandre, by his wife. Soon, the parents returned to France, and left the infant with the Tascher family until 1766.[3] When he had come of age, his father's mistress, who was also Alexandre's godmother, decided that it would be advantageous to her if he married one of her nieces. Aged seventeen, he judged fifteen-year-old Joséphine to be too close to him in age, and thus, Catherine-Désirée was chosen for him. As the bride's father was impoverished and the bridegroom was to become a wealthy man upon his marriage, he asked for no dowry.[10]

By the time Alexandre's father had proposed in a letter, however, Catherine-Désirée had died. Not wanting to lose the rich suitor, her father offered his youngest daughter instead, which was accepted by Alexandre. Marie-Françoise was not yet twelve, however, and her mother and grandmother were not willing to let her go. In the end, Joséphine was engaged to Alexandre.[11]

In October 1779, she went to France with her father. She married Alexandre on 13 December 1779, in Noisy-le-Grand. They had two children: a son, Eugène de Beauharnais, and a daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais (who later married Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte in 1802). Joséphine and Alexandre's marriage was not a happy one. Alexandre abandoned his family for over a year to live with a mistress and frequented brothels, leading to a court-ordered separation during which Joséphine and the children lived at Alexandre's expense in the Pentemont Abbey.

On 2 March 1794, during the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety ordered the arrest of her husband. He was jailed in the Carmes Prison in Paris. Considering Joséphine as being too close to the counter-revolutionary financial circles, the Committee ordered her arrest on 18 April 1794. A warrant of arrest was issued against her on 21 April 1794, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until 28 July. During this time, Joséphine was only allowed to communicate with her children by their scrawls on the laundry list, which the jailers soon prohibited.[4]

Her husband was accused of having poorly defended Mainz in July 1793, and being considered an aristocratic suspect, was sentenced to death and guillotined with his cousin Augustin on 23 July 1794, on the Place de la Révolution (today Place de la Concorde) in Paris. Joséphine was freed five days later, thanks to the Fall of Maximilien Robespierre, which ended the Reign of Terror. On 27 July 1794 Tallien arranged the liberation of Thérèse Cabarrus, and soon after that of Joséphine.[4] In June 1795, a new law allowed her to recover the possessions of Alexandre.[citation needed]

## Marriage to Napoleon

[edit]

|  |

This article is part of
a series about

Napoleon

|

* * *

Family

* Wives
* Joséphine de Beauharnais
* Marie Louise
* Children
* Charles Léon
* Alexandre Walewski
* Napoleon II
* Parents
* Carlo Maria Buonaparte
* Letizia Ramolino
* Brothers
* Joseph
* Lucien
* Louis
* Jérôme
* Sisters
* Caroline
* Pauline
* Elisa

* * *

Life and career

* Timeline
* First French Empire
* Coup of 18 Brumaire
* Consulate
* Assassination attempts
* Constitutions
* 1799
* 1802
* 1804
* 1815
* Napoleonic Wars
* Coronation
* Sale of Louisiana
* Planned invasion of the United Kingdom
* Holland
* Mesures usuelles
* Looting of art
* Tactics
* Weaponry and warfare
* 1st abdication
* 1st exile
* Route Napoléon
* 2nd abdication
* Death
* mask

* * *

Battles and wars

* French Revolutionary Wars
* Siege of Toulon
* French Revolution
* 13 Vendémiaire
* Battle of Lodi
* Battle of Bassano
* Battle of Rivoli
* French campaign in Egypt and Syria
* Battle of the Pyramids
* Siege of Jaffa
* Battle of Marengo
* War of the Third Coalition
* Battle of Austerlitz
* War of the Fourth Coalition
* Battle of Eylau
* War of the Fifth Coalition
* Battle of Eckmühl
* French invasion of Russia
* Battle of Borodino
* War of the Sixth Coalition
* Battle of Leipzig
* Battle of Vauchamps
* Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube
* Hundred Days
* Battle of Ligny
* Battle of Waterloo

* * *

Views

* Catholic Church
* Concordat of 1801
* Tiara
* Jewish people
* Grand Sanhedrin
* Infamous Decree
* Protestants
* Organic Articles
* Slavery
* Law of 20 May 1802
* Saint-Domingue expedition

* * *

Homes and honours

* Arc de Triomphe
* Column of the Grande Armée
* Equestrian statue
* Palace of Fontainebleau
* Les Invalides
* Longwood House
* Maison Bonaparte
* Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
* Milan
* Rue de la Victoire
* Warsaw monument

* * *

Legacy

* Bank of France
* Bonapartism
* Cultural depictions
* Napoleon complex
* "China is a sleeping giant" quote
* German Romanticism
* Napoleonic Code
* Propaganda
* Tomb
* Retour des cendres
* Penis
* Studies
* Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)

* * *

* v
* t
* e

Joséphine de Beauharnais at the château de Malmaison. 1801. By François Gérard.

Madame de Beauharnais had affairs with several leading political figures, including Paul Barras. In 1795, she met Napoleon Bonaparte, six years her junior, and became his mistress. In a letter to her in December, he wrote, "I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night's intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses." In January 1796, Napoleon proposed to her and they were married on 9 March. On the marriage certificate, Joséphine reduced her age by 4 years and increased Napoleon's by 18 months, making the newly-weds appear to be roughly the same age.[12] Until meeting Bonaparte, she was known as Rose, but Bonaparte preferred to call her Joséphine, the name she adopted from then on.[13]

The marriage was not well received by Napoleon's family, who were shocked that he had married an older widow with two children. His mother and sisters were especially resentful of Joséphine, as they felt clumsy and unsophisticated in her presence.[14]

Two days after the wedding, Bonaparte left Paris to lead the Army of Italy. During their separation, he sent her many love letters. In February 1797, he wrote: "You to whom nature has given spirit, sweetness, and beauty, you who alone can move and rule my heart, you who know all too well the absolute empire you exercise over it!"

Napoléon Bonaparte as first Consul. By François Gérard. 1803.

Joséphine, left behind in Paris, in 1796 began an affair with a handsome Hussar lieutenant, Hippolyte Charles.[15] Rumors of the affair reached Napoleon; he was infuriated, and his love for her changed entirely.[16]

In 1798, Napoleon led a French army to Egypt. During this campaign, Napoleon started an affair of his own with Pauline Fourès, the wife of a junior officer, who became known as "Napoleon's Cleopatra." The relationship between Joséphine and Napoleon was never the same after this.

In December 1800, Joséphine was nearly killed in the Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise, an attempt on Napoleon's life with a bomb planted in a parked cart. On 24 December, she and Napoleon went to see a performance of Joseph Haydn's Creation at the Opéra, accompanied by several friends and family. The party travelled in two carriages. Joséphine was in the second, with her daughter, Hortense; her pregnant sister-in-law, Caroline Murat; and General Jean Rapp.[17] Joséphine had delayed the party while getting a new silk shawl draped correctly, and Napoleon went ahead in the first carriage.[18] The bomb exploded as her carriage was passing. The bomb killed several bystanders and one of the carriage horses, and blew out the carriage's windows; Hortense was struck in the hand by flying glass. There were no other injuries and the party proceeded to the Opéra.[19]

### Empress of the French

[edit]

The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David (1804)

Napoleon was elected Emperor of the French in 1804, making Joséphine empress. The coronation ceremony, officiated by Pope Pius VII, took place at Notre-Dame de Paris, on 2 December. Napoleon first crowned himself, then put the crown on Joséphine's head, proclaiming her empress. This showed his rejection of the clergy as the power of Europe.

