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- [00:01]
Host 1
Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.
- [00:09]
Host 2
Big announcement. If I could do a drum roll here, I would. We have a big announcement. Our final field trip for the year 2025 is ready for your clicking finger.
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Host 1
How about Italy? October 2nd through the 11th of 2025. We are going to Rome. We're going to Florence. We're going to Venice. There's side trips all along the way. How does a private dinner in a 13th century castle sound?
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Host 2
Also, we're going to have a day when we go to Parma and sample both Parma ham and Parmesan cheese. So it is the ham and cheese field trip with your pinky up.
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Host 1
And of course, there is a very heavy emphasis on the women of Italy, both past subjects and ones that we have in our future.
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Host 2
To sign up, go to likemindstravel.com Click on the button Group tours and find us there. Act quickly. I think this one is going to sell out fast.
- [01:14]
Host 1
No doubt about it. Here it is. People get ready like minds. Travel.
- [01:21]
Host 2
And here's your 32nd summary.
- [01:25]
Host 1
Two women, one last name. Very different stories. The End let's talk about Josephine Bonaparte. But first, let's drop her into history. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the French Indian War or the Seven Years War, depending on what side of the Atlantic you were on. A conflict between Great Britain and France and their respective allies, Empress Catherine II of Russia endorsed plans for a foundling home in Moscow. It was designed to raise abandoned children. However, it would take nearly 60 years to reach success in its intended purpose. While still a British colony, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began surveying the land between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The philosopher, the Marquis de Sade married Rene de Montreal in Paris. And in 1763, on a Caribbean island, a baby girl destined to reach heights greater than a queen was born. Marie Joseph Rose de Tacher de la Pagerie was born on June 23, 1763 at her family's home on the Caribbean island of Martinique. She was the first of three children of Joseph Gaspard de Tacher and Rose Claire de Verger de Senois. The roots of this family go fairly deep into Martinique history and are minor nobility. Papa Joseph was the son of a plantation heiress on Martinique and a very minor noble from France who did not do so well on Martinique. He ended up working for other plantation owners. Despite his never missing an opportunity to boast of his noble heritage. The island nobility came on Papa Joseph's mother's side. Her father was a true Creole people who were born of European descent On colonies like Martinique. This side of the family was fairly wealthy. And the island ruling class. The marriage of Papa Joseph and Rose Claire came about not because of dynastic move. But Papa Joseph had been sent to France, to Versailles, specifically to be a page for the dauphine of France. That would be the mother of three future kings. Louis xvi, Louis xviii, and Charles X. So our Papa Joseph had been polished, not on Martinique, but at French court. He was the second lieutenant in the militia. And he was very important to our story. Extraordinarily charming. Mama Rose Claire's family was socially and financially much better off than Joseph. But at 25, Rose Claire was considered unmarriable. And when she fell for the charms of Joseph, her family just kind of signed off on the union. With a shrug of, well, who else is she going to marry? Once married, the couple moved into Rose Claire's family plantation. 1200 acres of lush farmland. Cocoa, coffee, yucca, cotton, and most importantly, sugarcane. And it was here that their first child, our Marie Joseph Rose, was born only a couple years into their marriage. Now, we all know, right, how this plantation was able to be so successful for so many years. Enslaved people, over 300 of them at any given time. Including little Marie Joseph, Rose's nurse, An enslaved woman named Marian, who gave her little charge the nickname of Ayette. Very cute. But from what I can tell, that was just kind of a pet name at home. Most people at the time called her Rose. And so that's what I'm gonna go with. Martinique, the island that they lived on, has the nickname of the Pearl of the Antilles. I love that it had been colonized by European pirates. And then in the 1600s, when the value of processed sugarcane exploded globally. That's when the squabbling over what country could call dibs on the island began. But France gained control of Martinique mere months before Rose was born. A second daughter, Catherine Desiree, was born the year after Rose. The family was still prosperous, Extremely prosperous. But in 1766, a couple years later, they had a painful change of fortune. When a powerfully destructive hurricane battered Martinique. The family fled from their large plantation home to a stone structure, which was the sugar mill. Complicating this flight from the big house to the sugar mill. Rose Claire was eight, eight and a half months pregnant. So there's this destructive hurricane hitting the island. The family races to the sugar mill. She is, oh, so heavy with child. The enslaved people who work in the house were also joining them there. But it was not a very large building. Not all of the People that lived on the plantation could fit into it. When they emerged, their world was laying in devastating ruins. The plantation house was gone. But that wasn't the worst of it. People died across the island and on their plantation. Crops were destroyed. The storm surge caused flooding, combined with those high winds leveled the huts of the enslaved people. Those were all gone. Livestock crops were decimated. And a couple of weeks later, that last child, Marie Francois, who they called Manette, was born. While that may have been a bright spot for the family, although I'm sure they were certainly hoping for a boy, which they don't get, that as the last child, another crushing blow occurred. Within a year, Grandpere Rose Claire's father, the patriarch who was running this plantation, died. And the weight and the success of the plantation was placed on Papa Joseph's shoulders, who was much more successful at being charming than he was about building back a successful plantation. The family stayed in the sugar mill. The idea was make it a temporary house, build on some porches, divide it up and the second floor for living quarters. It ended up being that's where they stayed because they could not afford to rebuild that massive plantation house. Now they are island nobility, but they are definitely cash poor. Rose said later. I ran, I jumped, I danced from morning to night. No one restrained the wild movements of my childhood. In reality, her life may have seemed idyllic, but that childhood was idyllic because of the work done by the enslaved people who did the heavy lifting and the raising of Rose. Those enslaved people, many of them were truly blood relatives to the family. Rose's nanny, Marian, was most likely a mixed race relative from Mama Rose, Claire's side of the family. Rose's own father had several children by the enslaved women on his plantation. One of them, Euphemie, who will be in our story for quite some time, was assumed to be Rose's half sister. Rose's youth was filled with stories from her father about his time in France. It sounds like one of those guys who peaked in high school. Everything was awesome there. And the suggestion was that at some point she, Rose, could attend his alma mater of Versailles, or at least Paris in some way. But before she could get to any kind of further education, she had to get some. And at 10, her mother said to her, beautiful and good child, your character and your heart are excellent, but your head, oh, your head. So I guess running around on the island wasn't as educational as Mama wanted. So Rose was sent to the island's capital, Fort Royale, now called Fort de France, to a school Named Maison de la Provence, it was a Catholic school, Catholic boarding school that had been founded to counteract, I quote, the indolence and depravity of wealthy girl children. Yeah, little girl children who grew up just like Rose did, surrounded and interacting and picking up traits and lessons from the enslaved people of the island. The thought was that they had to retrain these girls to become proper wives and mothers and mistresses of plantations. And this from the founder, to imprint our students with that sense of modesty, grace, softness, discretion and love of work and of God. Those qualities that are the best ornament of their sexual and the guardian of all virtues. Gotta wonder what's gonna stick for our Rose. Education was not a heavy focus here, but she learned penmanship, arithmetic, geography, drawing, embroidery, dance, painting. And by 14, four years in, rose was considered finished and was graduated. She was not academically advanced, but she had been able to polish up her charm and her grace, both social and physical. The year of her graduation, she and a couple of her friends visited a local obeah woman. She was a healer. She was a provider of spells and potions. And for Rose and her two friends, she was a fortune teller. According to her. She said Rose would have two marriages. The first to a blonde man connected to her family somehow. While she would live in Europe, the marriage would be unhappy. The second marriage would be to a dark man with little fortune who would make her, quote, greater than a queen. But the woman said Rose would die unhappy. I know that kind of sounds like legend, but Rose actually talked about this frequently in her letters and correspondences with people all the way through her life. So to me that adds credibility to it. Rose's paternal aunt admis had for 20 years been the mistress of a marquis, the former governor of Martinique, Francois de Beauharnais. Francois had a 17 year old son who needed to marry to be able to come into an inheritance. Admis suggested her niece Rose to this boy, his name is Alexandre. Marrying a la pagerie was fine. He was from Martinique. He knew the family. But he thought Rose at 15 was not young enough for him at 17. So how about sister number two, Catherine? Sadly, Catherine had recently died of yellow fever. Fine, fine. Rose's father said. Now totally excited to be part of a marquis family, offered little Manette, who at the time was just 11 and trying to explain her to Alexandra. He said she has, quote, a figure that will soon be interesting.
- [12:38]
Host 2
Gross.
