Pauline Bonaparte
Encyclopedia
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, Napoleon
, was the first Emperor of the French. Firstly, she married Charles Leclerc
, a French general—a union ended by his death in 1802—and secondly Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. By the former she had her only child, Dermide, who died before reaching adulthood . She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit Napoleon on his principality, Elba.
and Carlo Buonaparte
, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France
, was born on 20 October 1780 in Ajaccio
, Corsica
. She was popularly known as "Paoletta", and her family soon took a French spelling of their surname, Bonaparte. Little is known about her childhood, bar the fact that she received no formal education. Following Carlo's death in 1785, the family were plunged into poverty.
Her brother Lucien Bonaparte
made seditious comments at the local Jacobin
chapter in the summer of 1793, forcing the family to flee to the mainland for their lives. It was there on the mainland that she became known as "Paulette". The earnings the Bonapartes heretofore extracted from their vineyards and other holdings on Corsica were interrupted by the English occupation. Their existence became so dire that, according to hyperbole, the Bonaparte women resorted to washing clothes for payment. Regardless, they received, like other Corsican refugees following the English invasion, a stipend from the government. From their landing place, Toulon
, they moved to Marseille
, where General Napoleon Bonaparte, her elder brother, introduced her to Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
, the proconsul of Marseille. He intended them to marry, but Letizia objected; in his stead, Napoleon, despite that fact that she loved Stanislas, married Pauline to General Charles Leclerc
in French-occupied Milan on 14 June 1797. Napoleon returned to Paris and delegated the office of commander-in-chief of the French army in Italy to his brother-in-law. Pauline was soon with child. She gave birth to a boy, Dermide Louis Napoleon, on 20 April 1798. In celebration, General Leclerc acquired a property outside Novellara
worth 160,000 French francs. Ill-health forced Leclerc to resign from his military post in October of the same year; he was transferred to Paris. Leclerc was again relocated upon arrival, this time to Brittany. Pauline stayed behind in Paris with Dermide. Laure de Permond
-- the future Duchesse d'Abrantès—and her mother welcomed Pauline into their salon at the rue Saint-Croix. Napoleon seized power in Coup of Brumaire
in November 1799, deposing the Directory, he pronounced himself First Consul.
had been a French colony since 1697, and, as of late, had revolted against France. Napoleon willed to restore French authority there, and so organised an expedition. At its head, he put General Leclerc; appointing him Governor-General of the island. Leclerc, Dermide, and Pauline embarked for the colony from Brest
on 14 December 1801. Leclerc's fleet totalled 74 ships. The gubernatorial family occupied the flagship, l'Océan. After a forty-five day journey, the fleet arrived in Le Cap harbour. The Governor-General ordered the renegade, local General Christophe
, who had at command a force of 5,000 soldiers, to resign Le Cap to French authority. Leclerc, after all attempts at conciliation failed, attacked the town under cover of darkness. Christophe responded by razing Le Cap to the ground. Pauline, meanwhile, was left aboard the flagship with their son. According to Leclerc, in a letter dated 5 March to Napoleon, "The disastrous events in the midst of which she [Pauline] found herself wore her down to the point of making her ill." Leclerc succeeded in requisitioning the capitulation of the rebel leader, Toussaint L'ouverture
, in May.
However, celebrations were dampened by the advent of Yellow fever
season. 25 generals and 25,000 soldiers were slain. Leclerc had initially guaranteed that slavery, abolished by the Jacobin republic in 1794, would stay proscribed, however, the inhabitants caught wind of its re-establishment in another French-conlony, neighbouring Guadeloupe
, in July. The French government had in fact wiped slavery off the roster in May. As a result, the indigenous folk planned an insurrection for 16 September. Black troops in Leclerc's army defected to their old commanders, and the Governor-General had a mere 2,000 men at hand against the rebels' 10,000. Leclerc, dreading for Pauline's safety, gave express orders to Jacques de Norvin, a seargant, to bundle Pauline out of Saint-Domingue at a moment's notice. Fortunately for the gubernatorial couple, these measures proved unfounded when Leclerc triumphed over the insurgents.