Empress Josephine in coronation costume in 1807–1808 by François Gérard

In her role as empress, Josephine had a court appointed to her and reinstated the offices which composed the household of the queen before the French revolution, with Adélaïde de La Rochefoucauld as Première dame d'honneur, Émilie de Beauharnais as Dame d'atour, and the wives of his own officials and generals, Jeanne Charlotte du Lucay, Madame de Rémusat, Elisabeth Baude de Talhouët, Lauriston, d'Arberg, Marie Antoinette Duchâtel, Sophie de Segur, Séran, Colbert, Savary and Aglaé Louise Auguié Ney, as Dame de Palais.[4]

Shortly before their coronation, there was an incident at the Château de Saint-Cloud that nearly sundered the marriage between the two. Joséphine caught Napoleon in the bedroom of her lady-in-waiting, Élisabeth de Vaudey, and Napoleon threatened to divorce her as she had not produced an heir since he felt pressured from his family to do so. Eventually, however, through the efforts of her daughter Hortense, the two were reconciled.[20]

The Divorce of the Empress Josephine in 1809 by Henri Frédéric Schopin

When after a few years it became clear she could not have a child, Napoleon, while still loving Joséphine, began to think about the possibility of an annulment. The final die was cast when Napoleon's nephew (and Joséphine's grandson) Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, who had been declared his heir, died of croup in 1807. Once again requested per Napoleon’s family, he began to create lists of eligible princesses. At dinner on 30 November 1809, he let Joséphine know that—in the interest of France—he must find a wife who could produce an heir. He let Joséphine know that this was his family's wish and that he wished it were not so. Joséphine agreed to the divorce so the Emperor could remarry in the hope of having an heir. The divorce ceremony took place on 10 January 1810 and was a grand but solemn social occasion, and each read a statement of devotion to the other.[21]

On 11 March, Napoleon married Marie-Louise of Austria by proxy;[22] the formal ceremony took place at the Louvre in April.[23] Napoleon once remarked that despite her quick infatuation with him, "It is a womb that I am marrying".[24] Even after their separation, Napoleon insisted Joséphine retain the title of empress. "It is my will that she retain the rank and title of empress, and especially that she never doubt my sentiments, and that she ever hold me as her best and dearest friend."[citation needed]

## Later life and death

[edit]

### Duchess of Navarre

[edit]

Portrait of Joséphine later in life by Andrea Appiani Château de Malmaison near Paris

After the annulment, Joséphine lived at the Château de Malmaison, near Paris. She remained on good terms with Napoleon, who once said that the only thing to come between them was her debts. (Joséphine remarked privately, "The only thing that ever came between us was my debts; certainly not his manhood."[25]) In April 1810, by letters patent, Napoleon created her Duchess of Navarre. Some claim Napoleon and Joséphine were still secretly in love, though it is impossible to verify this.[26][non-primary source needed]

In March 1811, Marie Louise delivered a long-awaited heir, Napoleon II, to whom Napoleon gave the title "King of Rome".[citation needed] Two years later Napoleon arranged for Joséphine to meet the young prince "who had cost her so many tears".[This quote needs a citation]

### Death

[edit]

Joséphine died of pneumonia in Rueil-Malmaison on 29 May 1814, soon after walking with Emperor Alexander I of Russia in the gardens of Malmaison, where she allegedly begged to join Napoleon in exile. She was buried in the nearby church of Saint Pierre-Saint Paul[27] in Rueil. Her daughter Hortense is interred near her.[citation needed]

Napoleon learned of her death via a French journal while in exile on Elba, and stayed locked in his room for two days, refusing to see anyone. He claimed to a friend, while in exile on Saint Helena, that "I truly loved my Joséphine, but I did not respect her."[28] Despite numerous affairs, eventual marriage annulment, and his remarriage, the Emperor's last words on his death bed at St. Helena were: "France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine." ("France, l'armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine").[29]

## Descendants

[edit]

Joséphine's eldest granddaughter, Joséphine, Queen consort of Sweden and Norway. Portrait by Axel Nordgren

Hortense's son, Napoleon III, became Emperor of the French. Eugène's son Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg married into the Russian Imperial family, was granted the style of Imperial Highness and founded the Russian line of the Beauharnais family, while Eugene's daughter Joséphine married King Oscar I of Sweden, the son of Napoleon's one-time fiancée, Désirée Clary. Through her, Joséphine is a direct ancestor of the present heads of the royal houses of Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden and of the grandducal house of Baden.[citation needed]

A number of jewels worn by modern-day royals are often said to have been worn by Joséphine. Through the Leuchtenberg inheritance, the Norwegian royal family possesses an emerald and diamond parure said to have been Joséphine's.[citation needed] The Swedish royal family owns several pieces of jewelry frequently linked to Joséphine, including the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure,[citation needed] a suite of amethyst jewels,[citation needed] and the Cameo Parure, worn by Sweden's royal brides.[citation needed]

Another of Eugène's daughters, Amélie of Leuchtenberg, married Emperor Pedro I of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, and became Empress of Brazil, and they had one surviving daughter, Princess Maria Amélia of Brazil, who was briefly engaged to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, before he became Maximilian I of Mexico, before her early death.[citation needed]

## Personality and appearance

[edit]

Josephine in 1805 by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon

Her biographer Carolly Erickson wrote, "In choosing her lovers [Joséphine] followed her head first, then her heart",[11] meaning that she was adept in terms of identifying the men who were most capable of fulfilling her financial and social needs. She was aware of Napoleon's potential. Joséphine was a renowned spendthrift and Barras may have encouraged the relationship with General Bonaparte in order to get her off his hands. Joséphine was naturally full of kindness, generosity and charm, and was praised as an engaging hostess.

Joséphine was described as being of average height, svelte, and shapely, with silky, long, chestnut-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a rather sallow complexion. Her nose was small and straight, and her mouth was well-formed; however, she kept it closed most of the time to hide her bad teeth.[30] She was praised for her elegance, style, and low, "silvery", beautifully modulated voice.[31]

## Patroness of roses

[edit]

'Souvenir de la Malmaison'

In 1799 while Napoleon was in Egypt, Joséphine purchased the Chateau de Malmaison.[32] She had it landscaped in an English style, hiring landscapers and horticulturalists from Britain. These included Thomas Blaikie, a Scottish horticultural expert, another Scottish gardener, Alexander Howatson, the botanist, Ventenat, and the horticulturist, André Dupont. The rose garden was begun soon after purchase; inspired by Dupont's love of roses. Joséphine took a personal interest in the gardens and the roses, and learned a great deal about botany and horticulture from her staff. Joséphine wanted to collect all known roses so Napoleon ordered his warship commanders to search all seized vessels for plants to be forwarded to Malmaison.

