Josephine of Leuchtenberg
Encyclopedia
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of Sweden and Norway as the wife of King Oscar I
Oscar I of Sweden
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to his death. When, in August 1810, his father Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince of Sweden, Oscar and his mother moved from Paris to Stockholm . Oscar's father was the first ruler of the current House of Bernadotte...
. She was known as Queen Josefina, and was regarded as a politically active consort.
Background
Born in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, fully influenced by revolutionary France, that ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional statutes:...
, she was a daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
, the first Duke of Leuchtenberg, and his wife, Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg was the second child and eldest daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt.- Marriage and issue :...
. Her paternal grandmother and namesake was Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
, the first wife of Emperor Napoléon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
.
At birth she was given the title Princess of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
by Napoléon, and later she was also made Duchess of Galliera
Duke of Galliera
The Duke of Galliera was an Italian noble title created in 1812 by Emperor Napoleon I of France for Josephine of Leuchtenberg, daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais, on the occasion of her marriage with Oscar, Crown Prince of Sweden...
.
Princess Joséphine married Oscar I by proxy at the Leuchtenberg Palace in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on 22 May 1823. They also conducted a wedding ceremony in person on 19 June in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Through her mother (her maternal line of Hesse and upward through Hanau and Ansbach, Baden-Durlach and Kleeburg), Joséphine was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
and Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden
Charles IX of Sweden also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I of Sweden and his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, brother of Eric XIV and John III of Sweden, and uncle of Sigismund III Vasa king of both Sweden and Poland...
, thus also making her children descendants of Gustav Vasa, etc. Through her maternal grandfather, she was also one of the descendants of Renata of Lorraine
Renata of Lorraine
Renata of Lorraine was the daughter of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine and Christina of Denmark. Her maternal grandparents were Christian II of Denmark and Isabella of Burgundy...
, granddaughter of Christian II of Denmark
Christian II of Denmark
Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...
.
Crown Princess
Six days after her arrival in Sweden, her middle name Napoléonne was removed. This was because Sweden had fought against Bonaparte in the recent war. She had brought with her several pieces of exclusive jewellery made in Paris for her paternal grandmother, which are still among the possessions of the Royal Houses of Sweden and Norway (via Queen Louise of Denmark, née Princess of Sweden and Norway and also via Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, née Princess of Sweden and Norway). In Sweden, she was known by the Swedish version of her name: Josefina.Joséphine was interested in gardening, enjoyed painting, and was involved in charity and reforms in Sweden. Her interest in art was active and genuine; she greatly supported the career of the painter Sofia Adlersparre
Sofia Adlersparre
Sofia Adolfina Adlersparre was a Swedish painter.She was born the daughter of a nobleman, Axel Adlersparre, governor of Öland, and Carolina von Arbin, and displayed a talent for painting in childhood. When the artist C.F...
, tried to do the same for the sculptor Helena Sophia Isberg
Helena Sophia Isberg
Helena Sophia Isberg was a Swedish wood-cut artist.Helena Isberg was born at Säby in Tranås in Småland. She moved with her parents and brother to Motala in 1840. Her father was a cabinet maker. Isberg was tutored by her father to cabinet makery, lathing and carving, and was to become famous for...
, and also encouraged the artistic interest and talent of her own daughter, Princess Eugénie
Princess Eugenie of Sweden
Princess Eugenie of Sweden and Norway was a member of the Royal House of Bernadotte and a dilettante artist.-Biography:...
, who became a talented amateur-artist. she was also involved in a several social projects; at her arrival in Sweden, she became friends with Princess Sophia Albertine of Sweden, who introduced her to this work.
In 1824, the crown prince-couple visited Norway and stayed in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, where they engaged in much representation to make the monarchy popular. Already as a crown princess, she was involved in politics as a mediator between her husband and her father-in-law.
Although she was a devout Catholic, she agreed to raise her children in the Lutheran religion. She brought a Catholic priest, and regularly attended mass and confession in her private Catholic chapel. The Pope had given his consent to this. The Lutheran clergy was against the match - queen Désirée Clary
Désirée Clary
Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary , one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a Frenchwoman who became Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIV John, a former French General. She officially changed her name there to Desideria, a Latin version of her original name...
was Catholic, but she lived abroad - but the king had his will. Oscar and Josephine had five children, of which two were to become kings of Sweden and Norway.