The climate was taking its toll on Pauline's health. She could no longer walk and was compelled to a "reclining position" for several hours a day. Both herself and Dermide suffered from spells of Yellow fever. She did, however, find time to take numerous lovers, including several of her husband's soldiers, and developing a reputation for "Bacchanalian promiscuity."http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Leclerc attempted to coerce Pauline to Paris in August. She consented, however, on one condition, "He [Leclerc] must give me 100,000 francs." When the Governor-General wasn't forthcoming with the sum, she elected to stay; commenting that unlike in Paris, "Here, I reign like Josephine [Napoleon's wife]; I hold first place."
To occupy herself, she compiled a collection of local flora, and established a menagerie, inhabited by native animals.
On 22 October 1802, Leclerc fell ill with yellow fever. Nevertheless, a doctor from the military hospital in Le Cap pronounced otherwise, a fever, "caused by the bodily and mental hardships that the general [Leclerc] had suffered." In fact, biographer Flora Fraser concludes that his symptoms were consistent with those of yellow fever. On 1 November, he expired. Seven days later, Pauline, Dermide, and Leclerc's remains were hastily ferried back to mainland France.
On February 11, she arrived in the capital, where Napoleon made arrangements for her to lodge with their brother Joseph
. Firstly, the widow had to deal with Leclerc's perilous estate. Parisian rumour had it that she extracted gold and jewels from the indigenous peoples in Saint-Domingue and brought the treasure back in Leclerc's sarcophagus, but this was not the case. She inherited 700,000 francs in both liquid capital and assets from Leclerc. By no means was this considered a sizeable sum.
Tiring of life with Joseph, Pauline went about acquiring Hôtel Charost from the eponymous duchess. She confided in Laure de Permont—Pauline and Laure had met at the latter's mother's salon in Paris—that she "was bored" with the code of mourning outlined in the First Consul's civil code, compelling her to withdraw from the yolk of Parisian society, which, before her jaunt to Saint-Domingue, had had her at its centre. Napoleon did not wish her to remain without a husband for an extended period of time, he tried—but failed—to recruit the incumbent Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of the Napoleonic Republic of Italy, Francesco Melzi d'Eril
, for this purpose. It took Pope Pius VII
's envoy, Giovanni Battista Caprara
, to highlight her eventual husband, Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, a Roman noble. The First Consul believed the union would consolidate ties with French-occupied Italy, where animosity toward the aggressor was rife. That, combined with her brothers Joseph and Lucien
's concurring sentiments, implored her to marry him. The marriage contract brought Camillo a dowry of 500,000 francs; and Pauline, 300,000 francs worth of jewelry and the use of the Borghese family diamonds. On 28 August 1803, they were married by Capara—without the knowledge of Napoleon, who willed a November wedding for mourning protocol's sake. Upon discovering Pauline's deceit, he rebuked her with, "Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess [a snub to Pauline's newly assumed princely status through her August marriage] where I am." Another ceremony, this time civil, in November confirmed that of August. The marriage, however, did nothing to dampen Pauline's sexual adventures, including an affair with the violinist Niccolò Paganini
.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Camillo, Pauline, and Dermide arrived in Rome on 14 November. Pauline, anxious to learn how to behave in Roman society, received tutorship in deportment and dancing. Biographer William Carlton expounds that Pauline—a commoner from Corsica—would never have made such an advantageous match if it weren't for Napoleon's political eminence. Pauline's initial amity towards Camillo soon morphed into dislike.
; however, she soon sold the duchy
to Parma
for six million francs, and keeping only the title of Princess of Guastalla. Pauline fell into temporary disfavour with her brother because of her hostility to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise
, but when Napoleon's fortune failed, Pauline showed herself more loyal than any of his other sisters and brothers.
Upon Napoleon's fall, Pauline liquidated all of her assets into cash and moved to Elba
, using that money to better Napoleon's condition. She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit her brother during his exile at Elba.