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Host 1
Rose was mad that her father was so easily taking away this. This future in Paris that he had always told her about and giving it to Manette her little sister, who was freaking out so hard. Not only did she make herself sick, but Mama agreed with Manette. She was too young. It was not time for her to move away from the house. So Edme, as the broker here, she pressed on with the Marquis in France, while Papa started kind of a letter writing campaign to him, explaining the qualities that Rose possessed. Fine skin, lovely eyes, good arm, a surprising gift for music. She longs to see Paris and has a very sweet disposition. Finally, the 12 punch of EDME and her brother sold Alexandra on Rose. With Papa by her side and her maid Euphemie, who remember is most likely Rose's half sister. A 16 year old provincial native, Rose was set off for her future. Alexandre de Beauharnais had been born on Martinique, but brought to Paris when his father and aunt Edme moved there. He was well educated. He lived at the family homes which were essentially a palace as well as chateau in the country. At 16 he got a regiment commission into the infantry. He learned not only of battle, but of the joys and pleasures of a woman. By the time that Rose landed in France, Alexandra, who was two years older than her, he had decided that he liked older women. So now this 16 year old isn't too old for him, she's too young. He had an official mistress. While he was committed to marrying Rose to please his father and his aunt and of course get his inheritance, he was not impressed by her less than Parisian standard of refinement, let's put it that way. She had a heavy accent, she looked like she had spent her days really as she had outside. She was lacking in his opinion, any sophistication. And compared to his older mistress, she was a bumbling child. For her part, Rose was smitten at first sight of this very handsome blonde, blue eyed man in a sharp uniform. As reluctant as Alexandra was about this wedding, he was committed and aunt Edme wanted it to happen very fast. So she went into full wedding planner mode. A trousseau, bands in three churches. A dowry that Papa Joseph really didn't have to give. Rose and Alexander were married on December 13, 1779. Alexandra had, like his father, first given himself a title before he earned it of Viscount. So according to that standard, Rose was now Viscountness de Bahanne. But because of this bestowing titles upon their self thing that the family had, the court at Versailles wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. So there went Rose's dreams of her own tutelage at Versailles. And Alexandra, although now married to her, could find nothing favorable in her, he said in a letter that she was an object who has nothing to say to me. He went back to his regiment. Wrote a friend that instead of spending my time at home with a creature with whom I can find nothing in common, I have to a great extent resumed my bachelor life. Oh yes, by the way, his mistress was pregnant with his child. Aunt Edme kind of started to Eliza Doolittle, her niece. Everything that Alexandra complained about Ed May tried to counteract. She got tutors to give Rose more lessons in geography and history. They had her memorizing poetry and literature. They worked on her posture, her carriage, her dancing. Uh, she did not have one of those movie worthy transformations. Let's just leave it at that. The couple had begun kind of a pattern. He would come home for a while, leave disenchanted not long afterwards. While away, he would get hopeful that she was turning into his dream wife. And when he saw her again, she failed to fully grasp those lessons. In addition, she was becoming very jealous and very clingy in her letters. So it was just. He went home, he didn't like what he saw, which made her a little bit more insecure. He left and those insecurities just kind of manifested themselves. But they did something right in the marital department. At about 18 months after their marriage, 18 year old rose gave birth to a son, Eugene Rose de Beauharnais. Alexandre was thrilled, but the reality of how he saw his wife still annoyed him. So he took off again for several months. At one point he started to kind of take her around town. Her lessons started to click in a little bit. He started to squire her around town to salons where the talk was of liberal ideas and what if we had this new form of government, not a monarchy. All this was starting to boil up in Paris at the time. She became pregnant again and again Alexandra got bored with her and. And this time he left her to head back to Martinique with his mistress. And at this point he's covering his butt. His letters are full of commentary, gaslighting her about how he was abandoned by her. Meanwhile, she knows what's going on. He's partying it down in the Caribbean while she's selling her jewelry to live on and giving birth without him anywhere nearby to their daughter Hortense. Now, because the baby was a little early, Alexandre became convinced that Hortense was not his daughter and started grilling anyone on Martinique who had ever known Rose for confirmation of her wickedness and inclination to cheat on him. Even though he couldn't find this evidence, he still was writing to her, calling her disgusting names and telling her that he had all this evidence of her depravity. He. He had none. And he said, and this is from one of his letters, never, never shall I put myself in danger of being so abused again. This is Alexandre, not Rose, saying this. Remove yourself to a convent as soon as you receive this letter. I'll see you only once upon my return to Paris to discuss practicalities. But I repeat, no scenes, no protestations. And the sleaziest part of all, that that particular letter was delivered to Rose by Alexandra's mistress. They had only been married for four years, and in that four years, Alexandra had only been home 10 months. So 23 year old Rose, her half sister slash maid, Euphemie and Eugene, but not Hortense, because she still needed her wet nurse. Back at their house, they did what Alexandra said and moved into a convent. It sounds bad, but this may have been the best thing that happened to her. The convent was kind of like an aristocratic spa where wealthy women went when their husbands were either traveling or had temporarily thrown them out. While in the convent, Rose got the education in deportment, in carrying herself and in speech and in dress and in just how to flirt and how to talk in conversation. All of these wealthy aristocratic women that were in there with her now, it's not a prison. They can come and go. They were kind of taking her under their wing and kind of molding her. And this time it clicked for Rose. She lost her accent. She learned to modulate her voice to what sounds like kind of a sexy, flirty voice when she spoke. It became one of her best features. She learned the art of conversation and to cover one of her least attractive features, tooth decay. Because she had grown up on a sugar plantation eating a lot of sugar, her teeth were not in good shape. She learned how to coyly cover and hide her mouth with a handkerchief or a fan or her hand or her lips so that those teeth didn't show. She learned how to dress best and show it off. These women taught her skincare. They taught her makeup. Yes, the infamous lead based paint that would lighten her skin, which was naturally a little on the darker side because of where she grew up. I mean, you can only stay in the shade so much on a Caribbean island. So this makeup, this whitening brought her skin to the color that was popular at the time. And they taught her the art, which to me always looks not like an art, but as a afterthought of the red rouge that was popular in Paris at This time, think Marie Antoinette and all of her ladies in waiting with those bright pink cheeks. That was the fashion, and it was an art to get it that way. And she learned it within two years of being in the convent, she had gone from an unsophisticated woman with no confidence to a woman who, although never described as beautiful to look at, but because of her charm, her demeanor, her confidence, that sexy voice, her chestnut curls, her stunning green eyes, and a figure that had reshaped itself while she was in the convention. She came out in 1785 as an IT girl. Also with the tutelage of these women, Rose had opened up legal channels for her separation. She was documenting everything that Alexandra had done to her. So when he kidnapped their son Eugene, she used those channels not only to report it, but to get the couple into court, where not only was Rose granted a legal separation, she was given custody of both of the children. Although Eugene needed to be with his father, the court said after five, he would live with his father through the school year and then with Rose in the summers. Alexandra was forced to give her living expenses and child support. And the court found zero evidence that the things that Alexandra had said and accused her of were non existent. And the court forced him to write her an apology letter. Vindicated and transformed, Rose emerged from the convent and began her new life.
- [23:20]
Host 2
Today's episode is brought to you by HoneyLove, the brand that is completely reimagining shapewear. This is a New Year's resolution that you may actually want to keep saying au revoir, as Eugenie would say, to uncomfortable shapewear for good. Life's too short to feel squished. You know, luckily, you don't have to.
- [23:41]
Host 1
And like Josephine, you can ditch that uncomfortable shapewear. With Honeylove, you know, this is a really good time to do is to go through your drawers. I mean, you're going through cleaning things out. Go through your lingerie drawer, pull out those shapewears and those bras that you don't like that are uncomfortable. The shapewear that rolls down when you wear it, the bras that are uncomfortable because they have those underwires, get rid of them, and then go to honeylove and replace all of them. Today I actually did exactly that. I got a new crossover bra, and they have a new color. It's called Pink Cloud. I love it. Very pretty. Honey Love uses what they call targeted compression. What it does is sculpts and molds your body. They don't use any underwires. There are stays, but you can't feel them because they're so soft. So HoneyLove's products are shapewear that works with your body, not against it.
- [24:35]
Host 2
Treat yourself to the most comfortable shapewear on earth and save 20% off site wide at honeylove.com historychicks use our exclusive link to get 20% off honeylove.com history.
- [24:49]
Host 1
Chicks after your purchase they're going to ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them that we sent you. Start the new year with confidence. Thanks to Honey Love Rose legally couldn't remarry. They were only separated. Aunt Edme and Alexandra's father opened their home to her so she could live with them. Rose 2.0 was finally allowed to have the social life that she'd always dreamed of with the social skills to support her through it. In no time she had a solid social circle. But this life comes with a price tag and if you think that fathers not paying child support or alimony payments is modern, it is not. Alexandra very rarely gave her money, so she needed to find something to support herself. Her aunt and Alexandra's father could only support her and her children so much. So she did what she had to do to maintain herself through a series of well chosen older, wealthy married men. They were delighted by her company and generous with their gifts that supported her life. Although she was running up debts that even these gentlemen could not pay all of them. So she was always one step ahead of her creditors. But she looked fabulous doing it. At one point though, the creditors were not stopping. So she decided it was time for her to leave the country for a while. Just lay low. And she, Hortense and Euphemie. Eugene was back in France with his father, went home to Martinique. Okay, yes, she was running away. But she hadn't seen her family in 11 years and there she was able to lay low from her lovers arguing about her from any scandal from her creditors. It was a solid plan and it was good for a couple months. But it was 1780. Slavery had begun to be abolished in certain countries and the word of it spread to others. So on Martinique, a place where enslavement had made the island run, the enslaved were beginning to organize and fight back against her oppressors. One such uprising quickly turned into a full blown island wide revolt. Rose, Hortense and Euphemie raced with only the clothes on their backs, dodging cannonballs onto a ship to sail back home to France. But back in France, there was more uprisings. We've talked about the French Revolution in previous Episodes mostly, I think, in Marie Antoinette's. We're at a point where drought and famine and gross overspending of the aristocracy and the monarchy, they had created a volatile class divide. And revolution was in the air and in conversations and on their bodies. Nobles were dressing as if they were common Folk clothing was much simpler. There were red and blue stripes everywhere. There was bunting to declare that you and your house were it. Revolutionaries don't look for the aristocracy here. There's none to be found. Liberte, egalite, fraterite. Yay. Rose, Euphemie and Hortense moved in with another creole woman with a tween age daughter just like Hortense. And this woman helped Rose kind of blend in her clothing and her speech and the way she carried herself to be more of a commoner. Which for Rose's part, she was delighted to ditch. All the corsets for simple comfort and the powdered hair and makeup for something more loose and flowing and natural. And the aristocratic inflections in her speech that she had never really quite mastered, she was able to ditch those too. So something in between. Very common person, an aristocracy. There's a. There's an accent in there somewhere. Rose and her circle of friends figured that once the royal spending, the government spending got under control, life would go back to normal. These people did a lot of their same pre revolutionary social activities, except disguised in the costume of a revolutionary. But the royal family tried to sneak away in their own disguises. Got caught, got hauled back to Paris, were imprisoned and their guards were all slaughtered. We're getting serious now. For his part, Alexandre knew what side of the pain his bear was. His bread was buttered. He started working for the National Assembly. They were the brains and the leaders of the revolutionaries. He even had a very high placed position. Rose tried to send the kids out of the country, but their father just hauled them back. He sent Eugene to school in Strasbourg, so at least he was out of Paris. And Hortense was sent back to live with Rose. But it was about now that the guillotine was set up in the newly then named Place de la Revolution. Now