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| Louis I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Holland | |
| Reign | 5 June 1806 –1 July 1810 |
| Predecessor | Monarchy established (Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck asGrand pensionary of theBatavian Republic) |
| Successor | Louis II |
| Head of the House of Bonaparte | |
| Tenure | 28 July 1844 – 25 July 1846 |
| Predecessor | Joseph, Count of Survilliers |
| Successor | Napoleon III |
| Born | Luigi Buonaparte 2 September 1778 Ajaccio, Corsica, France |
| Died | 25 July 1846(1846-07-25) (aged 67) Livorno, Tuscany |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Bonaparte |
| Father | Carlo Buonaparte |
| Mother | Letizia Ramolino |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Signature |  |
Louis Bonaparte (bornLuigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother ofNapoleon I,Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over theKingdom of Holland (a Frenchclient state roughly corresponding to the modern-dayNetherlands). In that capacity, he was known asLouis I (Dutch:Lodewijk I[ˈloːdəʋɛik]).
Louis was the fifth surviving child and fourth surviving son ofCarlo Buonaparte andLetizia Ramolino, out of eight children who lived past infancy. He and his siblings were all born inCorsica, whichhad been conquered by France less than a decade before his birth. Louis followed his older brothers into theFrench Army, where he benefited from Napoleon's patronage. In 1802, he married his step-nieceHortense de Beauharnais, the daughter ofEmpress Joséphine (Napoleon's wife).
In 1806, Napoleon I established theKingdom of Holland in place of theBatavian Republic, appointing Louis as the new king. Napoleon had intended for Holland to be little more than apuppet state, but Louis was determined to be as independent as possible and became quite popular amongst his new people. Growing tired of his brother's wilfulness, Napoleon annexed Holland into theFrench Empire in 1810, and Louis went into exile.
His youngest son, Louis-Napoléon, established theSecond French Empire in 1852, proclaiming himselfNapoleon III.
Louis was born inAjaccio,Corsica. He was a younger brother ofJoseph,Napoleon,Lucien, andElisa Bonaparte, and the older brother ofPauline,Caroline, andJérôme Bonaparte. Louis' godparents were the island's governor,Mr de Marbeuf, and the wife of the intendant,Bertrand de Boucheporn, whom Letizia and her husband, Carlo, had befriended.[1]
Louis Bonaparte's early career was spent in the Army, and he served with Napoleon in theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria. Thanks to his older brother, Napoleon, Louis was given a commission in the French Military, and was promoted to Lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment, and from there he was made Aide de Camp on Napoleon's staff. Napoleon, during his Italian Campaign, recommended Louis to Carnot, and Louis was consequently made a captain. He later became aGeneral by the age of 25, although he felt that he had risen too high in too short a time.
Upon Louis's return to France, he was involved in Napoleon's plot to overthrow theDirectory. After becoming theFirst Consul, Napoleon arranged for a marriage between Louis andHortense de Beauharnais, the daughter ofEmpress Josephine, and hence Napoleon's stepdaughter. Hortense was opposed to the marriage at first. She was soon persuaded by her mother to marry Louis for the sake of the family.
Feeling that theBatavian Republic was too independent for his liking,Napoleon I replaced it with theKingdom of Holland on 5 June 1806 and placed Louis on the throne. Napoleon had intended for his younger brother to be little more than aFrench prefect of Holland. However, Louis had his own mind, and tried to be a responsible and independent ruler. To endear himself to his adopted country, he tried to learn theDutch language; he called himselfLodewijk I (adopting the Dutch form of his name) and declared himself Dutch rather than French.[2][3] Allegedly, his Dutch was initially so poor that he told the people he was theKonijn van 'Olland ("Rabbit of 'Olland"), rather thanKoning van Holland ("King of Holland"). However, his sincere effort to learn Dutch earned him respect from his subjects.
Having declared himself Dutch, Louis tried to make his court Dutch as well. He forced his court and ministers (mostly provided by Napoleon) to speak only Dutch and to renounce their French citizenships. This latter was too much for his wifeHortense who, in France at the time of his demands, refused his request. Louis and Hortense had never gotten along, and this demand further strained their relationship. She only came to Holland reluctantly and deliberately tried to avoid Louis as much as possible.
Louis could never settle on the location of his capital city while he was in Holland. He changed capitals over a dozen times, tryingAmsterdam,The Hague,Utrecht, and other places. On one occasion, after visiting the home of a wealthy Dutch merchant, he liked the place so much that he had the owner evicted so he could take up residence there. Then, Louis moved again after seven weeks. His constant moving kept the court in upheaval since they had to follow him everywhere. The Europeandiplomatic corps went so far as to petition Bonaparte to remain in one place so they could keep up with him.
Hortense bore Louis's sonsNapoléon-Charles Bonaparte andNapoléon Louis Bonaparte in Paris, while Louis was in Holland. In 1806, Louis called for his son to be sent to him in Holland, but he was again refused by Hortense, who believed that her son would never be returned to France. When Louis appealed to his brother Napoleon for help, Napoleon sided with Hortense. Napoleon kept the boy in his court, and he even had him named the heir to the French throne before the birth of his son.