After Waterloo
Pauline moved to Rome
, where she enjoyed the protection of Pope Pius VII
(who once was her brother's prisoner), as did her mother, Letizia (then at a palace on the Piazza Venezia
), and other members of the Bonaparte family. Pauline lived in a villa near the Porta Pia
, that was called Villa Paulina after her and decorated in the Egyptomania
style she favoured. Her husband, Camillo, moved to Florence
to distance himself from her and had a ten-year relationship with a mistress, but even so Pauline persuaded the Pope to persuade the prince to return to her, only three months before her death from pulmonary tuberculosis in the couple's Palazzo Borghese
.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Letizia Ramolino
Nobile Maria Letizia Buonaparte née Ramolino was the mother of Napoleon I of France....
and Carlo Buonaparte
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...
, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. Her elder brother, Napoleon
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...
, was the first Emperor of the French. Firstly, she married Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc
Charles Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc was a French Army general and husband to Pauline Bonaparte, sister to Napoleon Bonaparte.-To 1801:...
, a French general—a union ended by his death in 1802—and secondly Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. By the former she had her only child, Dermide, who died before reaching adulthood . She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit Napoleon on his principality, Elba.
Early life
Maria Paola Buonaparte, the sixth child of Letizia RamolinoLetizia Ramolino
Nobile Maria Letizia Buonaparte née Ramolino was the mother of Napoleon I of France....
and Carlo Buonaparte
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...
, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, was born on 20 October 1780 in Ajaccio
Ajaccio
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....
. She was popularly known as "Paoletta", and her family soon took a French spelling of their surname, Bonaparte. Little is known about her childhood, bar the fact that she received no formal education. Following Carlo's death in 1785, the family were plunged into poverty.
Her brother Lucien Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
made seditious comments at the local Jacobin
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...
chapter in the summer of 1793, forcing the family to flee to the mainland for their lives. It was there on the mainland that she became known as "Paulette". The earnings the Bonapartes heretofore extracted from their vineyards and other holdings on Corsica were interrupted by the English occupation. Their existence became so dire that, according to hyperbole, the Bonaparte women resorted to washing clothes for payment. Regardless, they received, like other Corsican refugees following the English invasion, a stipend from the government. From their landing place, Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, they moved to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, where General Napoleon Bonaparte, her elder brother, introduced her to Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron
Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron was a French politician, journalist, representative to the National Assembly, and a representative on mission during the French Revolution.-Background:...
, the proconsul of Marseille. He intended them to marry, but Letizia objected; in his stead, Napoleon, despite that fact that she loved Stanislas, married Pauline to General Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc
Charles Victoire Emmanuel Leclerc was a French Army general and husband to Pauline Bonaparte, sister to Napoleon Bonaparte.-To 1801:...
in French-occupied Milan on 14 June 1797. Napoleon returned to Paris and delegated the office of commander-in-chief of the French army in Italy to his brother-in-law. Pauline was soon with child. She gave birth to a boy, Dermide Louis Napoleon, on 20 April 1798. In celebration, General Leclerc acquired a property outside Novellara
Novellara
Novellara is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, with some 13,500 inhabitants. It is 19 km north of Reggio Emilia and has a railway station for the local train going from Reggio to Guastalla.-History:...
worth 160,000 French francs. Ill-health forced Leclerc to resign from his military post in October of the same year; he was transferred to Paris. Leclerc was again relocated upon arrival, this time to Brittany. Pauline stayed behind in Paris with Dermide. Laure de Permond
Laure Junot, duchess d'Abrantès
Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantès was the wife of French general Jean-Andoche Junot....
-- the future Duchesse d'Abrantès—and her mother welcomed Pauline into their salon at the rue Saint-Croix. Napoleon seized power in Coup of 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...
in November 1799, deposing the Directory, he pronounced himself First Consul.