Pierre-Joseph Redouté was commissioned by her to paint the flowers from her gardens. Les Roses was published 1817–20 with 168 plates of roses; 75–80 of the roses grew at Malmaison. The English nursery Lee and Kennedy was a major supplier, despite Britain and France being at war, his shipments were allowed to cross blockades. Specifically, when Hume's Blush Tea-Scented China was imported to England from China, the British and French Admiralties made arrangements in 1810 for specimens to cross naval blockades for Joséphine's garden.[33] Sir Joseph Banks, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, also sent her roses.

The general assumption is that she had about 250 roses in her garden when she died in 1814. Unfortunately the roses were not catalogued during her tenure. There may have been only 197 rose varieties in existence in 1814, according to calculations by Jules Gravereaux of Roseraie de l’Haye. There were 12 species, about 40 centifolias, mosses and damasks, 20 Bengals, and about 100 gallicas. The botanist Claude Antoine Thory, who wrote the descriptions for Redouté's paintings in Les Roses, noted that Joséphine's Bengal rose R. indica had black spots on it.[34] She produced the first written history of the cultivation of roses, and is believed to have hosted the first rose exhibition, in 1810.[35]

Rosa Joséphine de Beauharnais

Modern hybridization of roses through artificial, controlled pollination began with Joséphine's horticulturalist Andre Dupont.[32] Prior to this, most new rose cultivars were spontaneous mutations or accidental, bee-induced hybrids, and appeared rarely. With controlled pollination, the appearance of new cultivars grew exponentially. Of the roughly 200 types of roses known to Joséphine, Dupont had created 25 while in her employ. Subsequent French hybridizers created over 1000 new rose cultivars in the 30 years following Joséphine's death. In 1910, less than 100 years after her death, there were about 8000 rose types in Gravereaux's garden. Bechtel also feels that the popularity of roses as garden plants was boosted by Joséphine's patronage. She was a popular ruler and fashionable people copied her.

Brenner and Scanniello call her the "Godmother of modern rosomaniacs" and attribute her with our modern style of vernacular cultivar names as opposed to Latinized, pseudo-scientific cultivar names. For instance, R. alba incarnata became "Cuisse de Nymphe Emue" in her garden. After Joséphine's death in 1814 the house was vacant at times, the garden and house ransacked and vandalised, and the garden's remains were destroyed in a battle in 1870.

Impératrice Joséphine

Jacques-Louis Descemet dedicated Impératrice Joséphine to her sometime before 1815. Similarly, Jean-Pierre Vibert dedicated Joséphine Beauharnais in her honor in 1823. The rose 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' appeared in 1844, 30 years after her death, named in her honor by a Russian Grand Duke planting one of the first specimens in the Imperial Garden in St. Petersburg.[34]

## Art patronage

[edit]

Empress Joséphine was a great lover of all art. She was known for an interest in horticulture and loved all things artistic. She surrounded herself with creative people whose work ranged from paintings and sculpture to furniture and the architecture all around her. Joséphine always had an interest in art but it was with her marriage to her first husband that she would gain more access to art and artists. Due to her husband's high position in society she was often able to frequent many influential people's homes and learned from the works that were in their houses.[1] After marrying Napoleon and becoming Empress she was surrounded by the works of the time, however Joséphine also appreciated the works of old masters. She was also drawn to artists and styles that were not widely used in her time, searching for artists that challenged the accepted standards. She visited the Salon to build relationships with contemporary artists. Joséphine became a patron to several different artists, helping to build their careers though their connection to her. After buying the Château de Malmaison, Joséphine had a blank canvas to showpiece her art and style and used it to create salons, galleries, a theater and her famous garden. The Malmaison and Tuileries Palace became centers for Napoleon's government but was recognized as an important place for the arts in any forms. Joséphine's court became the leading court in Europe for the arts. She became the first French female royal collector of this scale, leading in the Consular and Empire Style.[36]

### Paintings

[edit]

Antoine-Jean Gros, Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole, 1796

Joséphine worked with and sought out the works of many artists throughout her lifetime. In the area of painters she mainly was a collector of paintings but she was painted by and worked with several artists such as Jacques-Louis David and François Gérard. However, there was one painter whom Joséphine favored and commissioned more often than others, Antoine-Jean Gros. Gros, upon hearing that Joséphine would be visiting Genoa, worked to get an introduction knowing that the association with Joséphine would help him become more well-known.

Upon meeting with Gros and seeing his work, Joséphine asked him to come back to Milan with her and to live in her residences. Joséphine then commissioned him to create a portrait of her husband, the then General Bonaparte. The work took several sittings between Gros and Napoleon and would be named Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole. This painting would become a big part of Napoleon's propaganda and iconography. Gros would go on to paint other portraits of Napoleon, which always portrayed him as a fierce conqueror, propagating the image of Napoleon as powerful and unstoppable. Joséphine as a supporter and patron of Gros, aided him in becoming a central conduit for the message that the government was trying to disseminate about the rule of the Emperor in that time.

### Sculpture

[edit]

Antonio Canova Dancer with Her Hands on her Hips, 1812

Over her lifetime Joséphine commissioned four major pieces from the Italian Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. The Empress was given a copy of Canova's work Cupid and Psyche, which was originally promised to Colonel John Campbell, but because of unforeseen circumstances it was gifted to Joséphine. She would commission Canova to create a sculpture and the result would be Dancer with Hands on Hips. The work was commissioned in 1802 but was not finished until 1812, Joséphine allowed him to create on his own terms, which were based on the classics but with a more relaxed and joyful appearance. He would create several sculptures based on dancing. Dancer with Hands on Hips was praised by the art community because it was not based on any specific ancient sculpture, but with a classical style, making it a completely original sculpture.

Joséphine would commission Canova again for another sculpture called Paris. The work's plaster cast was completed in 1807 but the marble statue was not finished until 1812. arriving in Malmaison in 1813 a year before Joséphine's death. The final sculpture that the Empress would commission was The Three Graces. This work would not be completed until after Joséphine's death in 1816. All four works were eventually sold to Tsar Alexander of Russia.[37]

### Furniture/Design

[edit]

The architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine essentially became the decorators for Joséphine and Napoleon. Many of Joséphine's most well-known furnishings were created especially for her by Percier and Fontaine. The two architects worked within many of the empire's residences, creating spaces for the Empress to feel at home in. Percier and Fontaine had their own unique style and created pieces for both the Emperor and his Empress, which can be easily identified as their work, even when they were not stamped as created by Percier or Fontaine. Percier and Fontaine are known for their use of cheval glass and the use of a feminine, softer feel for the pieces used in the boudoir of the Empress. These pieces were unique for the time and appreciated for their creativity. The architects Percier and Fontaine are connected to the Empire style associated with the time period.[38]

## Arms

[edit]

Empress of the French
(1804–1809)  |
Empress of the French's
monogram
(1804–1809)  |
Duchess of Navarre
(1810–1814)

|
|

## In popular culture

[edit]

### Statue

[edit]