Her marriage was at the beginning a happy one, unusually so for a royal match, as they shared an interest in culture and had a similar personality, and her husband's unfaithfulness was successfully hidden from her. After she discovered her husband's adultery, however, she was deeply wounded and never really felt happy again. In 1832, she wrote in her diary of her bitterness that a woman was expected to endure a husband's unfaithfulness; A woman should suffer in silence. Her husband's affair with the famed actress Emilie Högquist
Emilie Högquist
Emilie Sophie Högquist was a Swedish actress and the mistress of Oscar I of Sweden. She was a star of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, the most celebrated dramatic Swedish primadonna of her time, called the Swedish Aspasia, and also famous for her love affairs...
was well known. In 1835, Josefina and her husband experienced a nine years long separation in their relationship, though this was not official, and they continued to appear together in public. The relationship with her husband was repaired when he ascended to the throne (in 1844), and as a king, he was faithful and they had again a good relationship.
In her charity, Josefina, though deeply religious, did not believe that it was the task of religion, but of the state, to provide welfare, and she did not mix the two. She was, however, also active as a Catholic; in 1837, she had a church built for the Catholic congregation of Stockholm, the first one since the reformation, and she also founded Catholic churches in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Oslo.
Queen
Josephine was very popular both within the court and with the public from the moment she arrived as crown-princess, and she was more popular as queen than both her predecessor and her successor. She was a success both socially and as a queen consort, and though she remained a devout Catholic, this did not lessen her popularity. She played a great part in making the new dynasty popular in Sweden. She was described as charming, beautiful and with great dignity.
Her closest companions were Bertha Zück
Bertha Zück
Bertha Zück, also kalled Babette , was the German favourite, Lady's maid and treasurer of Queen Josephine of Sweden....
, who was responsible for her economy, and her Catholic chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
and confessor J.L. Studach (d.1873) ; both followed her from Bavaria, and they were called the trio.
The amount of her political influence during her husband's reign is debated. She was pointed out to have acted as her husband's advisor and for having exerted large influence in several matters; in 1848, she tried to prevent the First Schleswig War, in 1855, she was rumoured to be responsible for the treaty between Sweden, Norway, France and Great Britain, and in 1860, she was, according to the rumours, the active force between the new law of freedom of religion; the old version of this law allowed different religious beliefs only if you were born in it; it did not allow for conversion from the Lutheran Faith. She is thought to be the instigator to the laws of equal inheritance for men and women (1845), reforms in the prison and social care and the abolition of the guilds. It is confirmed, that when a crisis occurred, the king and the queen withdrew in private to discuss the matter before the king made a decision. In 1857, her husband became ill; she tried to conceal his condition, and was against her son's appointment as a regent, as he did not wish to allow her any political influence. They showed themselves to the city in a carriage, were the king waved to the public, but Josephine was in fact forced to support and move his hand.
She mourned when Napoleon III of France
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
was dethroned in 1870. In 1873, she visited her sister Amalie in Portugal. The same year, she was moved when she received the public's adoration during the celebration of her fifty years in Sweden. In 1875, she visited the Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
in Rome.
Josephine died in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1876 at the age of sixty-nine and received a Catholic burial. Her last words were "I am going home now. I am very happy."
Family and issue
Her children were:- King Charles XVCharles XV of SwedenCharles XV & IV also Carl ; Swedish and Norwegian: Karl was King of Sweden and Norway from 1859 until his death....
(Charles IV in Norway) (1826–1872) - Prince GustafPrince Gustaf, Duke of UpplandPrince Frans Gustaf Oscar of Sweden and Norway, Duke of Uppland was the second son of Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg and younger brother to Prince Charles.Prince Gustaf was a trained musician and composer...
, Duke of UpplandUpplandUppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...
(1827–1852) - King Oscar IIOscar II of SwedenOscar II , baptised Oscar Fredrik was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until 1905. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...
(1829–1907) - Princess EugeniePrincess Eugenie of SwedenPrincess Eugenie of Sweden and Norway was a member of the Royal House of Bernadotte and a dilettante artist.-Biography:...
(1830–1889) - Prince AugustPrince August, Duke of DalarnaPrince Nikolaus August, Duke of Dalarna was the youngest of the five issue of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg.-Early life:...
, Duke of DalarnaDalarna', English exonym: Dalecarlia, is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. Another English language form established in literature is the Dales. Places involving the element Dalecarlia exist in the United States....
(1831–1873)