the beheadings began. Rose and her household moved out of Paris proper and tried to just keep low. Nobility were being arrested daily, thrown into prison, given sham trials, then brought to Place de la Revolution for their final moments. It happened to the king, it happened to his queen, Marie Antoinette. And then the revolutionaries started looking for anybody with a title. Alexandra and his brother were both arrested. And when Rose began to write to anybody, she could think of on Alexandra's behalf. She also put a target on her back. But she and her roommate, despite all their efforts to present their home as a revolutionary one, they'd hidden anything valuable. They had decorated plainly. They had put symbols of the revolution throughout the house, but they couldn't get away from their names. Like more than 8,000 people who were crammed into prisons and makeshift prisons, both Rose and her roommate were arrested and sent to Les Camps Prison, which had been a convent turned prison. There were over 300 people, men and women, packed into this building. There were incalculable rodents and lice, and Rose was put in a cell with other women. However, Alexandra, there was lots of places they could have put him, but he was actually in the same prison as she was. They did see each other. As far as anyone knows, there was no real interaction. It was rumored that he was involved with one of Rose's cellmates. And it was more than rumored, I believe it to be fact that she was involved with a very handsome former general. So that's still going on in the prisons. Prisoners were fed every day half a bottle of wine and as much stale bread as they could choke down. They did have a little bit of time in the afternoon to go outside into a courtyard. It was just a very brief respite from the stench and the dark in the gloom and the misery inside the prison. Every day, prisoners would be collected from all the prisoners and brought to the Conciergerie. It had been their time to face their sham trials and very, very real executions. The women of the prison kind of accepted that this was going to be their eventuality too. Why should they think any different? So they all cut their hair. Not only did it help with the lice problem, but it also gave them a little control, because if they didn't, the executioner would chop their hair off before he nestled their necks into the guillotine. So Rose cut her hair very, very short. But of course, she was very miserable. They all were now for a while. Her kids snuck letters to her under the collar of her little pug fortune. He would squeeze through the gates of the courtyard, find his friend Rose. She would take the letters under his collar if she could, which happened very rarely, she would send one back to them. In control at this particular time was a very small group of men led by Maximilien Robespierre. They were the ones who orchestrated all this cruel rounding up of perceived enemies of the state. The enemy kept changing because the enemies kept disappearing because they were executing them first. Of course, it was the ruling monarchs and their circle of peoples. And once they were gone, anybody who had jockeyed for power during the revolution, who could conceivably repower themselves and dismantle this group, they were seen as a target. And then anyone who was seen as any threat, maybe someday, were all arrested. It was called the Reign of terror. Within 10 months, nearly 17,000 people had been executed and another 10,000 had all died in prison. While they were awaiting their trials, Alexandra's name came up first. For one of those trials, he was taken to the Conciergerie, had his own sham trial, and met his fate with the guillotine. Six days after that, Rose's name came up, and she was told that the very next day, she too, was gonna be taken to the Conciergerie for the same fate that Alexandra faced. But that very day, that day that she was told that tomorrow you're heading over to your last home, the Conciergerie, the leader of the group that was responsible for this terror. It's a very long and dramatic story, which I'm not really going to tell, but essentially, Robespierre's people turned on him, and he, too was arrested and executed. And because of that, without a leader and all that infighting, that group of people who had been in control no longer were. And the Reign of Terror was officially over. After three months of imprisonment, a major blow to her overall health, and now, 31 and a widow, Rose was set free. The Paris that the newly widowed Rose de Beauharnais walked into was, of course, a battle zone. Her home and her possessions were still sealed and considered property of the state, but she was able to get by basically the way she had before. Her mother was able to send her a little bit of money. Aunt Edmee was able to help her out a bit. But mostly it was the generosity of her friends and her charms that had attracted them in the first place that helped her. And, yeah, that was an innuendo society with nobility. And the aristocracy was, of course, very different. The government was very different. But new leaders were stepping into those positions, and they were attracted to Rose. For all intents and purposes, she was a courtesan, and she had a very influential benefactor. His name was Paul Barras. And within a year, he had found her a new home, gotten her and the kids back on their feet, had helped her get a new wardrobe. And quite frankly, Rose adapted to the new fashions so easily. She was able to totally ditch any corsets and confinement that was underneath her body. And where the new, very fashionable Shifts. What we think of when we think of Josephine, you know, the dresses with the empire waist and just a shift of light fabric and little puffy sleeves, kind of like Bridgerton, although that's about 15 years or so down the road. But that same feel she was. And people saw her time in prison kind of as a badge of honor. Look at her. She survived all of that. And it was this version of Rose Strong had been through fire and out again, who met the man who would lead her to the hall of fame of lovers. There's Anthony and Cleopatra, Abelard and Heloise, Louis XV and Madame Pompadour, Elphaba and Fiero. This man. There are legends about how they met. Unfortunately, like Elphaba and Fuyro, most of them are fiction. The myth is that this gentleman came by to deliver Alexander's sword to Eugene, Rose's son. The legend says that he saw her on the stairs and they looked at each other in a very sentimental moment. And Cupid's arrows flew. Unfortunately, the reality was a little bit more simple. That kindly benefactor Barras, he introduced Rose to Napoleon Bonaparte At a dinner party. He just sat her next to him. He was born Napoleon Buonaparte, six years after Rose was born. He also was from an island, the island of Corsica. And like Rose, his island home became under French rule. Very shortly before his birth, his father, Carlo, changed his name to Charles and changed the last name to De Bonaparte, which sounds a lot more French. His mother, Leticia, she adapted to the new French rule by not learning French. If she knew it, she never spoke it. She always spoke her native Italian. She was very opinionated. She was very outspoken. You knew where you stood with her, and if it wasn't in a great place, well, you knew that, too. Letizia earned that. Her husband, Charles Carlos, he was gone most of the time he was in France. He was, like, hanging out around Versailles, trying to meet people and get introductions. So she was left to raise the eight children by herself. And because she's always speaking Italian, Napoleon didn't even learn French until he was 9. Napoleon's family wasn't exactly poor, especially by Corsican standards. His mother had come to the marriage with a very sizable dowry, although they were very, very frugal. Napoleon was educated first at a Jesuit school. Yay, Jesuits, that's me. The graduate of Loyola at 10. Again, very similar to Rose. He was accepted to a military school in France proper and went away to school. His father kind of just dropped him off there and went out to Versailles to go see if he could hang out with the king and Marie Antoinette, leaving Napoleon at a very dreary, very understaffed military school. And there he was, a very small boy with an oddly shaped body. He kind of looked a little bit like this. Sounds so mean. A weeble. You know, heavier on the bottom, smaller on the top. He had a heavy Italian accent. His whole package was a bully target. He struggled not only socially, but in all of his classes, except for math, which was very good because at 14, he was chosen on a scholarship to attend an elite program just for mathematics at the L'Cole Royale Militaire in Paris. Okay, this was better. There was meals served by waiters. There was lots of staff. There were luxe accommodations, probably because most of the student body were sons of aristocrats. Napoleon hated that he had to take the social classes like dance. He was horrible at it. And again, he wasn't very popular. He was antagonistic, and he had a defensive attitude. His graduation report called him, quote, capricious, proud, and extremely egotistical. That tracks. He did graduate early, very near the bottom of his class, and he joined the army as a second lieutenant. His father at this point had passed away, and Napoleon, as the eldest son, took on the responsibility of financially supporting his family, first in Corsica and then in France when the Corsican governor got very upset with the family and exiled them. Napoleon was off to a very good start in the military. He kind of started to lean into the politics of it. He was promoted to a general, but his temper stalled out his progress. He was desperate to make introductions to anyone who could advance his career. But fancy doors kept getting slammed in the face of this increasingly disheveled and depressed man. He even, for a time, tried being a novelist in Paris and failed at that. But one of the people he met during his active military time had been impressed by him, by his drive and by his intelligence, and took him under his wing. This man introduced Napoleon around. He put him at the big boys table. And when this man was appointed commander in chief of the leading governing party after the Reign of Terror, he appointed Napoleon to his job. This man, of course, was Paul Barras, who was also supporting Rose. At first. Napoleon's like, oh, no, no, she is your woman. I will not. And he said, no, please, go for it. Pursue her. That's the woman that you need by your side to get farther in your career. To Napoleon, Rose embodied everything he had fantasized for his whole life. He knew that she was the key to unlocking the social acceptance that would make him his greatest desire and that was to be, quote, wholly French. And Rose paid him attention. Lots of women didn't. He had really bad posture. He had messed up hair. His uniform was always wrinkled. He had beady eyes. He still had that heavy Italian accent. And he delivered brusque comments and dirty jokes. And Rose, unlike all the other women that he had been meeting, paid him attention, and he loved it. He had had relationships, but he had never felt this way about a woman before. And she became his focus. Now. He did have a woman at the time who he considered himself engaged to, and she definitely did. And while her name was Desiree, he called her by her middle name, which nobody else did, which was Eugenie. And now he did the same thing for Rose. When he found out that her name was Marie Joseph Rose. He liked the Joseph. So he started calling her Josephine. And she said, okay, that's fine.
- [44:03]
Host 2
That'll work.
- [44:04]
Host 1
So now is the time. We are changing Rose to Josephine. For her part, she really was non committal. She thought she could do better, even though Paul Barras was telling her, no, this is the guy for you. You guys are gonna help each other. He's becoming a very powerful man. He's making money now. You need him by your side. And he seems to be very attracted to you. There's chemistry between the two of you. When Josephine stopped playing hard to get and invited Napoleon into her bed, he was done for. Napoleon's letters are the things that legends are made of. They're available, although his handwriting was atrocious and his spelling was even worse. But the content of them was something. You need to read the letters. Here's one. After their first night together, he wrote, I wake up filled with thoughts of you, your image and the intoxicating pleasures of last night allow my senses no rest. Sweet, thrilling Josephine, what strange power you have over my heart. Are you annoyed with me? Are you unhappy? Are you upset? My soul is broken with grief. And my love for you denies me repose. And how can I rest anymore when I submit to the feeling that overwhelms my very self? When I drink from your lips, from your heart, a soothing flame. Yes. One night has taught me how short your portrait falls. Short of the reality. You start at noon. In three hours, I shall see you again. Till then, a thousand kisses, mio dulce amore. But give me none back, for they shall set my soul on fire. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. I've never gotten a letter like that from anybody. And I'm married. He started thinking, I need to marry her. And he kind of began A full court press, of course. Josephine was worried that she was giving up her independence for yet another military man with a strong personality. Was he gonna do to her exactly what Alexandra did and make her life miserable? She kept asking her friends, should I be with him? Should I be with him? And they were like, I don't know, honey. She asked her kids. And Hortense was 13 at this time, and she wasn't really crazy about Napoleon. She's like, I don't know, Mom. Maybe not. But Josephine very quickly agreed to marry him. The wedding itself was not a big party. It was held in a building being used as a town hall. Very dingy. She wore her favorite muslin gown. And he was late, very late. The few guests that were there milled about. Josephine fretted for two hours before he showed up. Kind of like, oh, sorry, honey, I was working on military plans. Let's get this thing going. You know, like, okay, now on the legal documents of the marriage. Because Josephine was six years older than he was, they both did a little fancy math. Josephine skimmed four years off her age, dropping her to almost 29. And he boosted his by 18 months to 28. So now they're very close in age. Sure they are. That's Bonaparte math right there. Josephine has a very, very good relationship with her children. Both of her children, they adore her. They are very concerned about her with her new husband. But Napoleon adored them. He was all in for being a stepfather. And their first night of wedded bliss. They went to get into bed, and somebody else wasn't very fond of him. Josephine's pug fortune bit him when he tried to get into bed with his wife. And the next day he was gone. So much for a honeymoon.
- [47:49]
Host 2
So long.