In 1859, French Emperor Napoleon III commissioned a statue of Joséphine, which was installed in the La Savane park in downtown Fort-de-France. In 1991, the statue was symbolically decapitated and spattered with red paint. The acts of vandalism were done on the belief that Joséphine had influenced her husband to issue the Law of 20 May 1802, which reinstated slavery in the French colonial empire (including Martinique).[39] The statue was never repaired by the city administration, and every year more red paint was added to it.[40] In July 2020, the statue was torn down and destroyed by rioters in the wake of the George Floyd protests.[41]

### Fiction books

[edit]

* Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur (1897). Uncle Bernac.
* Fields, Bertram (2015). Destiny: A Novel Of Napoleon & Josephine.
* Gulland, Sandra (1995). The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
* ——— (1998). Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe.
* ——— (2000). The Last Great Dance on Earth.
* Kenyon, F. W. (1952). The Emperor's Lady.
* Mossiker, Frances (1965). Napoleon and Josephine.
* ——— (1971). More Than a Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte.
* Pataki, Allison (2020). The Queen's Fortune: Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire.
* Selinko, Annemarie (1958). Désirée.
* Webb, Heather (2013). Becoming Josephine.
* Winterson, Jeanette (1987). The Passion.
* Parkyn, Stephanie (2019). Josephine's Garden

### Television

[edit]

* Napoléon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) is a miniseries with Napoleon portrayed by Armand Assante and Joséphine by Jacqueline Bisset.
* Napoléon (2002) is a historical TV miniseries of Napoleon's life, in which Joséphine features prominently, portrayed by Isabella Rossellini.
* In 2015 and 2017, an episode of Horrible Histories called "Naughty Napoleon" and "Ridiculous Romantics" featured Natalie Walter and Gemma Whelan, portraying Joséphine de Beauharnais.

### Film

[edit]

In Ridley Scott 's 2023 film Napoleon, Joséphine is portrayed by English actress Vanessa Kirby.

### Music

[edit]

* The love song 'Josephine' from The Magnetic Fields' 1991 album Distant Plastic Trees: "If I were Napoleon, you could be my Josephine ..."
* The song 'Josephine' from Frank Turner's 2015 album Positive Songs for Negative People references Joséphine — as well as Josephine Brunsvik — to portray Turner's wish that he has his own muse to influence him.
* The song ‘Impressed’ from Charlie Sexton’s 1985 album Pictures for Pleasure references Napoleon and Josephine in the opening lines.
* The song 'Josephine' from Tori Amos' 1999 partially live album To Venus and Back references the pop-culture expression, supposedly spoken by Napoleon: "Not tonight, Joséphine" and his military career.
* The song 'Paint me, Redouté' from June Tabor's 2001 album Rosa Mundi, in which Josephine narrates her life to Redouté, and talks of her love of roses.

### Fashion

[edit]

* John Galliano said that his inspiration was dressing the pregnant rock star Madonna — and then thinking "Empress Josephine."[42]

## See also

[edit]

* Biography portal

* Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, a distant cousin-in-law of Empress Joséphine
* Jean Chanorier, a close friend of Empress Joséphine best known for introducing the Merino sheep breed in France, who later became an associate member of the Institut of France
* Notre-Dame de Paris
* The Swedish Royal Family's jewelry
* Tuileries Palace

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Delorme, Eleanor P. Josephine and the Arts of the Empire. Los Angeles: The J. PaulGetty museum, 2005, 1.
2. ^ Branda, Pierre (2016). Josephine: Le Paradoxe du Cygne. Paris: Perrin. p. 9.
3. ^ a b c d e f g Knapton, Ernest John (1963). "Chapter 2: Bird of the Islands". Empress Josephine. New York: Harvard University Press. pp. 15–16, 18, 20, 22–23. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674188761. ISBN 978-0674252011. OCLC 1740591.
4. ^ a b c d Andrea Stuart: Josephine: The Rose of Martinique.
5. ^ "Sights in Trois-Îlets". Lonely Planet.
6. ^ Monmarché, François (1973). Antilles françaises, Guyane, Haïti, croisières aux Caraïbes (in French). Hachette. p. 249.
7. ^ a b Breen, Henry Hegart (1844). St. Lucia: Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster Row. p. 159.
8. ^ a b Breen, Henry H. (6 March 1852). "Birthplace of the Empress Josephine". Notes and Queries: A medium of Inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc. Vol. V. London: George Bell 186 Fleet Street. pp. 220–221.
9. ^ a b Davis, Edward Hilary (15 September 2022). The British Bonapartes: Napoleon's Family in Britain. Pen and Sword History. p. 11\. ISBN 978-1-3990-8855-8.
10. ^ Knapton, Ernest John (1963). "Chapter 3: A Marriage is Arranged". Empress Josephine. New York: Harvard University Press. pp. 26, 29, 30–31. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674188761. ISBN 978-0674252011. OCLC 1740591.
11. ^ a b Erickson, Carolly (2000). Josephine: A Life of the Empress. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 82\. ISBN 0-312-26346-5.
12. ^ Stuart, Andrea (2005). The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon's Josephine. Grove Press. p. 489\. ISBN 978-0802117700.
13. ^ Williams, Kate (2014). Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte. New York: Random House.
14. ^ Epton, Nina (1975). Josephine, the Empress and Her Children. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., pp. 54, 66–67.
15. ^ Hippolyte Charles Archived 27 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
16. ^ Theo Aronson, Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story.
17. ^ Epton, p. 94.
18. ^ Epton, pp. 94–95.
19. ^ Epton, p. 95.
20. ^ Tschudi, Clara (1900). The great Napoleon's mother. Cornell University Library. New York, E. P. Dutton.
21. ^ E. Bruce, Napoleon and Josphine, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995, pg.445.
22. ^ "Napoleon: Napoleon and Josephine". PBS. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
23. ^ Esdaile, Charles (27 October 2009). Napoleon's Wars: An International History. Penguin. ISBN 9781101464373.
24. ^ Arnold, James R. (1995). Napoleon Conquers Austria: The 1809 Campaign for Vienna. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 194\. ISBN 9780275946944.
25. ^ Roberts, Andrew. Napoleon: A Life.[page needed]
26. ^ Recueil général des lois et des arrêts (in French). Vol. 38\. Bureaux de l'Administration du recueil. 1859. p. 76.
27. ^ "Empress Josephine's short biography in Napoleon & Empire website, displaying photographs of the castle of Malmaison and the grave of Josephine". Napoleon-empire.net. 11 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
28. ^ Markham, Felix, Napoleon, p. 245.
29. ^ "Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 123, March 6, 1852 | A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. | Page 220". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
30. ^ Epton, Nina (1975). Josephine, The Empress and Her Children. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 3.
31. ^ Mossiker, Frances, Napoleon and Josephine, p. 48.
32. ^ a b Bechtel, Edwin de Turk. 1949, reprinted 2010. "Our Rose Varieties and their Malmaison Heritage". The OGR and Shrub Journal, The American Rose Society. 7(3)
33. ^ Thomas, Graham Stuart (2004). The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book. London, England: Frances Lincoln Limited. ISBN 0-7112-2397-1.
34. ^ a b Brenner, Douglas, and Scanniello, Stephen (2009). A Rose by Any Name. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books.
35. ^ Bowermaster, Russ (1993). "Judging: From Whence to Hence". The American Rose Annual: 72–73.
36. ^ Delorme, Eleanor P. Joséphine and the Arts of the Empire. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005, 3–4.
37. ^ "Empress Josephine's Collection of Sculpture by Canova at Malmaison". Journal of the History of Collections 16, no. 1 (May 2004): 19–33.
38. ^ Samoyault, Jean-Pierre. "Furniture and Objects Designed by Percier for the Palace of Saint-Cloud". The Burlington Magazine 117, no. 868 (1975): 457–65.
39. ^ Bennett, Steve (4 October 2012). "Beheaded Statue of Empress Josephine: Uncommon Attraction". Uncommon Caribbean.
40. ^ "The Headless Empress". Atlas Obscura.
41. ^ "Anti-Racism Activists Destroy Statue Of Napoleon's First Wife Josephine In Martinique". NDTV. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
42. ^ Menkes, Suzy (8 July 1996). "Galliano's Empire Line Shines for Givenchy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 September 2016.

