Joséphine

First wife of French emperor Napoleon I

• Born: June 23, 1763
• Birthplace: Trois-Îlets, Martinique
• Died: May 29, 1814
• Place of death: Malmaison, France

Joséphine’s life exemplified the chaos and unpredictability of the French Revolution and subsequent warfare. She was popularly loved as “the good Joséphine,” and her social talents assisted Napoleon Bonaparte in creating stability and reconciliation among the various factions dividing the citizens of France.

Early Life

Joséphine was born Marie-Joséphe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. She descended from the middle ranks of the French nobility who had emigrated to the colonies to make their fortunes growing sugar and was therefore Creole (born overseas but of French ancestry). Everyone called her Marie-Rose until she met Napoleon Bonaparte, who preferred “Joséphine.” She attended a local convent school for four years during a privileged childhood. When she was sixteen, her family arranged her marriage to a wealthy and well-educated Frenchman named Viscount Alexandre de Beauharnais. In France she entered a sophisticated world where her lack of formal education disappointed her husband. The birth of their son Eugene (1781) and daughter Hortense (1783) did nothing to draw the couple together.

Soon the viscount demanded his freedom by falsely accusing Joséphine of infidelity and ordering her out of his house. She took refuge in a convent and complained to legal officials about his unreasonable behavior. The courts ordained a permanent separation and ordered Alexandre to pay modest alimony and child support. The separation left Marie-Rose in a precarious position in a society in which unattached women suffered serious disabilities: She had two preschool children, a small income, and no home. She had neither great beauty nor accomplishments; her one gift was charm, an aura of empathy and graciousness that won her loyal friends and sexual admirers. To support herself and her children, she became a woman of society, holding a salon where people of all political and social ranks fell under her spell and rendered her financial assistance.

Life’s Work

The momentous events of the French Revolution engulfed and transformed Joséphine’s life. Early in the Revolution, her estranged husband rose to political prominence by advocating moderate reforms. When war broke out in 1792, Alexandre commanded French forces along the Rhine and suffered serious defeats. Austrians and Prussians dedicated to restoring the Bourbons invaded France. The republican revolutionists organized the nation for victory and wielded the Reign of Terror against domestic opponents. Some radicals charged that General Beauharnais’s military failures suggested treason; they arrested and imprisoned him and his wife from April to August, 1794. Alexandre was guillotined on fabricated charges and Joséphine, fearing imminent death, became emotionally unstable. She survived because moderate revolutionaries, the Thermidorians, overthrew the Terrorists and established a new government comprising a five-man executive called the Directory. Joséphine became the mistress of Director Paul Barras and indulged in the atmosphere of dissolution that followed the Reign of Terror.

In 1795 the widowed Joséphine met the man who dominated the remainder of her life, a twenty-six-year-old revolutionary general named Napoleon Bonaparte. He fell passionately in love with Joséphine and proposed marriage. She hesitated to make this commitment but agreed after learning that Napoleon had received an important command in northern Italy that could bring fame and fortune. Napoleon’s mother and adult brothers opposed the marriage, calling Joséphine an old woman (over thirty) with no money. Despite family bickering, they married in a simple civil ceremony in March, 1796. Within a week Napoleon departed to command the French army in northern Italy.

Napoleon brilliantly defeated the forces of monarchy clustered on France’s southeastern borders. He sent home money and hundreds of artworks to enrich the Directory and practically dictated the terms of peace in 1797. Only Joséphine defied Napoleon’s will; he implored her to come to Italy, but she resisted. She dallied in Paris, continued her relationship with Barras, probably took a new lover, and made money through war profiteering. When she finally traveled to Napoleon’s headquarters near Milan, Italy, she had aroused his deepest suspicions and jealousy. In Italy Joséphine first assumed important public functions; she presided over lavish official ceremonies and was treated almost as royalty. Once the couple returned to Paris, their small home became a site of pilgrimage for French patriots.