- [47:50]
Host 1
I have to storm Italy. Of course, that's when the letters began. They're famous for these letters back and forth. Hers were never enough for him. She was not a big letter writer. He was pouring his heart out, just creating these epic letters. And she writes back like, oh, I love you, too. Bye bye. You know, he was greedy. He wanted more words from her. But Josephine, back in Paris, the wife of a celebrated and victorious general, was extremely sought after socially. She really was having a blast. She stepped right into that role. She didn't really have a whole lot of time to keep up this correspondence that he wanted. And Josephine, she had, in his absence, also taken a young lover, who, when she finally acquiesced and went down to visit him in Italy, he came along for the ride. He was a soldier, so having a military Escort was just part of the package of being who she was. And he was there with her, next to her, in bed with her. The scenario that happens when she finally goes down to visit him is kind of one that will happen again and again and again. She's going to visit him while he's on campaign in Italy. She is celebrated the entire way. Nobles are throwing her balls. People are giving her jewels. She's invited to everybody's house. She ends up staying at a palace. When Napoleon can finally break free of his responsibilities, he goes finally to visit his bride, and she's not there. She's out on the town with her boy toy. He didn't want to believe that she was being unfaithful. And when she did show up, she threw herself at his feet. She cried and wailed and said he was the only man for her and he would forgive her over and over again. This happens while Napoleon is out on campaign. He's at war in Italy. He's at war in France. He's at war in Austria. Josephine was able to spend some time with Napoleon's family. You know, the people that he bankrolled into a very comfortable life. Let's just say they were not fans of Josephine. His mother, Letizia, did not want Napoleon to marry her. She thought that Josephine was too old. She was a widow. She already had two children. And in Italian, she's calling her very bad names because she knows her reputation. Everybody knows her reputation. Finally, after spending 18 months in Milan, the couple is finally able to get back home to Paris. Although she really dragged her heels getting back because she was with her paramour. Okay, I want to like you, Josephine. I adore you for living the life you want to live. I adore you for finding opportunities and seizing them. I adore you for enjoying life to the level that you live it. However, she's stalling to get back to her husband because she's with her boyfriend. When she finally gets to Napoleon's side, he's got a list of all the things that she's charged and saying, what is this? Again, she throws herself at his feet, asks for his mercy, tells him how expensive it is being his wife, and again, he forgave her.
- [51:22]
Host 2
Missing out on a show that everyone's talking about is not usually an option for me. I'm. So I go out and I sign up for whatever streaming service it is for that one, and then a few months later, I see a notification. I'm like, oh, hey, I'm still paying for that. And there's nothing else there that I'm watching. It's just clicking over and getting. Rocket Money was a game changer. They will find your unwanted subscriptions and even help you cancel them so you never again have to worry about things slipping through the cracks.
- [51:56]
Host 1
I was shocked when I first started using Rocket Money to see all the subscriptions that I was just blindly paying for. Like, I didn't even use that. I didn't even realize I still had that. Am I going through my every single account? I guess not. But Rocket Money does it for me. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions. It monitors your spending, and it helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.
- [52:23]
Host 2
Evidently, 85% of people have at least one paid subscription that they are not using and they're still paying for every month.
- [52:31]
Host 1
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- [52:50]
Host 2
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- [53:24]
Host 1
HistoryChicks RocketMoney.com HistoryChicks as the years slowly moved on, they weren't able to spend a lot of time together. But when they were together, she should have gotten pregnant. At this point, it was beginning to be a problem. He was fond of her. He was fond of her children. He adopted them. In his heart, they adored him. So it was a good relationship. But he wanted to have a son of his own. Because she had two children, he assumed that the problem was him and the honeymoon at this point is over. They still have a very volatile and passionate relationship. But for Napoleon's part, he decided, you know what? It's time for me to take a mistress. And he did. So, you know, they both have their side pieces. So we have the growing concern that she's not getting pregnant. We have his continued advancement in his career. He is highly celebrated. Of course, so is she. She thinks that they need to have a show place, a home worthy of this great man of France. Josephine falls in love with an estate just outside of paris called Malmaison. 150 acres of woodlands and meadows and vineyards and livestock and a large if run down manor house. Josephine saw it as a place, a home that her husband can come home to and re fall in love with her every time he walks in the door. Josephine agreed to purchase the property. But when Napoleon returned from his campaign in Egypt, he wasn't really happy. First off, because, oh, guess what, she's not there. She knew he was coming home and she's out gallivanting somewhere. He was so mad that he had the staff pack up all her stuff and essentially put it on the front yard. They had an epic drag out. When she got back, he really was ready to divorce her for infidelity and for lying to him. She wept and wept and again threw herself at his feet. But this time, Napoleon said, I'm not giving in. It was hours and hours. And finally, Eugene and Hortense pleaded with their stepfather. Yeah, it might have been a little bit of emotional blackmail. You know, they're like, please don't throw us out. We are orphans and our father, he died for this country and you're gonna throw us out on the street. And that's what melted Napoleon's heart and he took Josephine back once again. They never stopped loving each other, but she also never stopped overspending and he never stopped bailing her out. Josephine kept working on Malmaison and eventually it was the place that she had imagined. It was a place she and Napoleon could be happy. She set out to make the place the showplace. She wanted the most beautiful gardens in all of Europe. She had exotic plants imported. She had an orange rebuilt that had 300 pineapple plants. She had a greenhouse that was heated by coal burning stoves to curate and cultivate plants. She had this vision of plants all over France that had been cultivated in her greenhouse. Oh, speaking of gardens, it's often talked about Josephine's love of roses and how many roses she had. And numbers vary from 190 to 250 varieties of roses from all over the world. When Napoleon was out, he would bring back plants for her. Napoleon wasn't crazy about this, but she did have horticulturists in London who imported plants for her. She loved the English gardens and that's what she built up all around this property. But the myth of the roses is very curious. There are extensive lists of the type of plants that were grown at Malmaison during Josephine's lifetime. But there are not a lot of roses listed on that list. At one point, she had an artist come in to catalog and paint and document all of her plants. He had other horticultural drawings of roses, but they were not from Malmaison. This is fact. She had a menagerie. People came to visit her just to see the animals. She had them roaming about the property. I'm talking kangaroos and in emus, black swans, zebras, llamas. She even had a pet orangutan named Rose. There's the rose. So Josephine has developed the home that she always wanted and dreamed of. People are visiting her. She's very social. They're throwing balls. And Napoleon is very happy to come home to his wife as he's climbing the power ladder. When Josephine was 36, for realsies, 36, not her shaved off age, Napoleon's power within the French government was really cemented. That meant that Josephine's power as a hostess, as a figure in the social life of France was also cemented. The government of France had always kind of been adapting since the revolution, trying to find something that really, really worked. But Napoleon had been playing politics as well as winning battles. He was a very powerful figure in France. And what he was able to do essentially was stage a coup d'etat and take the governing body, which was called the Directory, out and install a three person consulate. He, Napoleon, was number one consul, and the other two guys were essentially figureheads. He was the brains, he was the power. He had all the allies working for him. And within a couple of years, he essentially got rid of the other two. There was an election, of course, but it was a very carefully controlled one. For instance, everybody in the military who voted obviously was voting for Napoleon. So they didn't even bother to ask them. That's the kind of election it was. And he had packed the government and influential positions all over the country with all of his supporters. So it was really not a huge leap for him to get them to elect him as emperor for life. Now, an emperor, they said, is not a king. We got rid of that whole system of government years ago. This is an emperor, huh? And he's an emperor for life. Oh, okay. So this is different. Absolutely. Napoleon as emperor for life. When he dies, it goes to his heirs. It goes down through the family lines of Napoleon. How is that? That's just different. Oh, okay. I don't see it. So there was a new constitution written by Napoleon and his bros, and essentially it was a dictatorship. There were other People in government. But Napoleon was calling all the shots. It looked like a republic. It acted like a dictatorship. So when Josephine was 41, with the Pope in attendance at Notre Dame Cathedral, he was not conducting the whole ceremony. Napoleon, who is in charge of everything, puts an emperor's crown on his own head. And then he turned and put one on Josephine's Emperor and Empress Bonaparte. Now the pressure for him to have a son was even greater. And after 14 years of marriage, Josephine was in her mid-40s. There's not going to be any children coming. And when Napoleon's mistress had a son by him, he realized, oh, it's not me, is it? Why couldn't Josephine have children? There's a lot of theories out there. Obviously, we don't know the absolute fact. Because of her activities, she may have contracted an STD that made her infertile. Her time in prison, her health took a major, major hit, even though it was only in three months. It may have put her into early menopause is another theory that's floating around out there. But she couldn't have children any more children. She had never had children with any of those lovers that she had in her lifetime. It must have been somewhere along the line there that something happened. Napoleon had arranged a marriage between his brother and Josephine's daughter, Hortense. They had a son who was technically Napoleon's heir. But at the age of four, he died of croup. And that was really what set Napoleon off, that he needed to find himself a wife who could deliver a child. He actually said, I just need to marry a womb. He went to Josephine. They had several long, drawn out talks, and basically she tearfully acquiesced and said, for France, I will divorce you. Of course I will. It's for my country. This is the sacrifice I can make. That was the public statement. Inside, she was fearful of what was going to happen to her. Their annulment ceremony in 1810 had more spectators than their actual wedding did. Both of them had prepared statements that they read. According to observers, Josephine acted with grace and tact. She was crying. I mean, she was heartbroken. She was scared. They had prepared statements that they read. Josephine only got halfway through hers before she just melted into tears. She wrote, with the permission of my dear and august husband, I, I proudly offer him the greatest proof of attachment and devotion ever given to a husband on earth, meaning her divorce, that she's giving up her husband for France. She couldn't go on. Somebody had to finish it for her. But she had written, the Emperor will Always be my dearest love. I know how much this act, demanded by politics and wider interest, has crushed his heart. That night she went to him in his room. She fell into bed and hugged him and he hugged her back. He said, alons, dear Josephine, I will always be your friend. And they wept together. They cried. And then she left and went to her own room. He wanted her out of Paris first, but she wanted no part of that. He told her that she could keep the title of Empress. She would retain Malmaison, her beloved home, for herself. She was also given another palace in Paris. She received an allowance of 3 million francs. He also made sure that she had all the help she needed. There were 36 attendants, nine ladies in waiting, four ladies of the bedchamber, a doctor, a knight of honor. He gave her gifts upon the divorce. And he's basically telling her things aren't going to change between the two of us just because we're not married, right? As for the woman that he was going to marry, his family had debated it for quite some time. They knew that he needed to marry someone from a royal house in Europe. And which bride was available? Which alliance would be the most beneficial for France, for Napoleon, for everything. So three months after their annulment, Napoleon married 19 year old Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. She is the great granddaughter of our old friend Maria Theresa. And within a year, she gave birth to a son. They named him Napoleon Francois Joseph Charles Bonaparte, Napoleon ii, also the King of Rome. Yeah, it's a lot of things to put on a little kid's head also. What's happening around this time. Napoleon had always said that Josephine was his good luck charm, that he was winning because he had her on his side, that it was with her that he had power to accomplish everything he had. Maybe that was true because he's losing his battle mojo. And when his troops really got spanked in a serious defeat in Russia four years after their annulment, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to the island of Elba. A year later, he did stage a comeback tour, but was defeated in the famous Battle of Waterloo and Belgium, which resulted in a permanent exile to an even more remote island in the South Atlantic called Saint Helene. But our story's about Josephine. She adapted to life as a divorcee. Annulment A. I don't know what we're calling her as the ex wife of the Emperor, still the Empress. Technically, she traveled a bit, but home was Malmaison. And Napoleon at the beginning did stay in touch quite frequently. He would come by proclaiming his love to her. He'd leave and she'd just be in tears again and was fairly inconsolable. At one point, it was said that she was crying so much and so hard that she ruined her eyesight. And eventually, Napoleon's new wife really wasn't crazy about him hanging out so much with his ex. She said things like, ugh, how can he want to see that old lady? And a woman of low birth, girl, you have no idea what that woman's been through in her life. To get to where she is, she did not stop spending. She did a lot of retail therapy. She also collected art and she kept working at her gardens. Horticulture is really the thing that she gave us. You know, the gardens at Malmaison, for instance, were copied all over France. And the plants that she was cultivating there or she was having cultivated did indeed travel all over. And this is going to be me bragging, but guess who gets to go to Malmaison in April?