* Aronson, Theo (1990). Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story. St Martins Pr. ISBN 0-312-05135-2.
* Brent, Harrison. (1946). Pauline Bonaparte, A Woman of Affairs. NY and Toronto Rinehart.
* Bruce, Evangeline. (1995). Napoleon and Josephine: An Improbable Marriage. NY: Scribner. ISBN 0-02-517810-5
* Castelot, André (2009). Josephine. Ishi Press. ISBN 978-4-87187-853-1.
* Chevallier, Bernard; Pincemaille, Christophe. Douce et incomparable Joséphine. éd. Payot & Rivages, coll. «Petite bibliothèque Payot», Paris, 2001. ISBN 2-228-90029-X
* Chevallier, Bernard; Pincemaille, Christophe. L'impératrice Joséphine. Presses de la Renaissance, Paris, 1988., 466 p.,ISBN 978-2-85616-485-3
* Cole, Hubert. (1962). Josephine. William Heinemann.
* Delorme, Eleanor P. (2002). Josephine: Napoleon's Incomparable Empress. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-1229-8
* Epton, Nina. (1975). Josephine: the Empress and Her Children. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-393-07500-7
* Erickson, Carolly (1998). Josephine; A Life of the Empress. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1-86105-637-0.
* Fauveau, Jean-Claude. Joséphine l'impératrice créole. L'esclavage aux Antilles et la traite pendant la Révolution française. Éditions L'Harmattan 2010. 390 p. ISBN 978-2-296-11293-3.
* Knapton, Ernest John. (1963). Empress Josephine Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-671-51346-7
* de Montjouven, Philippe. Joséphine: Une impératrice de légendes. Timée-éditions; 2010, 141 p. ISBN 978-2-35401-233-5
* Mossiker, Frances (1964). Napoleon and Josephine; the Biography of a Marriage. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-00-000000-2.
* Schiffer, Liesel. Femmes remarquables au XIX siècle. Vuibert éd. Vuibert, Paris, 2008, 305 p. ISBN 978-2711744428
* Sergeant, Philip (1909). The Empress Josephine, Napoleon's Enchantress. NY: Hutchinson's Library of Standard Lives.
* Stuart, Andrea. (2005). The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon's Josephine. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-4202-3
* Wagener, Françoise, L'Impératrice Joséphine (1763–1814). Flammarion; Paris, 1999, 504 p.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joséphine de Beauharnais.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Joséphine de Beauharnais.

* The Heroines of History public domain audiobook at LibriVox
* Empress Josephine by Ernest John Knapton. Complete transcription of the 1963 biography.
* Joséphine de Beauharnais (de Tascher de la Pagerie) (in French). Site published by the current members of the family Tascher de la Pagerie.
* Château de Malmaison (in French), Joséphine's residence from 1799 to 1814, the site of her death.
* Memoirs of the Empress Josephine (Volume 1) at archive.org
* Memoirs of the Empress Josephine (Volume 2) at archive.org

Joséphine de Beauharnais

Tascher de La Pagerie

Born: 23 June 1763 Died: 29 May 1814

Royal titles
Vacant

Monarchy abolished

Title last held by

Marie Antoinette
as Queen consort of the French |  Empress consort of the French
18 May 1804 – 10 January 1810  | Vacant

Title next held by

Marie Louise of Austria
Preceded by

Isabella of Portugal

as consort to the last crowned monarch, 1530  |  Queen consort of Italy
26 May 1805 – 10 January 1810
French nobility
New title |  Duchess of Navarre
9 April 1810 – 29 May 1814  | Succeeded by

Auguste de Beauharnais

* v
* t
* e

Napoleon

* Napoleonic era
* timeline
* First French Empire

Family|

* Wives: Joséphine de Beauharnais
* Marie Louise
* Children: Charles Léon
* Alexandre Walewski
* Napoleon II
* Father: Carlo Maria Buonaparte
* Mother: Letizia Ramolino
* Brothers: Joseph Bonaparte
* Lucien Bonaparte
* Louis Bonaparte
* Jérôme Bonaparte
* Sisters: Caroline Bonaparte
* Pauline Bonaparte
* Elisa Bonaparte

Life and career|

* Stay in Auxonne [fr]
* Coup of 18 Brumaire
* Consulate
* Assassination attempts
* Constitutions
* 1799
* 1802
* 1804
* 1815
* Napoleonic Wars
* Coronation
* Sale of Louisiana
* Planned invasion of the United Kingdom
* Holland
* Mesures usuelles
* Looting of art
* Tactics
* Weaponry and warfare
* 1st abdication
* 1st exile
* Route Napoléon
* 2nd abdication
* 2nd exile [fr]
* Death [fr]
* mask

Battles and wars|

* French Revolutionary Wars
* Siege of Toulon
* French Revolution
* 13 Vendémiaire
* Battle of Lodi
* Battle of Bassano
* Battle of Rivoli
* French campaign in Egypt and Syria
* Battle of the Pyramids
* Siege of Jaffa
* Battle of Marengo
* War of the Third Coalition
* Battle of Austerlitz
* War of the Fourth Coalition
* Battle of Eylau
* War of the Fifth Coalition
* Battle of Eckmühl
* French invasion of Russia
* Battle of Borodino
* War of the Sixth Coalition
* Battle of Leipzig
* Battle of Vauchamps
* Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube
* Hundred Days
* Battle of Ligny
* Battle of Waterloo

Views|

* Catholic Church
* Concordat of 1801
* Tiara
* Jewish people
* Grand Sanhedrin
* Infamous Decree
* Protestants
* Organic Articles
* Slavery
* Law of 20 May 1802
* Saint-Domingue expedition
* Women [fr]

Homes and honours|

* Arc de Triomphe
* Column of the Grande Armée
* Equestrian statue
* Palace of Fontainebleau
* Les Invalides
* Longwood House
* Maison Bonaparte
* Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker
* Milan
* Rue de la Victoire
* Warsaw monument

Legacy and memory|

* Bank of France
* Bonapartism
* Cultural depictions
* Napoleon complex
* "China is a sleeping giant" quote
* German Romanticism
* Napoleonic Code
* Propaganda
* Tomb
* Retour des cendres
* Penis
* Studies
* Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)

