Marie Louise of Austria ( 12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847), born
Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria (), became upon marriage
Empress of the French (), and in 1817 became
Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla ().
She was the second wife of
Napoléon Bonaparte and thus Empress of the
French. She was also a double grandniece of
Marie Antoinette. She was the mother of
Napoleon II, King of Rome.
Early life
Marie Louise (who was given the Latin baptismal name of
Maria Ludovica Leopoldina Francisca Theresa Josepha Lucia) was born in
Vienna, the daughter of
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (Francis I of Austria) and of his second wife,
Maria Theresa of the Two Sicilies. Marie Louise was also a double great-granddaughter of
Maria Theresa of Austria, thus a double grandniece of
Marie Antoinette, as she was a paternal granddaughter of
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (Maria Theresa's son, Marie Antoinette's brother) and a maternal granddaughter of
Marie Caroline of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily (Maria Theresa's daughter, Marie Antoinette's sister).
To make her more marriageable, her parents had her tutored in many languages. In addition to her native
German, she became fluent in
English,
French,
Italian,
Latin, and
Spanish .
Empress of the French
On 11 March 1810, the 18-year-old archduchess married French Emperor
Napoléon I by
proxy, with a subsequent ceremony taking place in the chapel of the Louvre on 1 April 1810. The bride's father intended the marriage to strengthen links between the
Austrian Empire and the
First French Empire. Napoleon sought the validation and legitimation of his Empire by marrying a member of the
House of Habsburg, one of the oldest ruling families of Europe. He also hoped to cement his position by fathering a legitimate heir. Napoleon had previously tried to marry
Grand Duchess Anna of the
House of Romanov, younger sister of
Tsar Alexander I of Russia, but his proposal had been refused.
When Marie Louise moved to France, she brought with her a number of Austrian recipes. She developed a recipe for
roquefort-stuffed chopped beef that later became quite popular in restaurants.
On 20 March 1811, Marie Louise (as she was known in France) gave birth to a son,
Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, styled King of
Rome and later Duke of Reichstadt. Marie Louise acted as Regent of France from April to December 1812 during the Russian campaign and again from April 1813 to January 1814 during her husband's absence in the German campaign. After Napoléon was forced to abdicate his throne in April 1814, he was exiled to the island of
Elba. Marie Louise returned to Austria, never to see her husband again.
Napoléon claimed at one point to prefer Marie Louise to his first wife
Joséphine de Beauharnais; while he had loved Joséphine, he claimed, he had not respected her, whereas with Marie Louise, there was "Never a lie, never a debt" — presumably a reference to Josephine's rumoured
extramarital affairs and reputation as a spendthrift .
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma with her son
Napoleon IIDuchess of Parma
After Napoleon's abdication in April 1814, Marie Louise and her son fled
Paris to
Blois, and then to
Vienna. The
Treaty of Fontainebleau of 11 April 1814 allowed her to retain her imperial rank and style (Her Imperial Majesty The Empress Marie Louise) and made her the ruler of the duchies of
Parma,
Piacenza, and
Guastalla, with her son as heir. However, in 1815, the
Congress of Vienna revised this arrangement and made her Duchess of Parma for her life only, with the details of who would become Duke of Parma after her death unspecified. In 1817, a treaty was signed which would leave the duchies to a member of the
House of Bourbon. In 1844 it was determined that the duchy of Guastalla would be inherited by the
Duke of Modena.
In 1821, four months after Napoleon's death, Marie Louise married
morganatically her lover, Count
Adam Albert von Neipperg (1775-1829). The couple had three children, the first two of whom were born before Marie Louise and Neipperg were married:
- Albertine, Countess of Montenuovo (1817-1867), married Luigi Sanvitale, Count of Fontanellato)
- Wilhelm Albrecht, Count of Montenuovo, later created Prince of Montenuovo (1819-1895), married Countess Juliana Batthyány von Németújvár)
- Mathilde, Countess of Montenuovo (born 1822)
On 17 February 1834 Marie Louise married, again morganatically, her grand chamberlain, Charles-René, Count of Bombelles (1785-1856).
By most accounts, Marie Louise was an able and intelligent ruler of
Parma, introducing various reforms and working hard to benefit her new subjects. She died in 1847 at Parma.
Titles
Marie Louise held the following styles from birth to death:
- Her Royal Highness Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia (1791-1804)
- Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Imperial & Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia (1804-1810)
- Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of the French, Queen of Italy (1810-1815) (Italy to 1814)
- Her Imperial Majesty The Empress Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (1815-1847)
Marie Louise also held, by marriage, the title
Countess of Neipperg (1821-1834) and later
Countess of Bombelles (1834-1847). She retained her imperial rank due to the 1814 Treaty of Paris as well as her titles Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia.
Ancestors
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