- [68:11]
Host 2
Mm.
- [68:11]
Host 1
This chick. Yeah, sorry. She had grandchildren and they loved going to Grandma's house. Cause it was so fun. It was a magical place. And they could run and they could watch all the animals. I mean, come on. Whose grandmother has zebras? Nobodies. She did attract attention, not of the romantic kind. But Tsar Alexander of Russia befriended her and they had a correspondence and he visited her several times, which Napoleon was not crazy about because, remember, his downfall began with the defeats in Russia. So he's not a big fan of Tsar Alexander. But Josephine was the last time that he visited. The weather was lousy, but she wanted him to see the gardens and he wanted to see them. So they went out and walked the gardens, despite it being crappy weather and despite her having a cold. Now her health over the years is starting to weaken. It was never great since she got out of prison, but it's deteriorating at this point and she's becoming very fragile. She spiked a fever before the evening was over and was put to bed. She was in that bed for six days. Every day she was getting weaker and weaker. Her breathing was becoming really troubled. On May 29, she had her attendants dress her in a pink morning. That's M O r N I N g robe. Like a robe, a pinoisette, probably, something like that. She made sure that they gave her her rubies to wear. She needed to have her jewels and look good. She hugged her children. She muttered something to them that they just didn't understand. A priest came by to give her last rites and an hour after that, on May 29, 1814, Josephine Bonaparte died of pneumonia. She was just shy of 51 years old. She lay in state at Malmaison and 20,000 people came by to pay their respects over three days. She's buried at the Church of St Pierre St Paul in Roue, Malmaison, France, about a year after her death. That Napoleon had that great defeat in Waterloo and he was sent to exile. Six years later, he died from what they believed to have been stomach cancer. Napoleon's last words before he died were la France, l'armee, tete d'armee, Josephine, France, the army, head of the army, and Josephine. In 1911, at Malmaison, those roses appeared. That's maybe why we think of them so much. 197 roses at Malmaison were planted in her honor. And of course, there is a rose named after her. It is a very deep pink. And thus ends the life of Josephine Bonaparte. And now let's talk about media. There are a lot of biographies out there about Josephine and about Napoleon and about Napoleon and Josephine. The two that I like the best. The first is the Rose of A Life of Napoleon's Josephine by Andrea Stewart and Ambition and the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate Williams. If I had to pick one of them for you to read, they were both very readable. The styles are different, of course. Information's very similar, so I'm going to cop out and not recommend one over the other. Just pick one. If you're into letters, you can also read their letters. Here's one. Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, edited by Henry Hall. For those of you who might say something like, tell me about the French Revolution, but talk to me like I'm five. There is the French Revolution Explained to kids by Keith Goodman. There is also a lot, a lot, a lot of information out there. We'll link you to some websites that have lots of information about the French Revolution, the reasons behind it, the battles, the breakdowns. There's a lot of information that I just couldn't cover today about Maximilien Robespierre, for instance. And I didn't talk as much about Napoleon, obviously, as I could have. And we really never go into battles and stuff. So if that's your thing, I'll try to link you up to some sites on our show Notes that might scratch that itch for you. If you happen to be going to Paris, like, oh, ha ha, we are sorry, that was really obnoxious. Malmaison, her home is now a museum and you can visit it. And we are it's on our itinerary for April. I'm very excited about that. The sugar plantation where she was born and lived for her childhood, Domain de la Pagerie on Martinique, is also a museum, and I'll link up to their website. I don't know that we're going to all be going to Martinique anytime soon, but it seems to have a emphasis, thankfully, I think, on the enslaved people of the plantation and of Martinique. So I think that was interesting. Just even if you're virtually touring it online, Horrible Histories does have a couple Horrible Histories does have a couple that relate to this subject. Naughty Napoleon and Ridiculous Romantics, which I will be happy to link you up to. Because who doesn't like a good horrible history as far as movies go, there is Napoleon. This is Ridley Scott's 2023 movie. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby, who we have all seen as the young Princess Margaret in the Crown in the first season of the Crown. But you know what? She's also in a Marvel movie coming out this year, the Fantastic Four the First Steps. I'm kind of excited about that because I personally love Marvel movies. Anyway, this movie, Napoleon, did indeed really earn that R rating. I'm kind of surprised it didn't get a higher warning because there is a lot of violence, there is a lot of sex, and it is definitely not even on the borderline of being an R. It is firmly in that territory. It's on Apple tv, if you're interested. But just a warning. The very first scene is a very graphic depiction of Marie Antoinette's final moments, and there are many more just like that throughout the movie. So if you don't like your gore, I would take a pass on this one. And that'll conclude my coverage of the life of Josephine Bonaparte. It is the dry season. 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Glow up with clean, clinically tested skincare from osea. Right now we have a special discount just for our listeners. Get 10% off your first order site wide with chicks@oseamalibu.com O S E A M A L I B U.com using the code chicks for 10% off your first order sitewide O Siya.
- [76:47]
Host 2
And now on to Empress Eugenie, or if you are American, Eugenie. Both pronounced differently than the British princess of the same name. And it's very complicated. I was even going through British sites covering her wedding and even they had to practice. So once we get to France, I'm going to devolve back to Eugenie so that I'm not pretending to have the tornado, you know, burrito type of voice. And I want to be respectful. But first, let's place her in history. In 1853, US President Franklin Pierce signed the Gadsden Purchase, buying almost 30,000 square miles from Mexico for $10 million. That area of the country is now southern Arizona and New Mexico. Central park in New York City was created when the New York State legislature put aside more than 750 acres of land on Manhattan island for that purp. Cincinnati became the first United States city to employ full time professional firefighters. In Saratoga Springs, New York, African American chef George Crum might have been goaded by an irritating customer who demanded thinner and thinner slices of potato into creating the Saratoga chip, also known as the potato chip. Queen Victoria asked John Snow to administer chloroform during the delivery of Leopold, her eighth child. This led directly to wider acceptance of anesthesia during childbirth. Born this year, Alva Vanderbilt, Belmont, Vincent van Gogh and industrialist Andre Michelin, he of the Michelin tires and restaurant guides, died this year. Edward John Dent, the British clockmaker who was commissioned to make Big Ben and Tabitha Babbitt, credited for having invented the circular saw, whose name is really, really fun to say. And in January 1953, a relatively obscure Spanish noblewoman married the emperor of France and became a star. Maria Eugenia Ignatia Augustina de Palafox E. Kirkpatrick was born on May 5, 1826 in Granada, Spain, the youngest of the two daughters of Don Cipriano de Palafox y Porto Carrero, which I cannot roll my R's properly for. I'd love to hear your pronunciation of it. And Maria Manuela Henriquetta Kirkpatrick e Grivinj Mama, who went by her second name Manuela, was the daughter of quite an interesting man. Once upon a time, a younger son of a Scottish baronet had made his way to Spain and his descendants had established a wide ranging merchant empire there. In fact, family lore says they're the ones that helped James Busby get all the grapes to Australia in the first place. So if you're a fan of Australian wine, raise one to this family now. By no less a personage than George Washington, Grandpapa was named American consul to Spain. But at the time our story opens, Grandpapa was an extremely successful wine exporter and wholesaler based in Malaga, and his lovely daughters helped him in his business. Grandpa's third daughter was considered to be the most attractive and charming in the family and 100% turned on the megawatt attention to her father's most noble of clients, Cipriano de Palafox y Porto Carrero. The art didn't get better. Don Cipriano had been a supporter of the reign of Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. Napoleon. The OG Napoleon had put his brother Joseph in as king, deposing the quote rightful king Ferdinand vii. Papa Don Cipriano was known as an afrancesado. It began by being a term just really like a descriptive one. People that liked to live in a French way, they admired French style and food, etc. But gradually it became more of a political term for a person who had collaborated with the French authorities during the occupation of Spain by Napoleon's armies, or members of the upper classes who thought that the more liberal reforms of Napoleon were preferable to the strict hierarchy of the existing Spanish court. A lot of the upper class really preferred French rule or French style of rule. There were a lot of afrancesados around. Don Cipriano had even lost an eye in battle while fighting on the occupiers side. And even after the French pulled out, he was on the side of a reform toward constitutional monarchy at a time in which the king wanted to be an absolute ruler and was urgently pushing society in that direction. Papa was a frequent customer of Grandpapa's and was the second son of a noble family with vast holdings. Contemporaries do not give him the favor of a very attractive appearance, though he did have a macho eyepatch. Situation going on thanks to that previous battle. But to an ambitious young woman, his biggest advantage was that his older brother had no children. Honestly, that seems very cold to me. But when your marriage is a financial decision and that's your only career opportunity, maybe you have to be a little more clear headed. And her quest was ultimately successful. He proposed marriage, but based on his family's rank as grandees, or as they would say in Spain, grand de Espana. Papa actually had to get permission from the sovereign in order to marry. Interesting. The sovereign he was not exactly in good with. Not all nobles were grandees. This was in is still another sort of layer of nobility, distinguished at this time by the fact that the Spanish monarch would address these people as cousins. So you're very, very close to the ruler. Well, the king's cousins had to mind their p's and q's when it came to marriage. And then in order to do this, they had to provide proof of mama's nobility. And this was duly excavated. Her paternal line went all the way back to the 800s with land grants and powerful rulers and warriors. And so the two were married. Their oldest daughter, known by the family as Paca, was born in 1825, followed by their second and last child, Eugenia in 1826. It would have been smooth upper class sailing had the children not been born in interesting political times. The Spanish king Ferdinand Fernando VII is sometimes considered one of the most vicious kings in Spanish history. Cowardly, selfish, grasping, suspicious and vengeful, his critics said he had no consideration at all for his subjects in particular, nor the country as a whole, unless you were a member of his inner circle. You know how monarchs are given names like Catherine the Great or Richard the Lionheart. Well, Ferdinand VII is known as El Rey Felon, which translates as the Criminal King. King Ferdinand had no legitimate male heirs, and we have seen time after time the chaos that causes. And in May 1830, Ferdinand VII published the Pragmatic Sanction. Sounds familiar if you've heard our Maria Theresa podcast again. Allowing daughters to succeed to the Spanish throne as well as sons, and reinstating the opportunity for daughters to inherit the titles of their fathers if there were no Sons. On October 10, 1830, Ferdinand's fourth wife, the second of his wives who were also his nieces, Yarg, gave birth to a daughter, Isabella, who thereupon, of course, with the previous rule, displaced her Uncle Carlos in the line of succession. But King Ferdinand died only three years later, leaving an almost three year old girl as his heir. And Uncle Carlos and supporters of Carlos jumped in immediately, asserting his right to the throne. I mean, he'd been the heir presumptive for a very long time. While Queen Maria Christina, as regent for her baby daughter, turned to the men of Papa's political bent, her late husband's enemies, many who had had to flee to safe haven in France to escape prosecution. They were promised concessions to make Spain a constitutional monarchy. She issued a decree of amnesty and critics who had been in exile returned. And civil war broke out. After the death of Hoppa's elder brother, Eugenia's father inherited the family titles, which were extensive. A dukedom, seven marquisets, and he was now a count eight times over and a grandee multiple times over, because three or four, I can't remember, of those titles came with the subsidiary title of grandee. He's a powerful man. Just after Eugenia's eighth birthday, the war came very close to home. In