Popular myths immediately developed about Joséphine, celebrating her as “Our Lady of Victories” and “the good Joséphine,” a symbol of good fortune and prosperity. She indulged her joy in shopping and collecting items as diverse as clothing, art, jewelry, and rare plants. Her extravagance did possess positive aspects: She was generous to a fault, patronized charities, and loved giving gifts. She never ignored a plea for help, however humble, and she was gracious to all. Furthermore, she did not meddle in politics or attempt to influence her husband’s policies. These characteristics rendered Joséphine “good” in the eyes of public opinion in marked contrast to the “bad” Queen Marie Antoinette.

While Napoleon remained in France, Joséphine appeared as his loyal spouse and helpmate. However, when he led the French expedition to Egypt and remained away for seventeen months (1798-1799), she reverted to some of her previous bad habits and companions. Joséphine did begin to reform her behavior, but negative reports had quickly reached Napoleon. His secret return in autumn of 1799 surprised Joséphine, and she attempted to intercept him before her critical in-laws did. Napoleon greeted her with silence behind a locked bedroom door, but within a short time her copious weeping melted his heart and brought reconciliation.

Napoleon had far more on his mind than his wife’s behavior. The Directory had suffered military losses and regularly canceled any unfavorable election results. A wide spectrum of political and business leaders assured Napoleon that they would support him if he would overthrow the Directors. His brothers Joseph and Lucien were well positioned to assist him, and Napoleon decided to act. Thus occurred the coup of Brumaire VIII in November of 1799 and creation of the Consulate, a three-man executive with Napoleon as First Consul. A major aim of the Consulate was to bring reconciliation among the political, religious, and social factions dividing the French people. Joséphine was an asset to this policy because she always had friends in all political and social camps. The Consulate ended the unseemly social behavior of the Directory; the First Consul and his wife moved into the Tuileries palace and virtually reestablished a court.

Napoleon and Joséphine frequently escaped the formality of the Tuileries by visiting their country estate, Malmaison, where they relaxed with their extended families and Joséphine unleashed her domestic talents. She redecorated the chateau extravagantly and began monumental gardening projects. She aspired to collect an example of every plant in France and introduce many new ones. She patronized botanists who studied and classified thousands of species. Malmaison became Joséphine’s true home and was closely associated with popular perceptions of her.

Napoleon’s ability to solve France’s problems made him a target for royalist assassination attempts and made the need for an orderly transition of power in case of his death obvious. Joséphine worried for his safety and also for her own position should someone else assume power. She also feared that Napoleon, who had always wanted children, might divorce her and remarry in hopes of having them. She temporarily protected herself by arranging for her daughter Hortense to marry Napoleon’s brother Louis in 1802. This couple produced three grandsons for Joséphine, uniting Bonaparte and Beauharnais lines; Napoleon seriously considered adopting the oldest child before he died in 1808. The creation of the First Empire (May, 1804) intensified Joséphine’s fears about succession and divorce. She invoked the sanction of the Roman Catholic Church against divorce by informing Pope Pius VII, who was visiting Paris for Napoleon’s coronation ceremony, that her marriage had been civil only. At papal urging, Napoleon and Joséphine quickly had a brief religious wedding.

The spectacular coronation ceremony reached its high point as Napoleon crowned Joséphine and himself. Their relationship had grown into an affectionate partnership; they often dined privately at the end of long days in which she sustained the elaborate public rituals of the court, freeing him to work on pressing matters. When Napoleon was away, Joséphine calmly continued the court routine and assured France that all was well. She remained essentially apolitical and unhesitatingly supported Napoleon’s policies. Joséphine’s concerns about war and politics lay with loved ones serving the First Empire. Eugene was an active soldier and viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy; his politically dictated marriage to a Bavarian princess had turned out happily. Hortense became a queen as Louis Bonaparte was named king of Holland, but her marriage disintegrated.

