Napoleon in Josephine Bonaparte

"I haven't spent a day without loving you; I haven't spent a night without receiving you. I haven't drunk a single cup of tea without cursing the pride and anime that force me to be ostensibly separated from the moving spirit of my life. ”Napoleon

Even after the divorce, they longed for each other. In love, Napoleon really loved his beloved Josephine until the very end, despite numerous affairs, mistresses and divorce. The violets she gave him were worn in a medallion around his neck until his death.

"I've been unhappy ever since I left you." It's my luck to be by your side. I constantly live in the memory, of your caresses, your tears, your tender care. The charm of the incomparable Josephine is constantly burning and there is a blazing flame in my heart - wrote Napoleon in love.

The young widow with two children met Napoleon in 1795, when she was 32 and he was only 26. She lost her husband a year earlier, a French viscount, who was sentenced to death and guillotined. As a widow, she was the mistress of several prominent politicians, and at that time she was the mistress of Paul Baras, who wanted to reunite his expensive mistress with Napoleon because he had found a new one, and he could not stand both. According to him, she was ideal for the young general Bonaparte, who at that time wanted to marry an older, serious and rich wife of aristocratic origin. And Josephine fulfilled all the conditions. They met at a party, and Napoleon, not expecting it, instantly fell in love. She enchanted him with her charm, intelligence, good taste, and social skills. Neither she nor his family agreed with marriage. However, she was older, she already had two children, it was not certain if she would be able to give birth yet, and she was accompanied by the reputation of a woman of dubious morals, prone to constantly changing lovers.

marriage document

They married civilly in Paris soon after. The marriage itself later proved invalid in several respects, which also went to the hand of Napoleon himself. The official who reported them did not have the necessary authority for the wedding ceremonies, Napoleon’s witness was too young, the bride lied for 4 years on her birthday (she said she was 29 years old at the time of the ceremony). Napoleon also gave the wrong date of birth and his address.

Despite their best efforts, Josephine and Napoleon never had children. So Napoleon had no successor, which was a big problem for him.

Five years after she became empress, Josephine and Napoleon divorced. The reason was that she failed to give birth to him and secure an heir. Josephine's divorce fell hard, but she agreed to it to allow Napoleon to marry a younger woman who could give birth to an heir. But the former spouses remained on good terms. It is believed that the only thing that ever mattered between them was that she could no longer have children. He took care of her and her children for the rest of his life.

And after the divorce: "I really want to see you," Napoleon wrote to her

RE-MARRIAGE

Napoleon remarried in April 1810 to Maria Louis, daughter of the Austrian Emperor Franz II. Maria Louisa gave birth to his son the following year.

Josephine died on her estate at Malmaison Castle in 1814 when she was 50 years old. When someone conveyed a message to Napoleon with the words "She died of a broken heart," Napoleon replied, "She just loved me."

At the end of his life, he admitted that his new wife, the Austrian princess Matthias Louise, was useful because she gave birth to a son, but that Josephine filled his life with true love and was always his faithful support in everything.

Napoleon died about 7 years later, and the last word on his deathbed was allegedly her name.

Napoleon wrote his will from April 12 to 27, 1821. Here is the side on which he asks that his dust rest on the bank of the Seine.

death certificate

"I don't know what you mean when you mention other women to me. I love my little Josephine, good, capricious, who is often known but claims so gracefully, starts everything gracefully because it's just fascinating ..." Napoleon