the square, right outside the house, there was a giant uprising which ended in a G rated podcast. Let's just say a gentleman was taken to pieces by the crowd and the family saw it all. And Mama, being no slouch in the seeing the warning signs department, she took her children and left for France the very next day. The girls were enrolled in school in Paris, first at a very traditional convent school and then on to a more progressive school. You have to find the right fit. She was called an indifferent student, but her teachers praised her character and her general popularity. Mama thought it was important for her daughters to be fluent in English and to that effect sent them to a school in Bristol, which is a port city in England, where, I'm sorry to say, Eugenia was the target of bullies for her accent and also for her red hair. Again, just like Anne of Green Gables, we have a young girl with red hair being tormented by being called the word carrots. I am so interested to know if anyone who grew up with red hair was ever called carrots. And if so, did it upset you this badly? Because Eugenia was so upset by the taunting that she stole away from school and stowed away in a ship that was bound for India. And they almost didn't find her in time, but luckily she was retrieved. I honestly don't know what they would have done had the ship set sail. I really don't know. That's terrifying to me. Maman naturally disapproved of the supervision at this Bristol school, the substandard nature of it, and brought her children back to Paris, where she instead hired English women just to instruct them at home. You've had enough school. Your grace must carry you through the rest of your life. All right. Well, Mama was quite the socialite, having noted salons at the house where titans of literature and thought were often present. But when Eugenia was 12, Papa died in Madrid, a man they'd scarcely seen in all the years they'd been away. Pacca, as the older sister, inherited the majority of Papa's titles. But Eugenia became the Countess of Teba later. And, you know, most popularly she would be referred to as Eugenia of Montejo or Eugenie of Montejo, but that's one of Papa's titles that came down to Paca and in fact was passed on to Paca's son. So I don't know, but maybe Montijo is higher ranked, or certainly more fun to say. The palace of Versailles website actually says that Montijo is the title, and I quote, by which she is incorrectly known today. That is to say, though she was often, even during her lifetime before her marriage, referred to as Eugenie of Montejo. There you go. Following a pattern that had been established in childhood, Eugenia was athletic, she was brave, she was a daring horsewoman, exuberant in personality, an excellent conversationalist due to who she was exposed to at home. And she was growing beautiful with her striking red hair. Mama was gathering a bit of a reputation for gathering man friends about her in order to gain access to the courts and to the higher echelons of society. Again, I say use what you have. What are the career are we aiming for? She used the influence she had over the Prime Minister to receive an appointment in the household of Queen Isabella. But she was very, very careful about her daughter's reputations. And as they grew up, both very beautiful, everyone called them the little countesses. That is what they were. Very similar to many other mothers we've talked about. Her main objective was to obtain for her daughters a respectable marriage, preferably at a young age. To avoid problems, she once asked a nobleman of her acquaintance to get his appropriately aged son to introduce her daughters into the young set at court. And this young man, I assure you, he had a lot of titles. In fact, he ended up being an advisor to Queen Isabella. He became a very, very powerful man, but everyone at this point just called him Pepe. Well, Pepe fell in love with older sister Paco and it broke Eugenia's heart. And she Here's a warning. S U I C I D E. I'm going to give it a second for you to get to the button. She tried to Kill herself with poison. Specifically crushing up phosphorus matches and drinking them in a glass of milk. She tried again, same methodology. After a different romantic entanglement went awry. Both of the men in question had been in love with her older sister, who had a more conventional temperament. A couple of the books I read attribute this to young girl's reading of overly romanticized literature or the unsympathetic nature of her mother toward people's emotions. You know, who's to say? But it was a very dramatic and alarming series of episodes right here in her mid teens. People really did not understand her, I think, and she was a little too fiery for people and I. It was noticed that she had not the feminine charm of her sister. Her comparatively virile nature, her high and critical temper, her masculine freedom of energy, her decided mind and the touchiness of her nerves made too strong a contrast to the contemporary ideal of clinging, devoted womanly passion which survived even among the Amazons of Spain. It was noticed that that her mood was often difficile, her manners independent, that she had a talent for caricature and she seemed so little disposed either to love or to be loved that in spite of her vivacity and her power to attract admiration, she was not generally popular in her own country. I mean, that's very harsh. And also most of what he said I wouldn't take as an insult, would you? No. She just was born in the wrong era or the wrong place. Likely as a result of these disappointments in love and also increasing trouble between her mother and Queen Isabella, who was starting to take notice and disapprove of her mother's exploits. She possessed lovers galore and had a most delightful habit of kidnapping any male biped whose society she wished to enjoy. It would appear to be the best way. It seems the most practical and saves a most lamentable waste of time. Saucy Eugenia became increasingly devout and at one point she'd actually considered becoming a nun. The disappointments of her forays into the world of romance being so dashed, her hopes for an equal match so dim. But they the convent dissuaded her and said she did not have the temperament for that profession either, though she would be a staunch Catholic for her entire life. Around this time, an eligible and entitled Englishman once offered her marriage, but she turned it down because he was a Protestant. Paca married a Duke in 1844 and was safely off her hands. And Eugenia's mother began to despair as her second daughter left her teens. An unmarried woman, Eugenia was very Interested in politics, particularly interested in what was happening in France. Tumultuous as it was, one of her companions had actually been a mistress of one of Napoleon's brothers. And it was through that peek behind the curtain that Eugenia became knowledgeable and then sort of obsessed, like a picture on your locker way devoted to the Bonapartist cause, that of restoring the sweeping all powerful monarch situation instead of this weak sauce, whatever this was that was happening in Paris. Paraphrasing here. Well, the year Eugenia turned 22, the government of France was in turmoil. Honestly, ever since the revolution that engulfed Marie Antoinette, France has really never been stable for very long. With one clear exception that you just heard about Napoleon the first, although I don't know that I would call him stable on a worldwide stage. In 1832 there had been widespread protest against the installation of King Louis Philippe. In fact, that's the basis for Les Mis. And so here we are the year Eugenia turned 22 at the other end of King Louis Philippe's Reign. During the February 1848 revolution, King Louis Philippe abdicated in favor of his nine year old grandson Philippe, Comte de Paris, and fled to England in disguise. Well, the national assembly initially planned to accept young Philippe as king, but public opinion was very strongly, no more kings. And so right after that, the second Republic was proclaimed and Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, grandson of the Josephine Bonaparte you just heard about through her daughter, also the nephew of Napoleon I. Yes. I'm not sure how clearly Susan explained that in part one, but Josephine's daughter from her first marriage marry Napoleon's brother. They had a child. This is he. It's not as circular as the Habsburgs, but we're getting there. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected President in December that year. A cynical examination of the votes will reveal that the newly enfranchised peasant class saw a recognizable name in the word Napoleon. I don't really know. There are people who have spent their entire careers analyzing this phenomenon. But our friend Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected by a sweepingly large margin and was significantly the most eligible bachelor in Europe. And what's more, he knew it. When she was a child, Eugenia had actually met the man who was now the President of France. She was a little girl wearing violets in her beautiful red hair and had made quite an impression, but it was a fleeting thing. But as an adult, Eugenia first met Prince Louis Napoleon with her mother at a reception given by the, quote, prince president, that's what everyone was calling him at the elyse palace in 1849 when she was 23. Over the course of their subsequent meetings, I think knowing the reputation of her mother, he thought he was going to try his usual shenanigans of offering valuables and then his valuable self on the altar of love, etc. But Eugenia was not playing that game. In fact, she and her mama went on a little tour of Europe and then over to witness the Great Exhibition in London. And it was with great interest that they read that the prince president had pulled off a coup d'etat. Under the second Republic's constitution. The president was only supposed to have one single term, no, not acceptable to him. And he'd been laying the groundwork for some time, gathering loyal members of the army to him, carefully replacing members of his cabinet with people that were loyal to him only. And on the night of December 1, 1851, he dissolved the assembly, the legislature, had all the party leaders arrested, and summoned a new assembly to prolong his term of office for 10 years. He already had people in place to scatter the resistance leaders or to arrest them in their homes. Further resistance that was organized by the Republicans within Paris under Victor Hugo was soon subdued by soldiers that had been placed strategically. The more serious resistance out in the country was crushed by declaring, we're in a state of siege and capitalizing on the fear of the common people. And he soon declared himself president for life, and followed this coup by a period of repression and vengeance against his opponents. About 26,000 people were arrested. Strict press censorship was enacted by a decree months later. No newspaper that dealt with political or social questions could be published without the permission of the government. The list of press offenses kept expanding, kind of like the educational decrees that kept appearing when Professor Umbridge was nailing them on the wall in Harry Potter. After three warnings, a newspaper could be suspended or even permanently closed in retaliation. Looking around, Louis Napoleon wanted to legitimize his takeover. And he wanted to prove to the world, this is him talking, that his actions were based on the wishes of his people. And so there was a national referendum. Do you agree with the actions that Louis Napoleon has taken with regard to control of the country? And there was enormous voter intimidation, threats to publish your name, which way you voted, if you chose not to vote, anything you had said in a public place, sometimes in your private home. And naturally, there was an overwhelming agreement, under duress, with the actions that Napoleon had taken. There was a similarly lopsided vote for the legislature, with all the money and threats of the French government being put behind candidates who were loyal only to Louis Napoleon. With the result that you'd expect. And yet a third vote with an absolutely ludicrous result of 97% of voters in France deciding this was a good idea, that Napoleon became emperor in 1852, the year Eugenie was 24. And I know that France had not been a country of rock solid stability for quite some time, but this ruthless disregard for safeguards and, you know, decorum is truly shocking to me. This whole time, you would think that Mama and Eugenia would be appalled by all this behavior, would be repelled by such avariciousness and gall. You would be incorrect. Okay, two of our staff members are actually cats. Those of you who have been with us a while know that Peep and Louise are vital members of our staff. And you know what? They should not eat processed food for every meal. And that's why Smalls has become our go to cat food in our house. You know, Peep and Louise are vital to my mental health, and I am vital to their physical health. And our next sponsor has made an important impact on both of the most important confidants I have right now in my house. Here's the thing that they love the most about Smalls. 