Category / Commons

* v
* t
* e

Royal consorts of France

* List of Frankish queens
* List of French royal consorts

Merovingians (509–751)|

* Clotilde
* Ultragotha
* Guntheuc
* Radegund
* Ingund
* Aregund
* Ingoberga
* Merofleda
* Marcovefa
* Theudechild
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* Galswintha
* Fredegund
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* Bertrude
* Sichilde
* Gomentrude
* Nanthild
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* Wulfefundis
* Bertechildis
* Balthild of Chelles
* Bilichild
* Chrothildis

Carolingians,
Robertians and Bosonids (751–987)|

* Bertrada of Laon
* Gerberga
* Desiderata of the Lombards
* Hildegard
* Fastrada
* Luitgard
* Ermengarde of Hesbaye
* Judith of Bavaria
* Ermentrude of Orléans
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* Richardis
* Théodrate of TroyesR
* Frederuna
* Eadgifu of Wessex
* Beatrice of VermandoisR
* Emma of FranceB
* Gerberga of Saxony
* Emma of Italy

House of Capet (987–1328)|

* Adelaide of Aquitaine
* Rozala of Italy
* Bertha of Burgundy
* Constance of Arles
* Matilda of Frisia
* Anne of Kiev
* Bertha of Holland
* Bertrade of Montfort
* Adelaide of Maurienne
* Eleanor of Aquitaine
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* Isabella of Hainault
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* Marie of Brabant
* Joan I of Navarre
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* Blanche of Burgundy
* Marie of Luxembourg
* Joan of Évreux

House of Valois (1328–1589)|

* Joan of Burgundy
* Blanche of Navarre
* Joan I, Countess of Auvergne
* Joanna of Bourbon
* Isabeau of Bavaria
* Marie of Anjou
* Charlotte of Savoy
* Anne of Brittany
* Joan of France
* Mary Tudor
* Claude of France
* Eleanor of Austria
* Catherine de' Medici
* Mary Stuart
* Elisabeth of Austria
* Louise of Lorraine

House of Lancaster (1422–1453)|

* Margaret of Anjou

House of Bourbon (1589–1792)|

* Margaret of Valois
* Marie de' Medici
* Anne of Austria
* Maria Theresa of Spain
* Marie Leszczyńska
* Marie Antoinette

House of Bonaparte (1804–1814; 1815)|

* Joséphine de Beauharnais
* Marie Louise

House of Bourbon (1814–1815; 1815–1830)|

* Marie Joséphine of Savoy
* Marie-Thérèse

House of Orléans (1830–1848)|

* Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily

House of Bonaparte (1852–1870)|

* Eugénie de Montijo

Consorts to debatable or disputed rulers are in italics.

* v
* t
* e

Queens of Italy

* Audofleda (493–526)
* Amalasuintha (526–534)
* Matasuntha (536–540)
* Berthora (549–552)
* Chlothsind (560s)
* Rosamund (567–573)
* Theodelinda (589–616)
* Gundiberga (626–652)
* Guntrude (712–744)
* Tassia (744–749)
* Ansa (756–774)
* Hildegard (774–783)
* Fastrada of Franconia (784–794)
* Luitgard of Sundgau (794–800)
* Bertha of Gellone (?)
* Cunigunda of Laon (?)
* Ermengarde of Tours (821–851)
* Engelberga of Parma (851–875)
* Richilde of Provence (875–877)
* Richardis of Swabia (879–888)
* Bertila of Spoleto (888–889)
* Ageltrude of Benevento (889–894)
* Ota of Neustria (896–899)
* Anna of Constantinople (900–905)
* Bertila of Spoleto (905–915)
* Anna of Provence (915–924)
* Bertha of Swabia (922–926)
* Alda (924–932)
* Marozia of Tusculum (932–933)
* Bertha of Swabia (937–948)
* Adelaide of Italy (948–950)
* Willa of Tuscany (950–953)
* Gerberga (957–963)
* Adelaide of Italy (951–973)
* Theophanu of Constantinople (972–983)
* Berta di Luni (1002–14)
* Cunigunde of Luxembourg (1004–24)
* Gisela of Swabia (1026–39)
* Agnes of Poitou (1043–56)
* Bertha of Savoy (1080–87)
* Eupraxia of Kiev (1089–93)
* Constance of Sicily (1095–98)
* Matilda of England (1114–25)
* Richenza of Northeim (1128–37)
* Beatrice I of Burgundy (1156–84)
* Constance I of Sicily (1191–97)
* Beatrice of Hohenstaufen (1212)
* Constance of Aragon (1212–22)
* Isabella II of Jerusalem (1225–28)
* Isabella of England (1235–41)
* Bianca Lancia (1244?)
* Margaret of Brabant (1311)
* Margaret II of Hainaut (1327–47)
* Anna of Świdnica (1355–62)
* Elizabeth of Pomerania (1363–78)
* Barbara of Cilli (1431–37)
* Eleanor of Portugal (1452–67)
* Isabella of Portugal (1530–39)
* Joséphine de Beauharnais (1805–10)
* Marie Louise of Austria (1810–14)
* Margherita of Savoy (1878–1900)
* Elena of Montenegro (1900–46)
* Marie-José of Belgium (1946)

* v
* t
* e

Beauharnais

Generations are numbered from Claude de Beauharnais, seigneur de Beaumont.

1st generation|

* François V, Marquis de La Ferté-Beauharnais
* Claude, 1st Count of Roches-Baritaud m. Françoise Mouchard

2nd generation|

* François VI, Marquis de La Ferté-Beauharnais
* Claude, 2nd Count of Roches-Baritaud
* Alexandre, Viscount of Beauharnais m. Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie (later Empress of the French)

3rd generation|

* Eugène, Duke of Leuchtenberg* m. Princess Augusta of Bavaria
* Hortense, Queen of Holland*
* Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Baden*

4th generation|

* Joséphine, Queen of Sweden and Norway**
* Eugénie, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen**
* Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg** m. Queen Maria II of Portugal
* Amélie, Empress of Brazil**
* Théodolinde, Countess of Württemberg**
* Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^ m. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia

5th generation|

* Marie, Princess William of Baden**^
* Nicholas, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^
* Eugenia, Duchess Alexander of Oldenburg**^
* Eugen, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^
* Georgi, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^ m. 1st Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg, m. 2nd Princess Anastasia of Montenegro

6th generation|

* Alexander, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^
* Sergei, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^

8th generation|

* Nicholas**

* also a Prince or Princess des Francais
** also a Prince or Princess of Leuchtenberg and Eichstädt
^also a Prince Romanovsky or Princess Romanovskaja

* v
* t
* e

Imperial House of France of the First French Empire

Emperor and immediate family|

* Napoleon, Emperor of the French
* Joséphine, Empress of the French
* Marie Louise, Empress of the French
* Napoleon, King of Rome

French Princes|

* Joseph Bonaparte
* Louis Bonaparte
* Joachim Murat
* Eugène de Beauharnais
* Elisa Bonaparte
* Jérôme Bonaparte
* Joseph Fesch
* Lucien Bonaparte

