Louis-I-Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, King of Holland, Comte de Saint-Leu (Lodewijk Napoleon in Dutch) (September 2, 1778 – July 25, 1846) (born Louis Bonaparte) was the fifth surviving child and fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. Louis was born Luigi Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was a younger brother of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon I of France, Lucien Bonaparte and Elisa Bonaparte, and the older brother of Pauline Bonaparte, Caroline Bonaparte and Jérôme Bonaparte. His early career was spent in the army and he served with Napoleon in Egypt. Thanks to Napoleon, he was a general by the age of 25, although he himself felt that he had risen too far in too short a time.
King of Holland
Napoleon made him king of Holland on June 5, 1806. Though his older brother had intended for him to be little more than a French governor, Louis took his duties as king seriously, calling himself Koning Lodewijk I (adopting the Dutch form of his name), attempting to learn the Dutch language and trying hard to be a responsible, independent ruler of Holland. Allegedly, when he first arrived in Holland, he told the people he was the Konijn van 'Olland ("rabbit of 'Olland"), rather than "Koning van Holland" ("King of Holland"), because his Dutch was not perfect. However, this showed that he was trying to speak the language and earned him the respect of his subjects. Two major tragedies occurred during his reign: the explosion of a ship filled with gunpowder in the heart of the city of Leiden in 1807, and a major flood in 1809. In both instances, Louis personally and effectively oversaw local relief efforts, which helped earn him the moniker of Louis the Good. His reign of the Netherlands was short lived however, which was due to two factors. The first was that Napoleon wanted to reduce the value of French loans from Dutch investors by two-thirds, meaning a serious economic blow. The second was what became the pretext for Napoleon's demand of abdication. As Napoleon was preparing an army for the campaign into Russia, he wanted troops from the entire region under his control, the allied bordercountries. This included troops from the Netherlands. Louis, confronted by his brother's demand, refused point-blank. Napoleon then accused Louis of putting Dutch interests above those of France and forced him to abdicate on July 1, 1810. Louis Bonaparte had also been created the Count of Saint-Leu. He was created Constable of France in 1808, a strictly honorary title. After the death of his elder brother Joseph in 1844, Louis was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French, although he took little action himself to advance the claim. (His son and heir, the future Napoleon III, on the other hand, was at that time imprisoned in France for having tried to engineer a Bonapartist coup d'etat). Louis died on July 25, 1846 and is buried at Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Île-de-France.
Marriage and children
Louis was married on January 4, 1802 to Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of deceased general Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and his wife Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie. Josephine was the first wife of his brother Napoleon. Thus Hortense was also a niece-by-marriage to Louis. The marriage had been forced upon them and was quite loveless. As a rule, the Bonapartes, with the exception of Napoleon, loathed the Beauharnais. Louis even doubted the legitimacy of his sons. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais had three sons:
- Napoleon Charles Bonaparte, born November 10, 1802[1], Prince Royal of Holland. When he died on May 5, 1807 at 4½ years of age, his body lay in state at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He is buried at Saint-Leu-La-Foret, Ile-de-France.
- Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, born October 11, 1804. Became Prince Royal of Holland on his brother's death, and was King Lodewijk II for one week between his father's abdication and the fall of Holland to Napoleon's invading army. He died on March 17, 1831, and is buried at Saint-Leu-La-Foret, Île-de-France.
- Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, (1808-1873). Born in Paris, he was the third and last son, and would become Emperor Napoleon III of France (1852-1870).
Louis was also father to illegitimate son Francois de Castelvecchio (April 26, 1826 - May 29, 1869). He was born in Rome and died in Rennes.
See also
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Louis Bonaparte
Born: 2 September 1778 Died: 25 July 1846 |
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| Preceded by Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (as Head of State of the Batavian Republic) |
King of Holland 5 June 1806 – 1 July 1810 |
Succeeded by Louis II |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by Joseph Bonaparte |
— TITULAR — Emperor of the French 28 June 1844 – 25 July 1846 |
Succeeded by Napoléon III |
| Pretenders to the French throne since 1792 | ||
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House of Bourbon |
House of Orléans |
House of Bonaparte |
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Louis XVII (1793-1795) Louis XVIII (1795-1814) |
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1804-1814 |
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1814-1815 |
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1815 |
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1815-1830 |
Joseph (1832-1844) Louis (1844-1846) Napoléon III (1846-1852) |
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Louis XIX (1836-1844) Henri V (1844-1883) Jean III (1883-1887) Charles XI (1887-1909) Jacques I (1909-1931) Alphonse I (1931-1936) Alphonse II (1936-1941) Jacques II (1941-1975) Alphonse III (1975-1989) Louis XX (1989-) |
1830-1848 |
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Philippe VII (1850-1894) Philippe VIII (1894-1926) Jean III (1926-1940) Henri VI (1940-1999) Henri VII (1999-) |
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1852-1870 |
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Napoléon IV Eugène (1873-1879) Napoléon V Victor (1879-1926) Napoléon VI Louis (1926-1997) Napoléon VII Charles (1997-) |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Bonaparte, Louis-I-Napoléon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bonaparte, Louis (birth name); Buonaparte, Luigi (birth name); Napoleon, Lodewijk (Dutch); Lodewijk I, Koning (Dutch); Louis the Good (nickname) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Sibling of Napoleon Bonaparte I, French army general, King of Holland |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 2, 1778 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ajaccio, Corsica |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25, 1846 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
