Napoleon's Ex, Desiree Clary: Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway

Desiree Clary, Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Desiree Clary: Youngest Child of Francois and Francoise

Bernadine Eugenie Desiree Clary was born on the 8th of November 1777 in Marseille, southern France. She was the youngest of nine children born to wealthy silk merchant Francois Clary and his second wife, Francoise. Francois' first marriage produced four children. She was known as Eugenie within the family, as Desiree to the French and, from 1810, as Desideria to the people of Sweden and Norway.

She received a traditional convent education away from her relations until the French Revolution erupted and all convents were closed. She returned to the Clary home aged eleven years old, and from this time, she was home-schooled. Later commentators referred to her education as "shallow." Mademoiselle Clary was amiable but often unpunctual, a habit that she retained throughout her life.

In 1794 Francois Clary passed away. It was discovered that he had asked to be raised to the nobility prior to the French Revolution. No longer able to punish Francois, the authorities imprisoned Desiree's eldest half-brother and guardian, Etienne Clary. Desiree bravely petitioned notable figures to secure Etienne's release from prison, and during the process, she met Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon.

Engaged to Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte and General Duphot

Joseph Bonaparte pursued Desiree, and he proposed to her, but at Napoleon's suggestion, Joseph married her elder sister (Marie) Julie Clary. Napoleon and Desiree were engaged in April 1795, but their marriage never took place because he met Josephine de Beauharnais and discarded Desiree in September 1795. The following year he married Josephine.

Joseph Bonaparte was appointed the French Ambassador to the Papal States in 1797. Julie accompanied her husband to Rome, and they took Desiree with them. They lived at the opulent Palazzo Corsini.

French soldier and poet General Mathurin-Leonard Duphot was on Joseph's staff, and they plotted to incite a republican rebellion in Rome. Desiree was soon engaged to Duphot, who was tempted by her wealth and enviable closeness to the mighty Bonaparte family. He set aside his long-term lover and child to enable a union with Desiree. It's believed that Napoleon engineered the match as a form of compensation to Desiree.

On 30th December 1797, the day before their wedding, Duphot was assassinated during an anti-French riot in the city. His death gave Napoleon an excuse to occupy the Papal States, which he renamed the Roman Republic. In her later years, Desiree denied that a relationship and engagement with Duphot ever took place.

Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden

Desiree, Julie and Joseph returned to Paris when Napoleon established his Roman Republic. She met the noted French soldier and politician Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, and they married on the 17th August 1798. Their son Joseph Francois Oscar was born on 4th July 1799. Napoleon was his godfather.

In 1804 Napoleon appointed Jean Baptiste one of the eighteen Marechal's de France, and he was sent to govern Hanover, which had recently come into Napoleon's possession. He awarded his former fiancée a grand Parisian townhouse which she retained for her lifetime, and a generous allowance.

Desiree became one of the great hosts of the Paris elite. Jean Baptiste was often absent, so she basked in her popularity and said she only felt at home and accepted in the city. She infrequently visited her husband.

In August 1810, Jean Baptiste was elected the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway. He settled in Sweden, but it took until December 1810 for Desiree to join him because she dreaded bidding farewell to her beloved Paris.

Desideria, Queen Consort of Sweden and Norway

Crown Princess Desideria (the Swedish form of Desiree) discovered quickly that she detested Sweden. She and reigning Queen Hedwig had a fraught relationship. The queen found the new crown princess's endless complaints tiresome. Desiree abhorred the court formalities, and the Scandinavian weather was too severe for her. Desiree was soon back in Paris "for her health", and in France, she used her subsidiary title Countess of Gotland. Jean Baptiste and Oscar (Oskar in Swedish) remained in Stockholm.

She acted as a conduit for news between Napoleon and Jean Baptiste. When Napoleon was exiled, Desiree ingratiated herself with King Louis XVIII of France. Using this friendship, she ensured that her sister Julie, former queen consort of Spain, the Indies and Naples, was not exiled from the country. Joseph fled to America. Julie relocated to Brussels in Belgium.

On 5th February 1818, Jean Baptiste ascended to the throne as King Carl XIV Johan (Charles XIV John) of Sweden and Norway. He was the first Bernadotte ruler; the dynasty still rules in Sweden today. Desiree was an absent queen consort.

