Lucien Bonaparte
Encyclopedia
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (21 May 1775 – 29 June 1840), born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte
and his wife Letizia Ramolino
.
Lucien was a younger brother of Joseph
and Napoleon Bonaparte
, and an older brother of Elisa
, Louis
, Pauline
, Caroline
and Jérôme Bonaparte
. Lucien held genuinely revolutionary views, which led to an often abrasive relationship with his brother Napoleon, who seized control of the French government in 1799, when Lucien was 24.
, Corsica
in 1775, and was educated in mainland France
. In 1769 the Corsican Republic
had been conquered by French forces
and annexed into France. Lucien's father Carlo Bonaparte had been a strong supporter of Corsican patriots under Pasquale Paoli
, but late switched to become a supporter of French rule. Lucien returned to Corsica at the outbreak of the French Revolution
in 1789 and became an outspoken speaker in the Jacobin Club
at Ajaccio, where he renamed himself "Brutus
". An ally of Maximilien Robespierre
during the Reign of Terror
, he was briefly imprisoned (at Aix-en-Provence
) after the coup of 9 Thermidor
.
As president of the Council of Five Hundred
— which he removed to the suburban security of Saint-Cloud
— Lucien Bonaparte's combination of bravado and disinformation was crucial to the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire
(date based on the French Revolutionary Calendar
) in which General Bonaparte overthrew the government of the Directory
to replace it by the Consulate
. Lucien mounted a horse and galvanized the grenadiers by pointing a sword at his brother and swearing to run him through if he ever betrayed the principles of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
. The following day Lucien arranged for Napoleon's formal election as First Consul.
Napoleon made him Minister of the Interior under the Consulate, which enabled Lucien to falsify the results of the plebiscite but which brought him into competition with Joseph Fouché
, the chief of police, who showed Napoleon a subversive pamphlet that was probably written by Lucien, and effected a breach between the brothers. Lucien was sent as ambassador to the court of Charles IV of Spain
, (November, 1800), where his diplomatic talents
won over the Bourbon
royal family and, perhaps as importantly, the minister Manuel de Godoy
.
Though he was a member of the Tribunat
in 1802 and was made a senator of the First French Empire
, Lucien came to oppose many of Napoleon's imperial ideas, particularly the marriage of convenience planned for him. In 1804, spurning imperial honors, he went into self-imposed exile, living initially in Rome
, where he bought the Villa Rufinella
in Frascati
. In 1810 he tried to emigrate to America but was captured en route by the British, and he then lived as a prisoner at the country house at Thorngrove in Worcestershire
until Napoleon's fall in 1814. He then went to Rome, where on 18 August 1814 he was made Prince of Canino
by Pope Pius VII
and Prince of Musignano on 21 March 1824 by Pope Leo XII
.
annexed to France and the Pope imprisoned, Lucien was a virtual prisoner in his Italian estates, requiring permission of the Military Governor to venture off his property. He attempted to sail to the United States to escape his situation but was captured by the British
and spent the years 1810 to 1814 under house arrest in Great Britain. As he got off the ship in England, he was greeted with cheers and applause by the crowd, which saw him as anti-Napoleon. The government permitted him to settle comfortably in the English countryside, where he was working on a heroic poem on the subject of Charlemagne
. Napoleon, viewing this as treasonous behaviour, had Lucien omitted from the Imperial almanacs' listing the Bonapartes from 1811 onward. Napoleon was furious thinking Lucien had deliberately gone to Britain. Lucien returned to France following his brother's abdication in April 1814.
In the Hundred Days
after Napoleon's return from exile at Elba
, Lucien rallied to the imperial cause. His brother made him a French Prince and included his children into the Imperial Family, this was however not recognized by the Bourbons after Waterloo
and Napoleon's second abdication. Subsequently Lucien was proscribed at the Restoration and deprived of his fauteuil at the Académie française
. In 1836 he wrote his Mémoires. He died in Viterbo
, Italy
, on 29 June 1840, of stomach cancer
, as did his father, his sister Pauline and - according to the official report - Napoleon as well.
in 1803, where he took a seat. He collected paintings in his maison de campagne at Brienne, was a member of Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier
's salon
and wrote a novel, La Tribu indienne.
, the illiterate sister of an innkeeper of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
, and by her he had four children, one of whom was stillborn:
His second wife was Alexandrine de Bleschamp
, widow of Hippolyte Jouberthon, known as "Madame Jouberthon", and by her he had nine children:
Carlo Buonaparte
Carlo Maria Buonaparte was a Corsican lawyer and politician who briefly served as a personal assistant of the revolutionary leader Pasquale Paoli and eventually rose to become Corsica's representative to the court of Louis XVI...
and his wife Letizia Ramolino
Letizia Ramolino
Nobile Maria Letizia Buonaparte née Ramolino was the mother of Napoleon I of France....
.
Lucien was a younger brother of Joseph
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
and Napoleon Bonaparte
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...