Saint-Dominigue
Saint-DomingueSaint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
had been a French colony since 1697, and, as of late, had revolted against France. Napoleon willed to restore French authority there, and so organised an expedition. At its head, he put General Leclerc; appointing him Governor-General of the island. Leclerc, Dermide, and Pauline embarked for the colony from Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on 14 December 1801. Leclerc's fleet totalled 74 ships. The gubernatorial family occupied the flagship, l'Océan. After a forty-five day journey, the fleet arrived in Le Cap harbour. The Governor-General ordered the renegade, local General Christophe
Henri Christophe
Henri Christophe was a key leader in the Haitian Revolution, winning independence from France in 1804. On 17 February 1807, after the creation of a separate nation in the north, Christophe was elected President of the State of Haiti...
, who had at command a force of 5,000 soldiers, to resign Le Cap to French authority. Leclerc, after all attempts at conciliation failed, attacked the town under cover of darkness. Christophe responded by razing Le Cap to the ground. Pauline, meanwhile, was left aboard the flagship with their son. According to Leclerc, in a letter dated 5 March to Napoleon, "The disastrous events in the midst of which she [Pauline] found herself wore her down to the point of making her ill." Leclerc succeeded in requisitioning the capitulation of the rebel leader, Toussaint L'ouverture
Toussaint L'Ouverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture , also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen led to the establishment of the independent black state of Haiti, transforming an entire society of slaves into a free,...
, in May.
However, celebrations were dampened by the advent of Yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
season. 25 generals and 25,000 soldiers were slain. Leclerc had initially guaranteed that slavery, abolished by the Jacobin republic in 1794, would stay proscribed, however, the inhabitants caught wind of its re-establishment in another French-conlony, neighbouring Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, in July. The French government had in fact wiped slavery off the roster in May. As a result, the indigenous folk planned an insurrection for 16 September. Black troops in Leclerc's army defected to their old commanders, and the Governor-General had a mere 2,000 men at hand against the rebels' 10,000. Leclerc, dreading for Pauline's safety, gave express orders to Jacques de Norvin, a seargant, to bundle Pauline out of Saint-Domingue at a moment's notice. Fortunately for the gubernatorial couple, these measures proved unfounded when Leclerc triumphed over the insurgents.
The climate was taking its toll on Pauline's health. She could no longer walk and was compelled to a "reclining position" for several hours a day. Both herself and Dermide suffered from spells of Yellow fever. She did, however, find time to take numerous lovers, including several of her husband's soldiers, and developing a reputation for "Bacchanalian promiscuity."http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Leclerc attempted to coerce Pauline to Paris in August. She consented, however, on one condition, "He [Leclerc] must give me 100,000 francs." When the Governor-General wasn't forthcoming with the sum, she elected to stay; commenting that unlike in Paris, "Here, I reign like Josephine [Napoleon's wife]; I hold first place."
To occupy herself, she compiled a collection of local flora, and established a menagerie, inhabited by native animals.
On 22 October 1802, Leclerc fell ill with yellow fever. Nevertheless, a doctor from the military hospital in Le Cap pronounced otherwise, a fever, "caused by the bodily and mental hardships that the general [Leclerc] had suffered." In fact, biographer Flora Fraser concludes that his symptoms were consistent with those of yellow fever. On 1 November, he expired. Seven days later, Pauline, Dermide, and Leclerc's remains were hastily ferried back to mainland France.
Princess Borghese
Pauline reached the Bay of Toulon on 1 January 1803. The same day she expressed her despair, in the form of a dossier, to Napoleon, "I have brought with me the remains of my poor Leclerc. Pity poor Pauline, who is truly unhappy."On February 11, she arrived in the capital, where Napoleon made arrangements for her to lodge with their brother 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...
. Firstly, the widow had to deal with Leclerc's perilous estate. Parisian rumour had it that she extracted gold and jewels from the indigenous peoples in Saint-Domingue and brought the treasure back in Leclerc's sarcophagus, but this was not the case. She inherited 700,000 francs in both liquid capital and assets from Leclerc. By no means was this considered a sizeable sum.
