Hortense De Beauharnais Part III

Napoleonic upper class society, like its counterparts in England and generally in Europe, was relatively lenient in matters of sexual conduct.  Napoleon himself disapproved of this. He had affaires himself, with many different women, but he insisted that Josephine led a blameless life, in the latter years of their marriage.  
Coming from a Corsican background, he did not approve of the way that women took part in political life, in Paris, and the way they often led separate lives to their husbands...As a young man he had been a intrigued by the manners of the Parisian elite but later, Napoleon had put an end to the easy divorce laws of the Republic.  His Napoleonic Legal code centred on preserving family life, and women had few rights under it.

However, 2 of his 3 sisters were very much involved in politics and were more intelligent and active than their husbands, in ruling their kingdoms.  And all three took lovers.  Pauline, his favourite sister, was notoriously promiscuous, and she was not interested in politics.  
Her life was centred on nursing her “ill health”, taking an interest in the arts and in finding lovers.

Napoleon was fond of Hortense and may have over looked her affair with De Flahaut, as she had generally been a loyal wife to Louis and he knew that Lous was a difficult and neurotic man and almost impossible to be married to.  However, Hortense knew she would have to cover up the fact that she had had an illegitimate baby, and could not rear the child herself. 

Afterwards, her affair with De Flahaut fizzled out and he later married an English heiress.  She may have had other romances but it is not clear.  She was devoted to her sons and in the last year or two of Napoleon’s empire; she was in dispute with Louis about them.  She was close to her mother and spent time with her… but also managed to get on quite well with Marie Louise.   She took little interest in politics but when the Empire fell, she remained loyal to her step-father.  However Josephine, who was divorced form Napoleon and as such not banned from France, was willing to use her looks and charm to entertain the foreign conquerors, including the Czar Alexander of Russia.  He grew fond of her and acted as a protector to her and Hortense.

She accepted this protection as she was trying to keep her children and because as a Bonaparte she would have been persona non grata in France.  But Josephine died soon after Napoleon’s fall.  Hortense and Eugene were with her and were deeply grieved.  Hortense stayed in Paris to welcome her step father back when he escaped from Elba. She was there to help him when he lost at Waterloo, and surrendered to the British…

Her life after Napoleon had gone to St Helena was mainly devoted to her sons.  She had to live in exile...since her actions in supporting her step father on his return to France had allied her with the Bonaparte cause , and the French authorities would not permit her to live in France. 
She remained officially married to Louis, and shared in decisions about the education of their 2 sons.  She was allowed to live in Switzerland, and had a small household… 

She continued to enjoy taking an interest in the arts... and some of her music became famous, including the song “Partant pour La Syrie”.   She had many friends and although she missed her French life, she was busy and fulfilled…

Her sons were partly educated in Italy and became ardent supporters of Italian independence... and were involved in the various revolutionary societies and uprisings that sprang up in the 1820s and 30s.  Hortense encouraged her sons to marry; Napoleon Louis married his cousin Charlotte, the daughter of Joseph Bonaparte.  Louis Napoleon travelled to England and America…but Napoleon Louis died of measles leaving no children of his marriage. 

Hortense’s health declined and she died in 1837, in her 50s.  She had managed to lead a comfortable life, after the fall of the Empire, and to bring up her sons to carry on the Bonaparte name and legend... And eventually her third son would become the Emperor of France…

Hortense Part II

Hortense did not want to go to Holland, with Louis, but her stepfather insisted.  She was happier there than she expected but her husband’s difficult personality made life impossible for her.  Their first son Napoleon Charles died of a childhood illness.  Her third son Louis Napoleon would eventually become Napoleon III. 

Hortense was popular in Holland, but she managed to get away from it, back to Paris, after her son’s death.  She loved Paris and enjoyed artistic pursuits such as painting and music.  In 1810, her mother was divorced by Napoleon who then married Marie Louise of Austria…  Hortense remained loyal to him and part of the court... though she spent time with Josephine as well.  Eugene also remained loyal to his step father, though he knew that the divorce was very painful for his mother. Both of his step children were closer to him than his difficult and rebellious siblings.

Around this time, Louis was removed from the Dutch throne and Hortense was able to return to life in France, separated from her husband.  She was one of the godmothers of Napoleon’s legitimate son, the King of Rome... but by the time of his baptism, she had been having an affair with a man she really loved, Charles de Flahaut... and was pregnant by him.  She retired from court for a time, on the excuse of ill health and went to Switzerland, and there she secretly had her baby son… Charles Auguste Du Morny.  The child was reared by his paternal grandmother Adelaide de Flahaut

Hortense de Beauharnais Part I

Hortense de Beauharnais was the step daughter of Napoleon I, and an interesting figure in French society history.  Her father was Alexandre De Beauharnais, a French aristocrat who like many people supported the ideal of the Franc Revolution.  Her mother was Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie, a Creole aristocrat from Martinique. Josephine came from her island home, to France as a teenager, to marry Alexandre.  She was not educated or sophisticated at the time and he found his new bride gauche and uninteresting... and soon neglected her for mistresses.   The marriage proved unhappy.  They had one son Eugene, and then in 1783, Hortense was born.

 Josephine then called by one of her other names, (Rose) did learn about society and became more stylish and sophisticated. She was not a beauty, but she was an elegant dresser and a pleasant and charming woman.  She and Alexandre were soon living apart.  He accused her, probably unfairly, of infidelity and was generally unkind to her.  He never gave her credit for transforming herself from provincial schoolgirl to an elegant Parisienne...

When they separated, he had custody of their son Eugene and Josephine had the care of Hortense.  During the Revolution, both of them adopted Revolutionary principles but Alexandre was executed, during the Terror. 

Rose was imprisoned but the Terror ended before she might have faced the guillotine...

afterwards, she became a well-known figure in the society of the Directorate. She didn’t have much money and had her 2 children to support, so she acted as hostess and mistress to Paul Barras one of the prominent figures in the Directorate.

Hortense went to school at Mme Campan’s a famous school for girls of the “new” upper class… and received a good education.  She was clever and pretty... and enjoyed writing music. Another pupil at the school was Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest sister.  Hortense was not happy when her mother met the young General Bonaparte, and became his mistress and then agreed to marry him, but she grew to love ad admire her stepfather.

On leaving school, Napoleon wanted her to marry his younger brother Louis... who was a hypochondriac and a neurotic depressive difficult young man.  Hortense was in love with Duroc, one of her stepfather’s aides.   However she was persuaded by her mother to choose Louis.  Josephine was worrying because she had not been able to give her second husband a son, and feared that he might abandon her, for a wife who could do so.  Selfishly, she put some pressure on her daughter and Hortense, loving her mother, agreed. The marriage was far from happy….

Louis was arrogant and difficult.  He was jealous of his wife. And he was also at odds with his brother. He didn’t like the fact that he owed his career advancement to his ambitious and clever brother. And when he was appointed King of Holland, he wanted to be independent of Napoleon’s influence…His sons by Hortense were heirs presumptive to Napoleon’s honours and titles, since the emperor had no children and Joseph, his elder brother had only daughters.