, and an older brother of Elisa
Elisa Bonaparte
Maria Anna Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy, Princesse Française, Duchess of Lucca and Princess of Piombino, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Countess of Compignano was the fourth surviving child and eldest surviving daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, making her the younger sister of...
, Louis
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...
, Pauline
Pauline Bonaparte
Pauline Bonaparte was the first sovereign Duchess of Guastalla, an imperial French Princess and the Princess consort of Sulmona and Rossano. She was the sixth child of Letizia Ramolino and Carlo Buonaparte, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France. Her elder brother,...
, Caroline
Caroline Bonaparte
Maria Annunziata Carolina Murat , better known as Caroline Bonaparte, was the seventh surviving child and third surviving daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino and a younger sister of Napoleon I of France...
and Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
. Lucien held genuinely revolutionary views, which led to an often abrasive relationship with his brother Napoleon, who seized control of the French government in 1799, when Lucien was 24.
Revolutionary activities
Lucien was born in AjaccioAjaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
, Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
in 1775, and was educated in mainland France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 1769 the Corsican Republic
Corsican Republic
In November 1755, Pasquale Paoli proclaimed Corsica a sovereign nation, the Corsican Republic, independent from the Republic of Genoa. He created the Corsican Constitution, which was the first constitution written under Enlightenment principles, including the first implementation of female...
had been conquered by French forces
French conquest of Corsica
The French Conquest of Corsica took place during 1768 and 1769 when the Corsican Republic was occupied by French forces under the command of the Comte de Vaux....
and annexed into France. Lucien's father Carlo Bonaparte had been a strong supporter of Corsican patriots under Pasquale Paoli
Pasquale Paoli
Filippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli , was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica...
, but late switched to become a supporter of French rule. Lucien returned to Corsica at the outbreak of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789 and became an outspoken speaker in the Jacobin Club
Jacobin Club
The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...
at Ajaccio, where he renamed himself "Brutus
Brutus
Brutus is the cognomen of the Roman gens Junia, a prominent family of the Roman Republic. The plural of Brutus is Bruti, and the vocative form is Brute, as immortalized in the quotation "Et tu, Brute?", from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar....
". An ally of Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his...
during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, he was briefly imprisoned (at Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
) after the coup of 9 Thermidor
Thermidorian Reaction
The Thermidorian Reaction was a revolt in the French Revolution against the excesses of the Reign of Terror. It was triggered by a vote of the Committee of Public Safety to execute Maximilien Robespierre, Antoine Louis Léon de Saint-Just de Richebourg and several other leading members of the Terror...
.
Council of Five Hundred
The Council of Five Hundred , or simply the Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France during the period commonly known as the Directory , from 22 August 1795 until 9 November 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the...
— which he removed to the suburban security of Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...
— Lucien Bonaparte's combination of bravado and disinformation was crucial to the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire
18 Brumaire
The coup of 18 Brumaire was the coup d'état by which General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the French Directory, replacing it with the French Consulate...
(date based on the French Revolutionary Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...
) in which General Bonaparte overthrew the government of the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
to replace it by the Consulate
French Consulate
The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804...
. Lucien mounted a horse and galvanized the grenadiers by pointing a sword at his brother and swearing to run him through if he ever betrayed the principles of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "Liberty, equality, fraternity ", is the national motto of France, and is a typical example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third...
. The following day Lucien arranged for Napoleon's formal election as First Consul.
Napoleon made him Minister of the Interior under the Consulate, which enabled Lucien to falsify the results of the plebiscite but which brought him into competition with Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante was a French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon Bonaparte. In English texts his title is often translated as Duke of Otranto.-Youth:Fouché was born in Le Pellerin, a small village near Nantes...
, the chief of police, who showed Napoleon a subversive pamphlet that was probably written by Lucien, and effected a breach between the brothers. Lucien was sent as ambassador to the court of Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
, (November, 1800), where his diplomatic talents
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
won over the Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
royal family and, perhaps as importantly, the minister Manuel de Godoy
Manuel de Godoy
Don Manuel Francisco Domingo de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria, de los Ríos y Sánchez-Zarzosa, also Manuel de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria de los Ríos Sánchez Zarzosa , was Prime Minister of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808...
.
Though he was a member of the Tribunat
Tribunat
The Tribunat was one of the four assemblies set up in France by the Constitution of Year VIII . It was set up officially on 1 January 1800 at the same time as the...
in 1802 and was made a senator of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, Lucien came to oppose many of Napoleon's imperial ideas, particularly the marriage of convenience planned for him. In 1804, spurning imperial honors, he went into self-imposed exile, living initially in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where he bought the Villa Rufinella
Villa Rufinella
Villa Rufinella, also called Villa Tuscolana, is a villa in Frascati, Italy.Villa Rufinella is situated highest of the villas on the hill above the town of Frascati. It was built by Alessandro Ruffini, bishop of Melfi, in 1578, but during its history, the proprietors have made changes in different...
in Frascati
Frascati
Frascati is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific...