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So I have to be honest with you. I have developed a cold in between the recording of Section One and Section Two. So I'm sorry for my creaky voice. It is barely coming out. I may rerecord this at a later time. Or maybe not. Let's see how it goes. Rather than being daunted by all the nefarious behavior I've just described, these monarchists, Eugenia and her mother thought that France was at last getting back on the rails. The rails of glamour, of power, of style. Just getting things back together in France. This was going to be the dynasty that was going to hold. Attractive Mama called in some favors, and Eugenia was reintroduced to the court of the new emperor by some respectable friends and dazzled the new emperor with her accomplishments and daring on horseback. She was very lucky that the first foray back into his company was a hunt. Because, you know, you could really make a splash if you were really good on a horse. And she was. And soon everybody noticed that anytime the young Countess Montijo was around, the emperor could not look at anyone else. I'm sorry to say that his devotion began to be sort of a joke among his male compatriots. There were literal bets Placed on, and I quote, the day she would give her all to the emperor. Gross, I know, so gross. But there was this overwhelming sentiment that she was competing for the position of mistress. He certainly had had mistresses before, by the gallon, just probably not the unit of measurement for mistresses. The prince himself thought so, and he openly told her mother so, so there'd be no chance that your daughter would ever be empress. And then to the daughter, he said that he had a lot to offer, though, otherwise, you know, wink, wink, you know what I'm here to tell you. Denial of services worked very well for Anne Boleyn. And, you know, maybe that was the example she was following. I'm not sure it was even that calculated sheer instinct or maybe previous experience with denied love or just plain old keeping on, keeping on. That kept her steadfast and firm against all of the gratuitous insults and all the pressure from everywhere. And a frustrated Napoleon finally asked her, what is the road to your heart through the chapel, sire? She answered, fair enough. The thought, of course, had been that Napoleon would make a dynastic marriage. It was kind of important to cement his place as a monarch. First among his choices were, in fact, his cousin Matilda, which seems classic royalty behavior. But when that didn't work out, he pitched a Russian princess, a Portuguese duchess, a sister of the king of Spain, a cousin of the king of Sweden. He even asked Queen Victoria if she would arrange a marriage for him with her cousin. But everybody was a little jumpy about the way he had gotten his crown. But as time went on, and not much time, really, Napoleon began to float the idea to his acquaintances and family about marrying Eugenia. I wish to marry a woman I know love and respect, he said. And it was a firm thumbs down from all and sundry, which, of course, for certain personalities is like fire under the pot. And he proposed. And quickly the French court became just like the court of Versailles when Marie Antoinette arrived, where everyone pretended to be so happy about the new bride, tap dancing for favors from her, when a few short months ago, they were placing bets about her downfall. Well, who had the last laugh? The papers were flooded with examples of her graciousness and charity, her noble upbringing, all those titles. Her father had really made an impression, just the sheer number of them, explanations of what a grandee of Spain was and how they were called cousin by the king of Spain. It was a giant PR campaign. Now, this began during the aftermath of the French Revolution, but in France, one needed to have a civil ceremony, which was the legal one. And then an optional religious ceremony that would happen afterward. This is still true, actually, in France. And Napoleon and Eugenie had a quiet civil ceremony. On January 29, 1853, they were married. However, the splendor of the religious ceremony they had afterward was full of shock and awe, with all the citizens of Paris lining the streets to try to catch a glimpse of the couple. The streets were decorated with banners, the streets were strewn with flowers, and the bride began to travel from the Elyse palace to the Tuileries. Her wedding gown had been a gift of the city of Liege, where one of her ancestors had come from. A white velvet gown with an overdress of lace woven in a pattern of violets. The first time they'd ever met, when she was a young girl, she'd been wearing violets in her hair, but on her hair this time she wore a wreath of orange blossoms thanks Queen Victoria. And a diamond crown thanks Empress Josephine. The Emperor joined her at the Tuileries and they went to Notre Dame for the ceremony. There was a hundred and one gun salute as they entered and all the bells of Paris rang out. Inside, the church was lit with thousands of candles. There were 500 musicians playing. And everywhere, flowers, curtains that are embroidered with Eugenie's name and all the dignitaries of France who were there to witness her triumph. That spectacle really set the standard for the rest of her reign. Eugenie's main objective during the beginning of her reign was to gain the love of the people of France. She and Napoleon were both pretty calculated about things like giving to charity and purposely making eye contact with people that came to see them on their travels. Genuine graciousness to the common people was kind of a modern phenomenon for a monarch. If you think about it, Empress Eugenie could be approached with petitions and often granted them out of her own funds. She really did bring back, especially in decor, the magnificence of Marie Antoinette's era. The sense that court was an ornament to the country and she the star of the court, as one Danish intellectual, a lovely named Mr. Bang, once wrote, quote, during this splendid period, Paris became more than ever a brilliant social arena. New names and celebrities springing up like mushrooms. Looking back upon it now, one is reminded of a juggler performance at the circus. The glittering balls fly about in bewildering numbers and seem to fill the whole air. The Second Empire seemed a complete restoration of the glories of the first. Truly, the richest legacy of greatness is the magic that lies in a name. Okay, so we can manipulate certain parts of our new empire. But true legitimacy was slow in coming. The old aristocracy had deep ties to the old system of royalty, of course. Very natural and also real. Kings and queens throughout the world couldn't really be expected to accept the new couple of France as equals. Think about the way they had acceded to the throne in the first place. It was a big challenge. Humiliating almost. But you know, what helped them out surprisingly was the Crimean War. France allied with Britain and the Ottoman Empire against Russia. War leads to very strange bedfellows. But France took names and took its place among the powers of Europe. England owed France a debt of honor because of the Crimean War. And to pay it, Queen Victoria bowed to pressure and invited the French imperial couple to visit her at Windsor. In the press it had been explained to everyone how they had helped the country. And everywhere the imperial couple were greeted enthusiastically. They went through Hyde park and it was the nobles that were lined up to salute them. It was gratifying. The next day there was a state banquet and then they were honored by the City of London as the country's greatest ally. All of which had the effect at home in France of turning things into a horse of a different color, shall we say. More importantly, though, Queen Victoria and Empress Eugenie really made a genuine friendship. The British press before the war had been painting this Eugenie as some kind of, you know, adventurous, crude, low born parvenu that should have been discarded long ago, et cetera. And all those rumors were absolutely disproved by the presence of Empress Eugenie, who was good in a room. So strong was the relationship that Queen Victoria paid a return visit and was the first English sovereign to visit Paris since the 1400s. Yes, ma'am, that was a triumph. In one regard, Eugenie's marriage was like that of Marie Antoinette. The bedroom, shall we say, did not go well. Eugenie found her husband repellent in that area. I'm so sorry to say that Napoleon. But though in so many other ways they were a perfect match. And he quickly moved on to a series of mistresses. But unlike every other marriage I can think of, this was an enormous relief to her rather than a source of unhappiness after a miscarriage. Early on, she actually had to overcome a panic attack in order to get to the point where she was pregnant again. That's very sad. When she was 30, Empress Eugenie provided France with an heir, another Louis Napoleon that the public affectionately called Lulu. The joy and public display was gratifying. However, not long afterward, bombs were thrown at the couple as they entered the theater. Empress Eugenie received accolades for having instinctively thrown herself over the emperor. And she emerged with a cut on her face and immediately stood up and reassured everyone that they were all right. And believe it or not, those two went on in and attended the theater. The man was arrested and went to the guillotine that had thrown the bombs. His motive was to encourage Napoleon III to think more thoroughly about Italian independence. Okay, okay, there you go. Now, was it being a mother of France or was it that bombing incident? It's not clear. But the legislature did pass a law appointing her regent of France while the emperor was gone out of the country, or if he died and his son was still underage. Sometimes, though, I have to say, she got blamed for political maneuverings in which she really, genuinely didn't have full responsibility. For example, when Italy did choose to coalesce into one country and had chosen a king, the fact that Napoleon didn't recognize him and in fact, supported the Pope was blamed on his wife. I mean, we're all Catholics here, right? So I don't know why she got the full blame for it. Another similarity to Marie Antoinette. Eugenie was a leader of fashion. An enterprising fashion designer named Charles Frederick Worth had attracted her attention, and he was one of the most innovative designers in history. We've talked about him during the Gilded Age episodes. He is very big with the Gilded Age heiresses, and this was his big break. Eugenie's outfits were admired for their originality and copied. As a matter of fact, she was influential all over Europe. Bustles are in. Yes, ma'am. Skirts are shorter. Yes, ma'am. Whatever you say. Though, of course, this should sound familiar, too, if you are a leader of fashion. Going along with that are also accusations of excess and frivolity. No one gives you credit for supporting the, you know, textile industry, but there you go. Empress Eugenie did noble and charitable things. Also lots of outreach, supporting causes in particular, that affected women and children. She and Napoleon received special accolades from the populace for their brave and unstoppable personal attention to victims of the cholera epidemic of 1865. Now, although Empress Eugenie did receive notice for these noble endeavors, unlike Marie Antoinette, she also seemed to take the blame for almost every dissatisfaction that the country began to feel with its emperor. Several years before, France had attempted to establish a monarchy in Mexico. In order to counterbalance what they saw as the overwhelming and problematic influence of the relatively new United States, the post of Emperor was given to an archduke of Austria. We talked about this, this whole thing during the Empress Sissy podcast. So I'M going to refer you to that for the whole story, but the short version is there was understandably a rebellion in Mexico and Napoleon III withdrew his troops. And then when the terror stricken Empress of Mexico arrived to plead for help, he was unable or unwilling to help her. Somehow a lot of blame for this came to Empress Eugenie, which I would like someone from that time period to explain to me, because they were not even married when it all began. Similarly, her cousin Ferdinand de Lesseps was the original proponent and engineer of the Suez Canal in Egypt. And unfortunately there was an engineering error that was not discovered until almost the end of the project, in which certain classes of ship were too large to pass through and the value of the project was largely diminished because of it. The blame for an enormous loss of money was firmly placed on Empress Eugenie, who in her enthusiasm for the project as a whole and her faith in her cousin, she'd encouraged much of the nobility to invest rather heavily. I mean, I'm saying they should have investigated for themselves, but whatever, all the blame was given to her. However, on the journey to the opening of the Suez Canal, every stop she made, and in the moment the Suez Canal was open for business, her boat was the first one to go through. By the way, she was met with such adoration and love that you would never believe that the end was so near. There were rumblings again of revolution. It almost seems like a pattern. By this point, Napoleon's advisors thought it might be best to go along with the wishes of the legislature to move back toward more of a constitutional monarchy. That is, if he still wanted his son to succeed him. It slowed, but did not stop the slide. And rather reluctantly, Napoleon was persuaded that the best course of action was to go to war with Prussia. That had been sort of menacing France by its increasing strength and saber rattling. It would be good for the country's morale. Okay, well, Napoleon was assured by his generals that the army was ready to go. Everything was prepared for such an adventure. And leaving his wife as regent for the country, Napoleon and his 17 year old son, the Prince Imperial, set off for the battlefield. There was enormous confidence that France, as in the days of old, would win just handily. An early notice of victory seemed to be pointing that way. And then came an enormous media blackout. Silence. There had been shocking defeats of France by the Germans all up and down the front. It was dire, it was irredeemable. And Paris itself was now in danger. Suddenly the mood shifted completely and Eugenie called together the legislature to formulate a plan. Both the Advisors and Eugenie were very