Tiring of life with Joseph, Pauline went about acquiring Hôtel Charost from the eponymous duchess. She confided in Laure de Permont—Pauline and Laure had met at the latter's mother's salon in Paris—that she "was bored" with the code of mourning outlined in the First Consul's civil code, compelling her to withdraw from the yolk of Parisian society, which, before her jaunt to Saint-Domingue, had had her at its centre. Napoleon did not wish her to remain without a husband for an extended period of time, he tried—but failed—to recruit the incumbent Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of the Napoleonic Republic of Italy, Francesco Melzi d'Eril
Francesco Melzi d'Eril
Francesco Melzi d'Eril was an Italian politician and patriot, serving as vicepresident of the Napoleonic Italian Republic...
, for this purpose. It took 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:...
's envoy, Giovanni Battista Caprara
Giovanni Battista Caprara
Giovanni Battista Caprara was an Italian statesman and cardinal, legate of Pius VII in France,concluded the Concordat of 1801.-Life:...
, to highlight her eventual husband, Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, a Roman noble. The First Consul believed the union would consolidate ties with French-occupied Italy, where animosity toward the aggressor was rife. That, combined with her brothers Joseph and Lucien
Lucien Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
's concurring sentiments, implored her to marry him. The marriage contract brought Camillo a dowry of 500,000 francs; and Pauline, 300,000 francs worth of jewelry and the use of the Borghese family diamonds. On 28 August 1803, they were married by Capara—without the knowledge of Napoleon, who willed a November wedding for mourning protocol's sake. Upon discovering Pauline's deceit, he rebuked her with, "Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess [a snub to Pauline's newly assumed princely status through her August marriage] where I am." Another ceremony, this time civil, in November confirmed that of August. The marriage, however, did nothing to dampen Pauline's sexual adventures, including an affair with the violinist Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique...
.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Camillo, Pauline, and Dermide arrived in Rome on 14 November. Pauline, anxious to learn how to behave in Roman society, received tutorship in deportment and dancing. Biographer William Carlton expounds that Pauline—a commoner from Corsica—would never have made such an advantageous match if it weren't for Napoleon's political eminence. Pauline's initial amity towards Camillo soon morphed into dislike.
After Napoleon's fall
In 1806, Napoleon made his sister sovereign Princess and Duchess of GuastallaGuastalla
Guastalla is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.-Geography:Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River...
; however, she soon sold the duchy
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
for six million francs, and keeping only the title of Princess of Guastalla. Pauline fell into temporary disfavour with her brother because of her hostility to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma...
, but when Napoleon's fortune failed, Pauline showed herself more loyal than any of his other sisters and brothers.
Upon Napoleon's fall, Pauline liquidated all of her assets into cash and moved to 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...
, using that money to better Napoleon's condition. She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit her brother during his exile at Elba.
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...
Pauline moved to 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 she enjoyed the protection of 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:...
(who once was her brother's prisoner), as did her mother, Letizia (then at a palace on the Piazza Venezia
Piazza Venezia
The Piazza Venezia is a piazza in central Rome, Italy. It takes its name from Cardinal Venezia who built the adjacent Palazzo Venezia, the former embassy of the city of the Republic of Venice....
), and other members of the Bonaparte family. Pauline lived in a villa near the Porta Pia
Porta Pia
Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Porta Nomentana situated several hundred meters...
, that was called Villa Paulina after her and decorated in the Egyptomania
Egyptomania
Egyptomania was the renewed interest of Europeans in ancient Egypt during the nineteenth century as a result of Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign and, in particular, as a result of the extensive scientific study of ancient Egyptian remains and culture inspired by this campaign...
style she favoured. Her husband, Camillo, moved to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
to distance himself from her and had a ten-year relationship with a mistress, but even so Pauline persuaded the Pope to persuade the prince to return to her, only three months before her death from pulmonary tuberculosis in the couple's Palazzo Borghese
Palazzo Borghese
Palazzo Borghese is a palace in Rome, Italy, the main seat of the Borghese family in. It was nicknamed il Cembalo due to its unusual trazezoidal groundplan; its shortest front faces the River Tiber...
.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5363214/Venus-of-Empire-the-Life-of-Pauline-Bonaparte-by-Flora-Fraser.html
Ancestry
Titles and succession
External links
- Spencer Napoleonica Collection at Newberry LibraryNewberry LibraryThe Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...