Josephine de Beauharnais' Granddaughter

Desiree finally returned to Sweden in 1823 when Crown Prince Oskar, who she had not seen between 1811 and 1822 was due to marry the granddaughter of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife. Through her grandmother, the bride Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg could trace her ancestry back to Gustav I of Sweden from the former ruling house of Vasa, so the marriage was seen as a way of solidifying the position of the Bernadotte line in Swedish history.

She took on the Swedish form of her name Josefina, and the couple were married by proxy on 22nd May 1823 and in person in Stockholm on 19th June 1823. Their marriage was generally happy, and it produced five children. Oscar's affairs were tolerated in silence by his wife.

Josefina took some of Josephine de Beauharnais' jewels with her to Sweden in 1823. The pieces, including the cameo tiara, have been worn by several generations of Bernadotte women.

The Working Queen Consort

Desiree planned to go home to Paris as soon as the wedding festivities were over, but she probably surprised herself by remaining in Sweden, where she undertook the responsibilities of queen consort. She soon tired of the royal treadmill, refused to learn Swedish or Norwegian, and she wasn't keen to embrace her subjects.

On the 21st August 1829, she finally had her Swedish coronation. As a Roman Catholic, she was not given a coronation in Lutheran Norway. However, she was more popular in Norway than in Sweden.

One suggested reason for her reluctance to leave Sweden despite longing for the old days in France was that she was petrified of sea travel. Fear outweighed courage and desire.

The king died in 1844, and Oskar and Josefina took the throne. She became Queen Dowager Desideria, and she spent the rest of her life moving between the Haga, Drottningholm and Stockholm palaces.

She died on 17th December 1860 in Stockholm. She was buried adjacent to her husband in the Bernadotte Chapel in Riddarholm Church, Stockholm.

Through Desiree and Julie Clary, five European royal families have Clary ancestors: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Sources

• Clary, Désirée, Napoleon's fiancee, marshal Bernadotte's wife | Napoléon & Empire
  
• Desideria – queen from a distance | The Royal Palaces
  
• Désirée Clary, Queen Desideria of Sweden and Norway | Unofficial Royalty

Famous Historical Battles: The One Shot Battle of the Soup Kettle

A depiction of the Battle of the Soup Kettle. Image: Wikipedia/Rijksmuseum CC0. 

The Marmite War/Marmietenoorlog

On the 8th of October 1784 an infamous historical battle occurred. This day marked the Battle of the Soup Kettle, also called the Marmite War (a marmite in this instance being a kettle, not a yeast product), the Kettle War, and the Boiler War. The Dutch refer to it as both Keteloorlog and Marmietenoorlog.

On one side was the Spanish Netherlands backed by the massively powerful Holy Roman Empire, and on the other was the much smaller Republic of the Seven Netherlands, the northern Dutch provinces. This was one of the shortest and most baffling European battles to ever take place and it was utterly bloodless. Only one shot was fired and it hit a soup kettle.

Why Did The Battle Occur?

We need to go back to 1585 to find the root of the problem, and that was, as is often the case, money. The House of Habsburg ruled Spain as part of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain had control of all of the Netherlands until seven states rebelled and formed a republic. Surprisingly they were permitted to do so by the Habsburgs who soon wished that they’d thought their decision through.

The new Dutch Republic’s rulers closed the 270-mile-long River Scheldt to the Spanish Netherlands. As the river led to the busy ports of Antwerp and Ghent in modern-day Belgium and into the North Sea via Dutch Zeeland this barrier to a key trade route limited the Spanish Netherlands' opportunities and revenues.

Resentment festered as the Scheldt and its ports remained out of reach. The Spanish Habsburgs were unsuccessful in gaining access to the waterway in the 1648 treaty, the Peace of Westphalia, which upheld the closure of the River Scheldt by the republic.

In 1714, after the thirteen-year-long War of the Spanish Succession’s conclusion, the Spanish Netherlands was transferred to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. They were as keen as their Spanish relatives to have the Scheldt opened to them. All requests were denied, the war had left the republic almost bankrupt and so every florin they could get into their coffers was vital.

Finally, in 1784, Emperor Joseph II took his chance to secure access to the Scheldt.

The Habsburgs Challenge Stadtholder William V

The Dutch Republic's ruler Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange. was not universally loved because the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War of 1780 placed great strain on the republic and it brought defeats. His leadership and pro-British stance were questioned.