Two major tragedies occurred during the reign of Louis Bonaparte: theexplosion of a cargo ship loaded with gunpowder in the heart of the city ofLeiden in 1807, and a major flood in Holland in 1809. In both instances, Louis personally and effectively oversaw local relief efforts, which helped earn him the title ofLouis the Good. Napoleon appeared disappointed and commented:″Brother, when they say of some king or other that he is good, it means that he has failed in his rule.″[4]
Louis Bonaparte's reign was short-lived due to two factors. The first was that Napoleon wanted to reduce the value of French loans from Dutch investors by two-thirds, meaning a serious economic blow to the Netherlands. The second became the pretext for Napoleon's demand of Louis's abdication. As Napoleon was preparing an army for hisinvasion of Russia, he wanted troops from the entire region under his control, this included troops from the Netherlands. Louis, confronted by his brother's demand, refused point-blank. Napoleon then accused Louis of putting Dutch interests above those of France, and removed most of the French forces in Holland for the coming war in the east, leaving only about 9,000 garrison soldiers in the country. Unfortunately for Louis, the British landed an army of 40,000 in 1809 inan attempt to capture Antwerp and Flushing. With Louis unable to defend his realm, France sent 80,000 militiamen, commanded byMaréchal d'Empire The 1st Prince Bernadotte, the futureKing Karl XIV Johan of Sweden, and successfully repelled the invasion. Napoleon then suggested that Louis should abdicate, citing Louis's inability to protect Holland as a reason. Louis refused and declared the occupation of the Kingdom by a French army as unlawful. On 1 July 1810, Louis abdicated in favour of his second son,Napoleon Louis Bonaparte. He fled from Haarlem on 2/3 July and settled in Austria.Oudinot invaded Holland on 4 July. Napoleonincorporated Holland into France by theDecree of Rambouillet on 9 July.[5]
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After his abdication, Louis Bonaparte assumed the title of Count of Saint-Leu (comte de Saint-Leu),[6] which was a reference to his property atSaint-Leu-la-Forêt near Paris.[7] He was appointed as theConstable of France in 1808, a strictly honorary title.
After his Dutch kingdom was taken away from him, theAustrian EmperorFrancis I offered him asylum. Between 1811 and 1813, he found refuge inGraz, where he turned to writing and poetry.[8] Louis wrote to Napoleon after the latter's defeat in Russia to request that the Dutch throne be restored to him; however, Napoleon refused. His request to visit the Netherlands was denied several times by KingWilliam I of the Netherlands, but KingWilliam II allowed him a visit in 1840. Although traveling in the Netherlands under a false name, some people found out that it was their former king, which led to a cheering crowd gathering under the window of his hotel room. It is said that he was quite moved by this demonstration of affection from his former subjects.[citation needed]
After the death of his eldest brother Joseph in 1844, Louis was seen by theBonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French, although Louis took little action himself to advance the claim. Louis's son and heir, the future EmperorNapoleon III, on the other hand, was at that time being imprisoned in France for having attempted a Bonapartistcoup d'état.
Louis Bonaparte died from stroke on 25 July 1846 inLivorno, and his remains were buried atSaint-Leu-la-Forêt,Île-de-France.
Louis was married on 4 January 1802 toHortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of the deceased generalAlexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais, and his wifeJosephine Tascher de la Pagerie. Josephine was the first wife of Louis's brother Napoleon. Thus Hortense was also Louis's step-niece.
This marriage had been forced upon them and was rather loveless, though they supposedly consummated it and interacted often enough to produce three sons. As a rule, the Bonapartes, except Napoleon, loathed the Beauharnaises. Hortense also certainly had extra-marital lovers.[9]
Hortense de Beauharnais gave birth to three sons who were officially claimed by Louis Bonaparte, despite his doubts about their paternity:
Louis Bonaparte Born: 2 September 1778 Died: 25 July 1846 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | King of Holland 5 June 1806 – 1 July 1810 | Succeeded by |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Emperor of the French King of Italy 28 July 1844 – 25 July 1846 | Succeeded by |
| Emperor and immediate family | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| French Princes | ||
Several family members held additional titles invassal states | ||
| Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of the Netherlands1 (1815–present) | ||
1. See also theSovereign Principality of the United Netherlands (1813–1815) and theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1839). | ||
| Capetian pretenders (1792–present)  |
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| Bonaparte pretenders (1814–present)  |
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1 Actually reigned twice: first from 1814–1815, second from 1815–1824 2 Actually reigned from 1824–1830 3 Reigned in pretense asLouis Philippe II from 1848–1873 4 Briefly restored and then deposed in 1815 5 Actually reigned from 1852–1870 6 Pretense disputed until 1891 7 Pretense currently disputed | |||||
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