A combination of personal and political pressures led Napoleon to divorce Joséphine in 1809. For years he doubted he could father a child; in 1806 and 1810, however, affairs produced two sons who were undoubtedly his, the latter by the Polish countess Maria Walewska. Simultaneously, political pressure mounted for Napoleon to divorce Joséphine and improve France’s international position by marrying into the Russian or Austrian ruling house. Napoleon informed Joséphine of his decision and requested her understanding. This time her tears could not dissuade him. Joséphine retained Napoleon’s affection, the title of empress, possession of Malmaison, and a handsome income. In 1810 Napoleon married the Austrian archduchess Marie-Louise and, in 1811, rejoiced at the birth of his son Napoleon-Francis, king of Rome.

Joséphine’s life changed greatly after divorce, but Joséphine herself did not. At heart she understood Napoleon’s decision, and she contrived to visit and play with his sons by Countess Walewska and Marie-Louise. She lived at Malmaison and again gathered about her interesting people of all political persuasions. Although she entertained many royalists, she remained loyal to Napoleon. She lamented the reverses Napoleon met in Russia and the subsequent campaigns. She was fiercely proud that Eugene remained faithful to the emperor as others betrayed him. In the spring of 1814, the victorious allies swarmed over Paris and restored the Bourbon monarchy. The new regime allowed Joséphine to keep Malmaison and receive important visitors, including the Russian czar. Her children and grandchildren found refuge with sympathetic rulers abroad. However, the downfall of the First Empire seemed to overwhelm her, and her health failed. Most likely it was a mere coincidence, but less than one month after Napoleon was exiled to Elba, on May 4, 1814, Joséphine died at Malmaison.

Significance

Joséphine was as loved in death as in life. After she died, twenty thousand people paid their last respects, and a huge number of popular pamphlets praised her virtues. This outpouring was partly a measure of Napoleon’s continued popularity and partly an expression of genuine regard. Massive changes swept France in her lifetime as the old feudal order collapsed and modern concepts of liberty, nationalism, and government arose. Joséphine transcended political divisions and softened the edges of Napoleon’s authoritarian government as France entered a new age. Joséphine was beloved because she buffered the cruelties and harshness of her times and extended human sympathy in a society beset with turmoil.

Bibliography

Cole, Hubert. Josephine. New York: Viking Press, 1963. Reliable, basic account of Joséphine’s life. Contains a useful bibliography.

DeLorme, Eleanor P. Joséphine: Napoleon’s Incomparable Empress. Foreword by Bernard Chevallier. New York: H. N. Abrams, 2002. Focuses on the crucial role Joséphine played in Napoleon’s political and military career and on her support of the arts.

Epton, Nina Consuelo. Josephine: The Empress and Her Children. New York: W. W. Norton, 1976. Adequately surveys Joséphine’s entire life and suggests that what little happiness she found came mostly from her relationships with Hortense and Eugene.

Knapton, Ernest John. Empress Josephine. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963. A carefully researched scholarly biography that dispels some often-repeated inaccuracies and gives abundant historical details that carefully place Joséphine in relation to contemporary events and personalities. The bibliography is exceptionally informative.

Seward, Desmond. Napoleon’s Family. New York: Viking Press, 1986. Joséphine’s life after meeting Napoleon is woven throughout the complicated story of the Bonaparte and Beauharnais families; highlights family battles and hostility to Joséphine.

Stuart, Andrea. The Rose of Martinique: A Life of Napoleon’s Joséphine. New York: Grove Press, 2003. Detailed, well-researched biography, based in part on Joséphine’s diaries and letters.

Vance, Marguerite. The Empress Josephine: From Martinique to Malmaison. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1956. Romanticized view emphasizing themes from her childhood that persisted in later life. The author maintains, perhaps unfairly, that Joséphine was her own worst enemy because she always insisted upon having her own way.

Wilson, Robert McNair. The Empress Josephine, the Portrait of a Woman. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1952. A reliable account that emphasizes the personal rather than public side of her life. Includes a bibliography.