Caroline Bonaparte | Florence de Baudus

EAN : 9782262040680

Shaping : BROCHE

Pages : 400

Size : 140 x 210 mm

Voir la fiche produit

Caroline Bonaparte

Florence de Baudus

Collection : Biographies

Release date : 13/11/2014

Napoleon in the feminine. The biography of Napoleon’s sister

Grande Duchesse of Berg in 1806, Queen of Naples two years later, Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest sister, played an active role at the side of her husband, Murat, whom she married in 1800. After Murat left in a futile attempt to join the Emperor during the Hundred Days, she did... Grande Duchesse of Berg in 1806, Queen of Naples two years later, Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s youngest sister, played an active role at the side of her husband, Murat, whom she married in 1800. After Murat left in a futile attempt to join the Emperor during the Hundred Days, she did all she could to stay in power but was finally forced into exile by the Allies.
Posterity has dealt with her cruelly, and historians picture her as ambitious and egotistical. Setting all judgment aside, the author guides us through the dazzling ascension of Caroline and her family, all the way through their equally meteoric fall. In contrast to her sisters and brothers, Caroline married for love, and the union lasted. Gifted with true political intelligence, she was the one who was most like Napoleon, which is the reason she finally opposed him. She wanted to be queen, and she assumed the position with a seriousness, wisdom, and authority her brothers never possessed. She wanted to remain queen—in such an incomparable context, why shouldn’t she have wished it? For the twenty-four years following her husband’s execution and the loss of her kingdom, she lived very quietly, obeying the will of the Austrian victor, but fighting to save the inheritance of her four children. During this period, Caroline had to confront her relations with her family, their problems of inheritance, the persecution of the French, Spanish and Neapolitan sovereigns which prevented them from moving freely about Europe, and her worries as a mother, knowing that her sons were far from her and capable of getting into trouble. She demonstrated exemplary courage during the long illness that finally cost her her life, continuing to charm the finest of Florentine society that flocked to her salon.

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Voir la fiche produit

EAN : 9782262040680

Shaping : BROCHE

Pages : 400

Size : 140 x 210 mm

See the product page