William’s chief adviser Field Marshal Ludwig Ernst, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel-Bevern (1718-1788) also happened to be Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor’s (1741-1790) great uncle. He was partly culpable for the losses of the Anglo-Dutch War but in the press, he was vilified. The people believed that William V’s errors were due to the duke’s incompetency in raising and guiding him. The duke was stripped of his duties and, in disgrace, he left the republic on October 14th, 1784. William was unable to recover. He eventually fled to exile in Britain in 1795.

Joseph II, the first of the Habsburg-Lorraine rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, was known as an “enlightened despot” and with the destabilisation in the Dutch provinces, he ordered that the River Scheldt be opened to the empire’s ships so his merchants could trade. He also lobbied for the territories of Overmass and States Flanders to be returned to the empire and for Maastricht to be evacuated. Words brought no reward so Joseph sent three ships including his shiny new flagship Le Louis onto the River Scheldt to provoke a response from the republic.

The Blink-And-You-Miss-It Kettle War

The Dutch sent one ship, De Dolfijn. The ships met at the point the Scheldt gives way to the North Sea, near the lost village of Saeftinghe in Zeeland. De Dolfijn fired one shot towards Le Louis which hit and destroyed the soup kettle on board. The captain of Le Louis surrendered immediately. Why he did this remains a mystery. Whilst he may have been alarmed, Le Louis was a far greater threat to De Dolfijn than the other way around.

In a one-on-one battle, there would have been few bets on De Dolfijn and the Dutch republic’s victory. Le Louis had two support ships. This was a David and Goliath moment. In case you were wondering, the only casualty, the soup kettle, didn’t survive the battle.

8 Years Later...

Unsurprisingly, Emperor Joseph was incandescent when he learned that his mighty empire had capitulated to one ship from a small republic and with just one shot. He declared war on the Dutch Republic and on land he had greater success. Dykes were shattered and mass flooding killed and ruined the Dutch, William V agreed to negotiate. The resulting agreement left the River Scheldt closed to the Austrian Netherlands but with generous compensation. The several million florins paid helped fund the Austrian army’s expansion. (No news about a replacement soup kettle for Le Louis.)

As the Europe we know today became more clearly defined, so too were the access rights to the numerous trade routes. In 1792, just eight years later, the Dutch Republic was forced by the French to reopen the river. The French had been in an alliance with Austria since 1756 and the French empire was ruled by Louis XVI and his Austrian-born wife Marie Antoinette, Joseph II’s youngest sister.

The Low Countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were established with their own monarchies in the wake of Napoleon Bonaparte’s insurgences and eventual downfall.

Sources

• De Keteloorlog (Marmietenoorlog) | Kunst en Cultuur: Oorlog
  
• A Brief History of: The Kettle War - YouTube
  
• 4 More of the Stupidest Wars in World History | Military.com

Napoleon's Waterloo #1: The Rabbits That Took on Bonaparte

 

Napoleon Bonaparte faced an unexpected battle with rabbits. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

The Mighty Napoleon Bonaparte

Most people think that the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was the most crushing defeat that the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte suffered, but there was another battle in 1807 that arguably ranks as his most humiliating. Napoleon, then considered to be the most powerful man in Europe, was defeated by a marauding army of rabbits during a rabbit hunt.

Napoleone di Buonaparte (1769-1821) left behind the modest life of an Italian nobleman’s son on the island of Corsica to attend military school in France, where he learned French for the first time, aged ten. He progressed through the ranks of the army, supported the French Revolution, and rose in prominence in the 1790s, achieving great military victories. He was elected the Emperor of the French in May 1804 with 99% of the vote.

Napoleon's Chief-of-Staff Plans a Rabbit Shoot

Summer 1807 brought the end of the War of the 4th Coalition when France defeated Russia at the Battle of Friedland on the 14th of June 1807. The signing of the two-part Treaty of Tilset by Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I of Russia (1777-1825) was completed on the 7th of July, and Prussia’s leader Friedrich Wilhelm III (1770-1840) added his signature on the 9th of July.

The French emperor decided that a celebration was necessary for himself, French dignitaries, and his key military officers. (The rank-and-file soldiers were unsurprisingly not on the guest list.) Napoleon asked his skilled Chief-of-Staff Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753-1815) to arrange a day of rabbit hunting with a luncheon in the open air.