anxious that the Emperor not come back. The streets had reached such a pitch that even the sight of him, he could start a revolution just that could pop it off. He could be the spark. It had gotten that bad. There'd been great loss of life. In a further humiliating move, the Emperor was relieved on the battlefield by a more experienced military man. The public sentiment was absolutely against the Empress. She had great regrets for having encouraged her husband to begin this war in the first place. And she really, I mean, honestly could rely on no one in the administration. She did what she could. She created hospitals and showed herself everywhere, trying to sort of rally public sentiment while being a realist and sending her personal belongings and critical papers away for safekeeping in sort of, I don't know, subconscious fatalism, I guess. On September 3rd, a short and direct message came from Napoleon to his wife. The army is defeated and has surrendered, and I am a prisoner now. Once that news went out, it was a very, very quick slide to the bottom. At first, for a day or so, Eugenie didn't realize the situation she was in exactly. She thought she still had loyal advisors who in fact had met in secret and were discussing the dissolution of the Empire. Trusted servants had been slipping away for their own safety. The public outside were waving flags and calling for a new republic. That's another thing she didn't realize was happening. A deputation came to demand her resignation, and a mob stormed the Hotel de Ville, where the news that the Empire had been officially dissolved had been announced, and tore up all the remnants of the Emperor and Empress they found, from portraits to papers to statues. And even as the noise of the mob approaching the Tuileries Palace. Down with the Spaniard. Became audible to everyone, Empress Eugenie was reluctant to abandon her post, only doing so after several ambassadors begged her to go. She looked around the palace and said to it, it seems that everyone is doomed to leave you in such a way. Threw a cloak over her characteristic hair and with one female attendant, her reader, actually, and a couple of ambassadors, fled the back way just in time, with angry footsteps coming up the stairs. They had to run through the gallery of the Louvre to get away down this long, long hallway. And when they got to the end, they discovered that they'd waited too long and the crowd was outside, and the only thing to do would just be brave and. And go on. Eugenie, with her recognizable visage, was going to be in great danger and may just have shared the same fate as the aristocrats during the original French Revolution. But luck was on her side and there was a closed cab parked just outside. She jumped in head first and they took off. But they were dismayed to realize they'd left with no money to pay the driver and were actually told to get out. When they weren't really far enough away, Eugenie knocked on the door of this American dentist named Dr. Evans that she'd received at the Tuileries several times. They were right there by his office and they literally, the two women waited in the waiting room with everyone else for him to be free. He was like, what is happening? And actually had to go in the street and look around. He'd been focused on his work all day. He didn't even know what was going on. He was completely shocked. He also promised that he would help her. He used his position as a doctor and also a recognized non Frenchman, you know, to smuggle her and her attendant out of the city in the guise of Empress Eugenie, pretending to be, quote, a mad woman, unquote, that he was taking to an asylum. It took two days. They changed carriages a lot and made sure to hide her face. But they finally arrived at a seaside town where Mrs. Evans was completely surprised to have the Empress on her doorstep. What are the chances of that ever happening? Mrs. Evans packed a trunk full of clothes. Luckily they were about the same size for the Empress, while her husband went out to secure a boat. And it was a pleasure craft called the Gazelle, owned by a man named Lord Burgoyne, who reluctantly, very reluctantly, agreed to take the Empress, Dr. Evans and the attendant Madame Le Breton, across to Britain. Though a storm was coming, a storm, by the way, that ended up being like a washing machine. Around and around, back and forth they went, until literally, there's just no room for terror anymore because it had already filled the room. You know, there's. There's no more terror available to the body. At one point, Lord Burgoyne, the owner of the boat, burst in and screamed, it's all your fault. And for some reason, the refugees thought that was so funny that they had the relief of laughter and then the relief of a safe harbor. They pulled in, finally released from the threat of Davy Jones Locker, into the harbor on the Isle of Wight, and they were out of France. She learned, to her great relief this had been weighing on her mind that her son had also made it out through a different route through Belgium and was now safe as well. And the reunion between mother and son was certainly something to see. It was the bitterest feeling to realize that those who had betrayed her and the Emperor were even now smugly occupying positions of power in the government that had taken over upon her departure. At least they were gentlemanly enough to pack up her jewels and some of her dresses and other garments to send to her in her exile. That is, before they let the mob in to sack the rest of the palace. So she did have some funds and rented Camden House at Chislehurst and determined she was going to withdraw from political life, even though an envoy from Prussia actually found her there in order to pitch a treaty for peace if she would make concessions. Technically, she's still the regent of France, even though she's sitting in England. Interesting. Loyal friends from France, when they learned where she was, would often send her presents or supplies or letters of support. Some came to see her in person. Queen Victoria sent her encouraging notes and tokens of affection. After a very long eight months, Napoleon was released and able to join her. And he sold a house he owned which provided financial security. And for a very short while, they lived in relative seclusion as a family. And hope sprung eternal that once all the turbulence was over, they could reignite the empire, at least on behalf of their son, who went off to a military academy to prepare for the future. I just. Who would want it? Can we let it go? I mean, I don't know. I don't. I just don't. I sometimes don't understand the allure of power. You know what I mean? I don't know. Napoleon himself was convinced to submit to a recommended operation and died during the procedure on January 9, 1873. Eugenie's grief was extreme, extreme. But she focused all of her hope for the future on this son of hers, the son who had been beloved of France, their little Lulu, who had grown into a man and surely he could take over, could be true. Bonapartist supporters were working on behalf of Eugenie's son back in France and were actually operating within the government there. Her son graduated from his military academy when Eugenie was 49. The thought among the party was, it'll be best if you show yourself on the battlefield. I can make a case for that, you know, back. Back home, like, look who he has become type of thing. And so he went to join the British in their war against the Zulu in Africa. He died during an ambush in a battle, and part of Empress Eugenie died that day, too. Messages of sympathy came from all over the world. Queen Victoria herself came to lay a wreath of gold on the coffin. Eugenie could not live in a place where her son had lived. And moved off to Hampshire and was still the subject of worldwide interest and largely admiration. And every year on her birthday, she would receive tributes from former subjects in France. Later, During World War I, she funded several hospitals and for her war work was awarded the Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire, the highest of the honors presented by Queen Victoria. And the two women remained friends. Empress Eugenie was actually godmother to one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Empress Eugenie died on July 11, 1920, aged 94, while she was visiting Paca's grandson in Madrid and was buried in the crypt at St. Michael's in Farnborough, Hampshire, in England, along with her husband and her son. Okay, that was a lot. That was a roller coaster ride. We went a lot of places. And now it's time for media. And I'm going to keep this very brief. I'm going to tell you there are is no sufficiently awesome movie about Empress Eugenie. So here I give you freely, a film school project or a theater school project. It doesn't have to be on film. Yeah, just make a note of me in the program. The Empress and Her Empire by Desmond Seward. An old one, Eugenie, Empress of the French by Clara Tschudi. The original edition of that was from 1899. So literally while Empress Eugenie was still alive. And they have digitized that at the Library of Congress. And you can read the entire thing for free. I will give you a link or, you know, you could be lucky enough to find a copy. I plan to look for books about Empress Eugenie during our trip to the Buccaneestes in April. So wish me luck on that one. Also, here's an interesting little rabbit hole. The Empress Eugenie in Art, Architecture and Collecting by Anthony Geraghty. It's a facet that a lot of biographers don't talk about. She started collecting things and being a super fan of organizing back when she was a powerful empress, she used to tidy away her husband's papers. Any little scrap of paper she saw laying around, she would categorize and file. Any of his little doodads. Categorize and file. He actually thought it was the funniest little peccadillo of hers. Well, she kept that up when she was in England and ended up collecting quite a bit of art and artifacts. Another rabbit hole to go down. I didn't mention this earlier, but the Second Empire and Napoleon III's reign was the era of Baron Haussmann. If you've ever been to Paris or you've ever seen Paris. You know, those buildings, all uniform, all of a piece, with a certain roof and certain windows and the iron railings. All of that was the work of one Baron Haussmann. And Napoleon III had engaged him to create kind of take down the medieval cockamamory of France and make it into a uniform city with sight lines from monument to monument. And so this book Paris Reborn Napoleon iii, Baron Haussmann and the quest to build a Modern city. Baron Haussmann is the reason Paris looks like that. I'll provide you links with the history of Charles Worth and honestly, the entirety of the website napoleon.org is worth clicking around on for assorted topics. And lastly, a website covering the orders of the British Empire, what they look like and their significance, and in closing, a quote from that book from 1899 by Clara Tschudi, written while the Empress was still alive. The historian of the future, undazzled by the glittering splendor of the Second Empire and unbiased by sympathy for the unfortunate widow and mother, will scarcely judge the Empress Eugenie as leniently as the critic of today, yet more fairly than those of her own realm who have tried to blacken her reputation, he will find palliation for her faults because they were more than counterbalanced by her better qualities, especially her warm heartedness and dauntless courage. He will also recognize that as the wife of a usurper, she was beset with complications to which a born princess would not have been exposed, and that taking all things into consideration, she filled that difficult position with great credit to herself and the country of France. Thanks for listening. I guess I gotta say it. Bye. If you liked what you heard today, tell a few friends or pick out a specific episode and let one particular friend know about it. Or leave a review for us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite piecatcher, do go to Likeminds Travel. I have been so late in editing this that I believe the website is already up and you can look into the trip to Italy. It'll be very exciting and I do think it will sell out quickly. So hi, as they say yourself to the website immediately. I hope to see you there. I'm going to eat my weight in gelato. How can you do that though? Because the more you eat, the more you weigh. It's a challenge and I'm willing to accept. See you next time.
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Narrator
It's never enough. Is it always this rough? She tries to be tough when inside she's a broken flower she tends to agree that she bends too Easily she pretends to be free but she's locked her ivory tower she's the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world Even the most popular girl in the world has her own share of problems Whoa. She still got her poise it's killing the boys she she keeps them around like they're toys bought and forgotten she's the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world.
- [136:20]
Host 1
She'S.
- [136:20]
Narrator
The most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world but even the most popular girl in the world has some problems and they grow, and they grow and these troubles won't do her no good and we know that she's filthy rich and conveniently missing the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world she's the most popular girl in the world.
- [137:17]
Host 2
The world.
- [137:21]
Narrator
She'S the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world Accepted, admired, detest and desire all at once she's the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world Even the most popular girl in the world has some problems she's the most popular girl in the world in the world, in the world Even the most popular girl in the world has her own share of problems Come on.