Several family members held additional titles in vassal states

* v
* t
* e

French Revolution

* Causes
* Timeline
* Ancien Régime
* Revolution
* Constitutional monarchy
* Republic
* Directory
* Consulate
* Glossary
* Journals
* Museum

Significant civil and political events by year

1788|

* Day of the Tiles (7 Jun 1788)
* Assembly of Vizille (21 Jul 1788)

1789|

* What Is the Third Estate? (Jan 1789)
* Réveillon riots (28 Apr 1789)
* Convocation of the Estates General (5 May 1789)
* Death of the Dauphin (4 June 1789)
* National Assembly (17 Jun – 9 Jul 1790)
* Tennis Court Oath (20 Jun 1789)
* National Constituent Assembly (9 Jul – 30 Sep 1791)
* Storming of the Bastille (14 Jul 1789)
* Great Fear (20 Jul – 5 Aug 1789)
* Abolition of Feudalism (4–11 Aug 1789)
* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (26 Aug 1789)
* Women's March on Versailles (5 Oct 1789)
* Nationalization of the Church properties (2 Nov 1789)

1790|

* Abolition of the Parlements (Feb–Jul 1790)
* Abolition of the Nobility (23 Jun 1790)
* Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 Jul 1790)
* Fête de la Fédération (14 Jul 1790)

1791|

* Flight to Varennes (20–21 Jun 1791)
* Champ de Mars massacre (17 Jul 1791)
* Declaration of Pillnitz (27 Aug 1791)
* The Constitution of 1791 (3 Sep 1791)
* National Legislative Assembly (1 Oct 1791 – Sep 1792)

1792|

* France declares war (20 Apr 1792)
* Brunswick Manifesto (25 Jul 1792)
* Paris Commune becomes insurrectionary (Jun 1792)
* 10th of August (10 Aug 1792)
* September Massacres (Sep 1792)
* National Convention (20 Sep 1792 – 26 Oct 1795)
* First republic declared (22 Sep 1792)

1793|

* Execution of Louis XVI (21 Jan 1793)
* Revolutionary Tribunal (9 Mar 1793 – 31 May 1795)
* Reign of Terror (27 Jun 1793 – 27 Jul 1794)
* Committee of Public Safety
* Committee of General Security
* Fall of the Girondists (2 Jun 1793)
* Assassination of Marat (13 Jul 1793)
* Levée en masse (23 Aug 1793)
* The Death of Marat (painting)
* Law of Suspects (17 Sep 1793)
* Marie Antoinette is guillotined (16 Oct 1793)
* Anti-clerical laws (throughout the year)

1794|

* Danton and Desmoulins guillotined (5 Apr 1794)
* Law of 22 Prairial (10 Jun 1794)
* Thermidorian Reaction (27 Jul 1794)
* Robespierre guillotined (28 Jul 1794)
* White Terror (Fall 1794)
* Closing of the Jacobin Club (11 Nov 1794)

1795–6|

* Insurrection of 12 Germinal Year III (1 Apr 1795)
* Constitution of the Year III (22 Aug 1795)
* Directoire (1795–99)
* Council of Five Hundred
* Council of Ancients
* 13 Vendémiaire 5 Oct 1795
* Conspiracy of the Equals (May 1796)

1797|

* Coup of 18 Fructidor (4 Sep 1797)
* Second Congress of Rastatt (Dec 1797)

1798|

* Law of 22 Floréal Year VI (11 May 1798)

1799|

* Coup of 30 Prairial VII (18 Jun 1799)
* Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 Nov 1799)
* Constitution of the Year VIII (24 Dec 1799)
* Consulate

Revolutionary campaigns

1792|

* Verdun
* Thionville
* Valmy
* Royalist Revolts
* Chouannerie
* Vendée
* Dauphiné
* Lille
* Siege of Mainz
* Jemappes
* Namur [fr]

1793|

* First Coalition
* War in the Vendée
* Battle of Neerwinden
* Battle of Famars (23 May 1793)
* Expedition to Sardinia (21 Dec 1792 - 25 May 1793)
* Battle of Kaiserslautern
* Siege of Mainz
* Battle of Wattignies
* Battle of Hondschoote
* Siege of Bellegarde
* Battle of Peyrestortes (Pyrenees)
* Siege of Toulon (18 Sep – 18 Dec 1793)
* First Battle of Wissembourg (13 Oct 1793)
* Battle of Truillas (Pyrenees)
* Second Battle of Wissembourg (26–27 Dec 1793)

1794|

* Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies (24 Apr 1794)
* Second Battle of Boulou (Pyrenees) (30 Apr – 1 May 1794)
* Battle of Tourcoing (18 May 1794)
* Battle of Tournay (22 May 1794)
* Glorious First of June (1 Jun 1794)
* Battle of Fleurus (26 Jun 1794)
* Chouannerie
* Battle of Aldenhoven (2 Oct 1794)
* Siege of Luxembourg (22 Nov 1794 - 7 Jun 1795)

1795|

* Siege of Luxembourg (22 Nov 1794 - 7 Jun 1795)
* Peace of Basel

1796|

* Italian campaign (1796)
* Battle of Lonato (3–4 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Castiglione (5 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Theiningen
* Battle of Neresheim (11 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Amberg (24 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Würzburg (3 Sep 1796)
* Battle of Rovereto (4 Sep 1796)
* First Battle of Bassano (8 Sep 1796)
* Battle of Emmendingen (19 Oct 1796)
* Battle of Schliengen (26 Oct 1796)
* Second Battle of Bassano (6 Nov 1796)
* Battle of Calliano (6–7 Nov 1796)
* Battle of Arcole (15–17 Nov 1796)
* Ireland expedition (Dec 1796)

1797|

* Italian campaign (1797)
* Naval Engagement off Brittany (13 Jan 1797)
* Battle of Rivoli (14–15 Jan 1797)
* Battle of the Bay of Cádiz (25 Jan 1797)
* Treaty of Leoben (17 Apr 1797)
* Battle of Neuwied (18 Apr 1797)
* Treaty of Campo Formio (17 Oct 1797)

1798|

* French invasion of Switzerland (28 January – 17 May 1798)
* French Invasion of Egypt (1798–1801)
* Irish Rebellion of 1798 (23 May – 23 Sep 1798)
* Quasi-War (1798–1800)
* Peasants' War (12 Oct – 5 Dec 1798)

1799|

* Second Coalition (1798–1802)
* Siege of Acre (20 Mar – 21 May 1799)
* Battle of Ostrach (20–21 Mar 1799)
* Battle of Stockach (25 Mar 1799)
* Battle of Magnano (5 Apr 1799)
* Battle of Cassano (27–28 Apr 1799)
* First Battle of Zurich (4–7 Jun 1799)
* Battle of Trebbia (17–20 Jun 1799)
* Battle of Novi (15 Aug 1799)
* Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 Sep 1799)

1800|

* Battle of Marengo (14 Jun 1800)
* Convention of Alessandria (15 Jun 1800)
* Battle of Hohenlinden (3 Dec 1800)
* League of Armed Neutrality (1800–02)