As with most stories, the exact number of rabbits that Berthier gathered on the hunting ground has been exaggerated with its retelling, but Berthier collected several hundred, perhaps thousands, of rabbits and placed them in cages at the edges of a field so that when his emperor took aim, he would find his prey plentiful and enjoy an excellent day’s sport. Napoleon could be difficult, and he wasn’t a renowned shot, so Berthier was meticulous in preparing the way for a jubilant emperor. Or so he believed.

Rabbits Rush Toward Nervous Napoleon

On the day of the shoot, the rabbits were released from the cages as the hunting party with gun bearers and beaters took their positions. The first of the released rabbits acted unexpectedly. Instead of bounding away from the party of gun-toting men, the rabbits bounced merrily towards them. At first, Napoleon and his guests were amused. Why weren’t the rabbits running? Did they want to be rabbit stew?

Their mirth turned to discomfort and then fear as all of the rabbits followed the first few and formed a formidable furry army that moved in a wave towards the world’s most eminent soldier. Many clustered around Napoleon’s feet, some began to clamber up his legs, and a few enterprising rabbits reached his jacket. He tried to swat them away with his riding crop, but the rabbits were undeterred.

Napoleon’s guests picked up sticks and attempted to liberate him. Again, the rabbits did not flee; they stuck close to their man. There was gunfire but no rabbit retreat. No one dared to laugh at the bizarre sight of their besieged emperor. The rabbits grew less friendly. They appeared to be hopping mad that they were being met with resistance.

Napoleon's Waterloo #1

A petrified Napoleon bolted, as quickly as the rabbits would allow him, to his carriage. He left his guests to fend off the bunny army. Cleverly, almost as though they had studied Napoleon’s military techniques, the rabbits divided into two regiments and made determinedly towards Napoleon’s carriage. The coachmen used their whips to scare them but to no avail.

Some adventurous rabbits managed to jump into the carriage with Napoleon, who had presumably seen far too many rabbits already that day. Only when the carriage was set in motion did the rabbits concede. The few invaders in the carriage were thrown out of the window by the emperor.

The Cause of the Emperor's Embarrassment

The explanation for the rabbit hunt debacle was simple, although Berthier did not readily accept blame. He was acclaimed for his organisational skills, but on this occasion, Berthier had made a monumental error. Instead of sourcing wild hares and rabbits in the field, he’d elected to take a less labour-intensive route.

Berthier and his men had approached the local farmers about securing a spectacular array of rabbits. What he hadn’t realised, even as they popped the rabbits in their cages for the shoot, was that the farmed rabbits were tame.

Berthier Dies in Mysterious Circumstances

The furry friends did not comprehend the risk to them when the hunt began. Whenever these rabbits saw a human approaching, it was with food, so when they looked at Napoleon and his party, they supposed that he was delivering food, so why would they not run towards him to secure the tastiest nibbles? Their subsequent pursuit of the man to his carriage where the food might have been was, as it transpired, wishful thinking.

The rabbits and Berthier lived to see another day, but he died in mysterious circumstances on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. The question remains whether he fell, jumped or was pushed out of an upstairs window to meet his end. (Rabbit revenge?)

Napoleon passed away in exile in 1821. Presumably, he never kept a pet rabbit.

Sources

• The Time Napoleon Was Attacked by Rabbits | Mental Floss
  
• Napoleon's Battle Against Rabbits | All About History

Elizabeth Bathory: The Most Prolific Female Murderer in History

 

Remorseless serial killer Elizabeth Bathory. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

A Serial Killer With Royal Links

Serial killer Elizabeth Bathory has been accused of being a vampire, as notable as Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Count Dracula. She retains the record as the most prolific female murderer of all time in the Guinness Book of Records.

Elizabeth was born into a privileged and prominent family on 7th August 1560 at Bathory Castle, Nyirbator, in the east of Hungary. Her uncle, Stephen Bathory, was the King of Poland. Prince of Transylvania and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Elizabeth's father, Baron George VI Bathory's brother Andrew, controlled Transylvania as its voivode or governor. Her mother, Anne, was the daughter of a former voivode of Transylvania.

She was raised at Ecsed Castle, approximately 75km from Budapest. According to History Hit, she suffered from seizures as a child, perhaps epilepsy.

Intelligent and acclaimed as a beauty, Elizabeth was betrothed at eleven or twelve years old, and in 1575, at age fourteen, she was dynastically married to a fellow Hungarian, Count Ferencz Nadasdy. He was twenty years older than his bride and served in the Hungarian military.