. In 1810 he tried to emigrate to America but was captured en route by the British, and he then lived as a prisoner at the country house at Thorngrove in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
until Napoleon's fall in 1814. He then went to Rome, where on 18 August 1814 he was made Prince of Canino
Prince Canino Line
The Princes of Canino and Musignano formed the genealogically senior line of the Bonaparte family following the death of Joseph Bonaparte in 1844, founded by one of Emperor Napoleon I's younger brothers, Lucien Bonaparte. It became extinct in the male line in 1924...
by Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
and Prince of Musignano on 21 March 1824 by Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII , born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola Sermattei della Genga, was Pope from 1823 to 1829.-Life:...
.
Later years
In 1809 Napoleon increased pressure on Lucien to divorce his wife and return to France, even having their mother write a letter encouraging him to abandon her and return. With the whole of the Papal StatesPapal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
annexed to France and the Pope imprisoned, Lucien was a virtual prisoner in his Italian estates, requiring permission of the Military Governor to venture off his property. He attempted to sail to the United States to escape his situation but was captured by the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and spent the years 1810 to 1814 under house arrest in Great Britain. As he got off the ship in England, he was greeted with cheers and applause by the crowd, which saw him as anti-Napoleon. The government permitted him to settle comfortably in the English countryside, where he was working on a heroic poem on the subject of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. Napoleon, viewing this as treasonous behaviour, had Lucien omitted from the Imperial almanacs' listing the Bonapartes from 1811 onward. Napoleon was furious thinking Lucien had deliberately gone to Britain. Lucien returned to France following his brother's abdication in April 1814.
In the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
after Napoleon's return from exile at Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
, Lucien rallied to the imperial cause. His brother made him a French Prince and included his children into the Imperial Family, this was however not recognized by the Bourbons after Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and Napoleon's second abdication. Subsequently Lucien was proscribed at the Restoration and deprived of his fauteuil at the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
. In 1836 he wrote his Mémoires. He died in Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, on 29 June 1840, of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
, as did his father, his sister Pauline and - according to the official report - Napoleon as well.
Academic activities
Lucien Bonaparte was the inspiration behind the Napoleonic reconstitution of the dispersed Académie françaiseAcadémie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1803, where he took a seat. He collected paintings in his maison de campagne at Brienne, was a member of Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier
Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier
Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard Récamier , known as Juliette, was a French society leader, whose salon drew Parisians from the leading literary and political circles of the early 19th century.-Biography:...
's salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
and wrote a novel, La Tribu indienne.
Marriages and children
His first wife was his landlord's daughter, Christine BoyerChristine Boyer
Christine Boyer was a member of the Bonaparte family, as the sister of Lucien Bonaparte's housekeeper and then Lucien's first wife.-Issue:...
, the illiterate sister of an innkeeper of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It lies east of Aix-en-Provence, in the westernmost point of Var département. It is located at the foot of the Sainte-Baume mountains: baume or bama is the Provençal...
, and by her he had four children, one of whom was stillborn:
- Charlotte (1795–1865) married Prince Mario GabrielliGabrielli220px|right|The Gabrielli Madonna, by Mello da Gubbio. Gubbio, Pinacoteca Civica.Giovanni Gabrielli, lord of Gubbio, is introduced to the Blessed Virgin Mary by a group of Saints...
- Victoire (1797)
- Christine (1798–1847) married Lord Dudley StuartLord Dudley StuartLord Dudley Coutts Stuart was a British politician.Stuart was the youngest son of John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute and Frances Coutts.In 1820, he was admitted to Christ Church, Oxford....
His second wife was Alexandrine de Bleschamp
Alexandrine de Bleschamp
Alexandrine de Bleschamp was a French noblewoman. She was already the widow of the banker Hippolyte Jouberthon , and thus known as "Madame Jouberthon", when she became the second wife of Lucien Bonaparte...
, widow of Hippolyte Jouberthon, known as "Madame Jouberthon", and by her he had nine children:
- Charles Lucien BonaparteCharles Lucien BonaparteCharles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
(1803–1857), the naturalist and ornithologistOrnithologyOrnithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
. - Letizia (1804–1871) (married Sir Thomas WyseThomas WyseSir Thomas Wyse KCB , an Irish politician and diplomat, belonged to a family claiming descent from a Devon man, Andrew Wyse, who is said to have crossed over to Ireland during the reign of Henry II and obtained lands near Waterford, of which city thirty-three members of the family are said to have...
) - Joseph (1806–1807)
- Jeanne (1807–1829)
- Paul (1809–1827)
- Louis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Thorngrove, mansion in Grimley, Worcestershire, England, where his family were temporarily interned after having been captured by the British en route to America A philologist and...
(1813–1891). - Pierre Napoleon BonapartePierre Napoleon BonapartePierre-Napoléon Bonaparte was born in Rome, Italy, the son of Lucien Bonaparte and his second wife Alexandrine de Bleschamp....
(1815–1881). - Antoine (1816–1877)
- Alexandrine (1818–1874)
- Constance (1823–1876)
Ancestry
External links
- Académie Francaise: Les Immortels: (in French)
- Lucien Bonaparte