1801|

* Treaty of Lunéville (9 Feb 1801)
* Treaty of Florence (18 Mar 1801)
* Algeciras campaign (8 Jul 1801)

1802|

* Treaty of Amiens (25 Mar 1802)
* Treaty of Paris (25 Jun 1802)

Military leaders

France|

| French Army|

* Eustache Charles d'Aoust
* Pierre Augereau
* Alexandre de Beauharnais
* Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
* Louis-Alexandre Berthier
* Jean-Baptiste Bessières
* Napoléon Bonaparte
* Guillaume Brune
* Jean François Carteaux
* Jean-Étienne Championnet
* Chapuis de Tourville
* Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine
* Louis-Nicolas Davout
* Louis Desaix
* Jacques François Dugommier
* Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
* Charles François Dumouriez
* Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
* Louis-Charles de Flers
* Paul Grenier
* Emmanuel de Grouchy
* Jacques Maurice Hatry
* Lazare Hoche
* Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
* François Christophe de Kellermann
* Jean-Baptiste Kléber
* Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
* Jean Lannes
* Charles Leclerc
* Claude Lecourbe
* François Joseph Lefebvre
* Étienne Macdonald
* Jean-Antoine Marbot
* Marcellin Marbot
* François Séverin Marceau
* Auguste de Marmont
* André Masséna
* Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey
* Jean Victor Marie Moreau
* Édouard Mortier, Duke of Trévise
* Joachim Murat
* Michel Ney
* Pierre-Jacques Osten [fr]
* Nicolas Oudinot
* Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon
* Jean-Charles Pichegru
* Józef Poniatowski
* Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
* Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer
* Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier
* Joseph Souham
* Jean-de-Dieu Soult
* Louis-Gabriel Suchet
* Belgrand de Vaubois
* Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno

|

French Navy|

* Charles-Alexandre Linois

Opposition|

|  Austria|

* József Alvinczi
* Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
* Count of Clerfayt (Walloon)
* Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
* Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze (Swiss)
* Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth
* Pál Kray (Hungarian)
* Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc (French)
* Maximilian Baillet de Latour (Walloon)
* Karl Mack von Leiberich
* Rudolf Ritter von Otto (Saxon)
* Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
* Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich
* Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
* Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló (Hungarian)
* Karl Philipp Sebottendorf
* Dagobert von Wurmser

|

Britain|

* Sir Ralph Abercromby
* James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez
* Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
* Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

Netherlands|

* William V, Prince of Orange

Prussia|

* Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
* Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen

Russia|

* Alexander Korsakov
* Alexander Suvorov
* Andrei Rosenberg

Spain|

* Luis Firmin de Carvajal
* Antonio Ricardos

Other significant figures and factions

Patriotic Society of 1789|

* Jean Sylvain Bailly
* Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
* François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
* Isaac René Guy le Chapelier
* Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
* Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
* Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
* Nicolas de Condorcet

Feuillants
and monarchiens

* Grace Elliott
* Arnaud de La Porte
* Jean-Sifrein Maury
* François-Marie, marquis de Barthélemy
* Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas
* Antoine Barnave
* Lafayette
* Alexandre-Théodore-Victor, comte de Lameth
* Charles Malo François Lameth
* André Chénier
* Jean-François Rewbell
* Camille Jordan
* Madame de Staël
* Boissy d'Anglas
* Jean-Charles Pichegru
* Pierre Paul Royer-Collard
* Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac

Girondins|

* Jacques Pierre Brissot
* Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière
* Madame Roland
* Father Henri Grégoire
* Étienne Clavière
* Marquis de Condorcet
* Charlotte Corday
* Marie Jean Hérault
* Jean Baptiste Treilhard
* Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud
* Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve
* Jean Debry
* Olympe de Gouges
* Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet
* Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux

The Plain|

* Abbé Sieyès
* de Cambacérès
* Charles-François Lebrun
* Pierre-Joseph Cambon
* Bertrand Barère
* Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot
* Philippe Égalité
* Louis Philippe I
* Mirabeau
* Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville
* Jean Joseph Mounier
* Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
* François de Neufchâteau

Montagnards|

* Maximilien Robespierre
* Georges Danton
* Jean-Paul Marat
* Camille Desmoulins
* Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
* Paul Barras
* Louis Philippe I
* Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau
* Jacques-Louis David
* Marquis de Sade
* Georges Couthon
* Roger Ducos
* Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois
* Jean-Henri Voulland
* Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai
* Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville
* Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas
* Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
* Jean-Pierre-André Amar
* Prieur de la Côte-d'Or
* Prieur de la Marne
* Gilbert Romme
* Jean Bon Saint-André
* Jean-Lambert Tallien
* Pierre Louis Prieur
* Antoine Christophe Saliceti

Hébertists
and Enragés|

* Jacques Hébert
* Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
* Pierre Gaspard Chaumette
* Charles-Philippe Ronsin
* Antoine-François Momoro
* François-Nicolas Vincent
* François Chabot
* Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte
* Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel
* François Hanriot
* Jacques Roux
* Stanislas-Marie Maillard
* Charles-Philippe Ronsin
* Jean-François Varlet
* Theophile Leclerc
* Claire Lacombe
* Pauline Léon
* Gracchus Babeuf
* Sylvain Maréchal

Others|

| Figures|

* Charles X
* Louis XVI
* Louis XVII
* Louis XVIII
* Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien
* Louis Henri, Prince of Condé
* Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé
* Marie Antoinette
* Napoléon Bonaparte
* Lucien Bonaparte
* Joseph Bonaparte
* Joseph Fesch
* Joséphine de Beauharnais
* Joachim Murat
* Jean Sylvain Bailly
* Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
* Guillaume-Chrétien de Malesherbes
* Talleyrand
* Thérésa Tallien
* Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target
* Catherine Théot
* Madame de Lamballe
* Madame du Barry
* Louis de Breteuil
* de Chateaubriand
* Jean Chouan
* Loménie de Brienne
* Charles Alexandre de Calonne
* Jacques Necker
* Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
* List of people associated with the French Revolution

|

Factions|

* Jacobins
* Cordeliers
* Panthéon Club
* Social Club

Influential thinkers

* Les Lumières
* Beaumarchais
* Edmund Burke
* Anacharsis Cloots
* Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
* Pierre Claude François Daunou
* Diderot
* Benjamin Franklin
* Thomas Jefferson
* Antoine Lavoisier
* Montesquieu
* Thomas Paine
* Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* Abbé Sieyès
* Voltaire
* Mary Wollstonecraft

Cultural impact

* La Marseillaise
* Cockade of France
* Flag of France
* Liberté, égalité, fraternité
* Marianne
* Muscadin
* Bastille Day
* Panthéon
* French Republican calendar
* Metric system
* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
* Cult of the Supreme Being
* Cult of Reason
* Temple of Reason
* Sans-culottes
* Phrygian cap
* Women in the French Revolution
* Incroyables and merveilleuses
* Symbolism in the French Revolution
* Historiography of the French Revolution
* Influence of the French Revolution
* Films

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Portugal
* Netherlands
* Greece
* Sweden
* Poland
* Vatican
* Israel
* Catalonia
* Belgium

Artists|

* ULAN
* RKD Artists

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef
* RISM

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*[ann.]: annulled
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