Count Ferencz Nadasdy 

There was a persistent rumour that Elizabeth had borne a daughter allegedly fathered by a peasant lover before her marriage. Nadasdy was said to have castrated the lover and fed his body to a pack of wild dogs. The daughter was secreted away.

Elizabeth was of a higher status than her husband, so Nadasdy added her surname to his own. The Bathory and Nadasdy families gave the newlyweds Cachtice Castle in the Carpathian Mountains (today, the castle ruin lies in Slovakia) and seventeen surrounding villages.

Ferencz Nadasdy was wealthy, aristocratic and an ambitious soldier. He was rarely at home. He was eventually rewarded with an elevation to Earl of Pozsony Pressburg, Bratislava. He was notable throughout his career for his cruelty towards enemy Ottoman prisoners, even in those bloodthirsty times.

Between 1585 and 1595, Elizabeth bore Ferencz five children, Anna, Orsolya, Katalin, Andras (who died in infancy) and Pal. Governesses raised them as Elizabeth entertained a series of lovers at Cachtice Castle and sometimes at Sarvar Castle, which later fell under the ownership of the kings of Bavaria.

Elizabeth Bathory's Chilling Quest for Eternal Youth

After the death of the count on the battlefield in January 1604, horrifying suspicions of torture, murder and vampirism were voiced against Elizabeth. She was forty-three at the time of Ferencz's death and was known to be terrified of growing old and losing her beauty.

She studied the occult, and she was familiar with her husband's torture devices in the castle. He used them on invading Turks, and she utilised them on debtors. Then Elizabeth realised they could be used to aid her quest for perpetual youth.

Between 1590 and 1610, Elizabeth tortured and murdered in excess of six hundred virgin peasant girls and noble women, some of whom were just ten years old. She reputedly drank and possibly bathed in her victims' blood, and she tore or bit at their flesh as they hung upside down from chains, their throats slit.

"The Blood Countess"

Known to history as "the Blood Countess", Elizabeth believed that the stream of young girls' unspoiled blood must be replenished frequently to afford her eternal youth. With the total approval of her sorcerer and alchemist, she offered girls jobs at the castle from which they never returned home, and she ordered abductions. Her staff did not refuse her.

In 1609, Elizabeth had what she thought was an excellent idea. She established an all-female academy at the castle under the pretence of preparing twenty-five genteel girls at a time for a life in the nobility. This offered her a new source of young blood to ward off old age.

All too quickly, her pupils began to die or disappear in her care, and when four blood-drained bodies were thrown from an upstairs window and seen by suspicious villagers, they reported her to the authorities.

Bathory's Lack of Remorse for Her Crimes

King Matthias of Hungary instructed Elizabeth's cousin Gyorgy Thurzo, the Count Palatine of Hungary, to deal with the accusations. He led an investigation, took statements from approximately three hundred people in the local area, and implemented legal measures. Thurzo held no doubts about the depravity of the vile countess.

Elizabeth's servants were arrested as 1609 drew to a close. Her entire staff stood trial, and three servants were executed in 1611. Elizabeth Bathory was protected from arrest by her aristocratic position until the law was changed at Thurzo's request. In 1610, she was arrested and sat through a hearing that detailed her serial killing tendencies and estimated how many girls she had slain.

Her punishment for her unconscionable deeds was confinement in a small walled-up room in her castle. In Hungary, aristocrats could not be lawfully executed. During the four remaining years of her life, she offered not one word of remorse.

She died on 21st August 1614. Her descendants were banished from Hungary and emigrated to Poland. Some of them returned to Hungary in the mid-1600s, but the position of the Bathory-Nadasdy's was less significant but ever notorious.

Footnote:

The Bathory von Simolin line of Elizabeth's dynasty continues. The Ecsed branch expired several centuries ago. In 2013, Ferencz Nadasdy, the last male descendent of the Nadasdy dynasty, died without issue. The dynasty became extinct after over six hundred years.

Sources

• Most Prolific Female Murderer | Guinness World Records
  
• Death of Countess Elizabeth Bathory | History Today
  
• Elizabeth Báthory: The Blood Countess
  
• Elizabeth Bathory | Biography & Facts | Britannica

Henry V: Final Warrior King of England and Victor at the Battle of Agincourt

 

King Henry V led his triumphant army at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

 Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Henry of Monmouth and King Richard II

The future King Henry V was born on or around the 16th of September 1386 at Monmouth Castle in Monmouthshire, Wales and into the House of Lancaster. He was the eldest son of Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, later King Henry IV, and his first wife, Mary de Bohun. Mary passed away during the birth of their daughter Philippa in June 1394. By this time, in her mid-twenties, she had borne six children.

The Earl of Derby was the Duke of Hereford by 1398. He received the challenge of a duel with the 1st Duke of Norfolk over potentially treasonous comments Norfolk had made about the king, Richard II. The duel was ordered and then cancelled by Richard. Both men were exiled, and in 1399, Henry was prevented from inheriting the lands of his father, John of Gaunt, by the king.

The young Henry of Monmouth was not sent into exile. Richard II commandeered him for a life at court, and reports showed that he treated Henry well, making a wary friend and ally instead of an enemy of him. Henry was intelligent, well educated and coped with the rigmarole of court life well, vital for survival. In 1399, Henry was knighted.

Henry, Prince of Wales

In 1399, when Henry’s father returned to England, deposed Richard II and claimed the throne as Henry IV, his eldest son and heir was created the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Lancaster, Duke of Aquitaine and Earl of Chester.

In 1400, Henry, Prince of Wales, was awarded management of Wales, and in 1403, he and the Welsh rebels led by Owain Glyndwr commenced a five-year-long fight for supremacy. Henry was left with a facial scar after an arrow careered into him during one of the battles.

Contrary to Shakespeare’s depiction of him as a drunken hedonist at this stage in his life, he was an enthusiastic soldier, given to occasional recklessness, prone to cruelty. He was not a man who compromised, but he was keen to secure his authority over the people in his father’s realms.

Henry IV/Henry V

As the first decade of the 1400s drew to a close, Henry sought greater powers in the ruling council, an elevation in status that was opposed by an ailing Henry IV. When he felt strong enough, Henry Senior had his son removed from the council because his policies were at odds with his own.

A primary source of disagreement was Henry Junior's keenness to claim the throne of France, as he believed this was the right of all English kings. Henry IV was not interested in causing an inevitable war.

Henry V acceded to the throne on the 21st of March, 1413. His coronation on the 9th of April 1413 was a cold event; there was a snowstorm going on outside.

His reign was not without domestic discontentment. In early 1414, the Lollards, looking for reforms to Christianity, rose up. The following year brought a conspiracy led by the Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge and Lord Scrope of Masham, who had their own candidate for ruler. Both rebellions were suppressed. Henry was alerted to the danger and dispensed with his foe brutally.

War in France

What made Henry V such a remarkable figure in English history was his determination to seize and rule large areas of France that were either once in English hands or in new territories that he found attractive. Remembered as a warrior king with an astute mind that strategised magnificently, his campaign began when he secured the compliance of John, Duke of Burgundy, against the mentally vulnerable Charles VI of France.

Henry entered into half-hearted diplomacy that swiftly descended into bloodshed on French soil, most famously at the 25th October 1415 Battle of Agincourt where the outnumbered English triumphed.

He cut the French naval capabilities, rallied the English to champion the war and as Henry and his soldiers enjoyed victories that delivered new lands and powers, the soldiers made way for administrators who effectively helped the war to pay for itself. John, Duke of Burgundy was murdered in 1419 but this brought Henry good fortune. Burgundy became his territory.

Henry V Marries Catherine de Valois

Henry did not have the desired hasty victory over France. It was seven long years into his reign when he secured the amount of land, power and wealth that he needed, and countless men died fulfilling his vision. Only with the Treaty of Troyes in May 1520 was Henry V recognised as the heir to the French throne.

Less than two weeks after this treaty was signed, Catherine de Valois, daughter of Charles VI, was married to Henry. After taking Catherine to England and at some point impregnating her, he returned to France and war.

Their son Henry was born on the 6th December 1421; Henry V never met him because he died of dysentery or camp fever in Vincennes on the 31st August 1422. His body was dismembered and boiled before it travelled to England for burial at Westminster Abbey.

Henry VI Loses Henry V's Acquisitions

Nine-month-old Henry VI and his council presented a far weaker proposition for England’s enemies, and during his fifty-year reign over England (with Wars of the Roses interruptions) and from 1429 in France, Henry lost his father’s acquisitions with alarming rapidity.

As the Lancastrian element of the Wars of the Roses, he alternated with Yorkist rival Edward, as Edward IV, as monarch in the 1460s into 1470–1471. Henry VI met with a convenient death when incarcerated on Edward’s orders. It was not what warrior king Henry V would have envisaged for his dynasty. His moment of glory for the House of Lancaster and England at the Battle of Agincourt took on a mythical status.

Sources

• The True Story of Henry V, England’s Warrior King – History | Smithsonian Magazine
  
• King Henry V of England | Unofficial Royalty
  
• Henry V | Biography, Facts, Wife, & Significance | Britannica

1066: Viking Harald Hardrada's Fight for England's Throne

Harald Hardrada depicted in battle.  From a 13th century chronicle. 

Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Harald Hardrada: Harald Hard Ruler

Born in Ringerike, Norway, in 1015, Viking Harald Hardrada was a merciless warrior king who invaded countries, claimed thrones and riches and even attacked and pillaged his Norwegian chieftains. He was officially called Harald III Sigurdsson, and thanks to his ruthlessness, he earned the sobriquet Hardrada, meaning hard or stern ruler.

Harald was taught how to fight from an early age by his king-chieftain father, Sigurd Sow. His mother, Asta Gudbrandsdatter, had a son from her first marriage who, circa 1018, became Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway. He was later made a saint and the patron saint of Norway.

Aged fifteen, Harald fought his first battle in July 1030 at the legendary Battle of Stiklestad. This was Olaf II's unsuccessful attempt to reclaim Norway from Danish-born King Cnut (Canute), King of England, after two years spent in exile. A twice-injured Olaf II was fatally stabbed in the stomach with a spear, and Harald was lucky to survive.

The battle was memorable for being conducted during a solar eclipse. This was a bad omen for all participants. The Christians took the eclipse as a signal of God's displeasure, as with the loss of light at the crucifixion. The Norse pagans believed that the god Odin was looking down on them to choose who would enter Valhalla (the hall of the slain).

The Byzantine Empire's Vangarian Guard

Harald fled to Kievan Rus, where he served Yarolslav I, The Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev, as a mercenary. He was keen to marry Yaroslav's daughter Elizaveta, but his lack of fortune and land meant that he was not considered suitable.

Harald travelled to Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire ruled by Emperor Michael IV. He fought his way around Europe and into the Holy Land as a member of the renowned axe-wielding and hard-drinking Varangian Guard. Harald was soon their unofficial leader.

Emperor Michael IV's successor Michael V had his widow Empress Zoe arrested and banished to a nunnery. He disbanded the Vangarian Guard and formed his own guard. Zoe's incarceration led to a revolt, and the re-formed Vangarian Guard fought in her name. Michael V was overthrown within four months; legend has it that Harald pulled out Michael's eyes and that he subsequently died.

Harald Returns to Norway and Co-Rules With Magnus I Olafsson

Harald returned to Norway in 1045; during the previous fifteen years he had become an enviably rich man by collecting the spoils of war. He co-ruled with his nephew Magnus I Olafsson. Magnus negotiated a deal to enjoy Harald's wealth in return for a power share. Magnus was slain in battle against the Danes in 1047, and Harald became the undisputed king of Norway.

The following fifteen years were spent trying to oust Sweyn II of Denmark to extend his realm. In 1064 Sweyn and Harald were unable to break the stalemate of a two year long sea battle, so they agreed to recognise one another as the rulers of their respective countries and ended the conflict.

The peace did not extend beyond Denmark. Harald Hardrada set his sights on expansion across the North Sea and claimed the Orkney Islands to the north of Scotland.

He then mounted a bold campaign to claim the English throne. There were three other men in his way. Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwinson had proclaimed himself Harold II, but William of Normandy and Harold's relative Edgar Aetheling had good claims.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge

Harald Hardrada's ally was Anglo-Saxon king Harold II's vengeful brother Tostig. Eleven thousand Vikings disembarked from three hundred ships in September 1066 and overran northern England.

The Vikings made good progress, and they won the Battle of Fulford to seize the northern city of York. Harald and Tostig were probably feeling comfortably confident as dawn broke on 25th September 1066. They had no way of knowing that Harold II (Harold Godwinson) and his army of fifteen thousand men had travelled 175 miles from London to York in just four days to launch a brutal surprise attack on the Viking invaders.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire was overwhelmingly won by Harold II. Many of the Vikings didn't have their full armour with them, so they were easy to slaughter. Only twenty four of the original invasion force of three hundred ships were required to transport the Viking survivors home.

Tostig and Harald Hardrada also died that day; Harald's neck was punctured by an arrow. Most historians consider Harald Hardrada's death as the conclusion of the Viking age in England.

The Norman Era Begins in England

Harald's sons by Tora Torbergsdatter, Magnus and Olaf ruled Norway together until Magnus II's 1069 death. Olaf III remained king until 1093.

In England Harold II faced his own fatal battle three weeks after Harald. The Battle of Hastings on 14th October 1066 was fought against William of Normandy. After his victory, recorded in the Bayeaux Tapestry, the Norman was proclaimed William I, better known to many as William the Conqueror. Although Edgar Aetheling was named king by the Anglo-Saxon Council that October day, he was never crowned.

The Norman age in England had begun.

Sources

• The Battle of Stamford Bridge, 1066
  
• Harald Harada | Varangian, King of Norway & Last Great Viking | HistoryExtra
  
• Harald III Sigurdsson | king of Norway | Britannica

Josephine de Beauharnais: Napoleon's First Wife and Empress

 

Joséphine de Beauharnais. Napoleon Bonaparte's true love. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain. 

Josephine de Beauharnais: Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie

Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife and the only woman that he claimed to love was Joséphine de Beauharnais. Her real name was Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, and she was called Rose by her family. Joséphine was Napoleon's name for her, and she adopted it as he reached the zenith of his power.

Rose was born on 23rd June 1763, on the French island of Martinique in the West Indies to plantation owner Joseph-Gaspard Tascher, Seigneur de la Pagerie and his wife Rose-Claire, née des Vergers de Sannois.

Her younger siblings, Catherine-Désirée and Marie-Françoise, were born in 1764 and 1766.

Rose's aunt Marie-Euphémie, Madame Renaudin was the mistress of François V de Beauharnais, Vicomte de Beauharnais, the governor of Martinique. It was at her instigation that a marriage was arranged between the vicomte's son Alexandre and her niece Catherine-Désirée.

Alexandre de Beauharnais and the French Revolution

Tragically, Catherine-Désirée died in 1777, so Joseph-Gaspard suggested 16-year-old Rose as a replacement bride.

Alexandre de Beauharnais's military career was based in France, so Rose travelled thousands of miles to be with him. They married on 13th December 1779, and although they had two children, Eugène and Hortense, the marriage was not a success. Alexandre was extravagant and a pleasure-seeker. A serial adulterer, he left his family and moved in with one of his mistresses for a time.

Alexandre and Rose legally separated in late 1785; Rose and Hortense travelled to Martinique, but in 1790, they returned to Alexandre and Eugène in France. Alexandre's importance increased in Paris. He was appointed the President of the Constituent National Assembly in summer 1791 as France moved towards its infamous revolution.

Despite Alexandre's support for the French Revolution, he was executed in July 1794. Rose was imprisoned, and she feared execution. She was stunned when she was released a few days after Alexandre's death, as Robespierre's regime fell.

"I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night's intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses." — Napoleon Bonaparte in a letter to Josephine de Beauharnais, 1795.

Napoleon and Josephine Meet in 1795

Rose was able to reclaim some of Alexandre's possessions but she struggled financially. A series of lovers and her increasing prominence in Paris's social circles led to an introduction to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1795.

She became his mistress, and he always called her Joséphine. His passionate letters to her, and his own admission that she was the only woman that he loved, are proof that he was intensely captivated. Whether she loved him is debatable; she enjoyed his ascent to power and security for herself and her children.

Napoleon and Joséphine married in a civil ceremony in Paris on 9th March 1796. Two days later, Napoleon left her to lead his army into Italy. She started an affair with Lt. Hippolyte Charles that lasted for years, until Napoleon threatened her with divorce.

While away on his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon took a mistress, Pauline Foures, "Napoleon's Cleopatra". The Bonaparte's marriage was weakened by the infidelities.

Tempestuous Emperor Napoleon and Empress Josephine

In 1799 Rose/Joséphine purchased and renovated the Château de Malmaison on the outskirts of Paris. Her home reflected her patronage of the arts and her grounds featured an expansive rose garden and plant species that were new to France. An assortment of animals roamed freely.

Napoleon Bonaparte was named First Consul of France in 1799, and he and Joséphine survived an assassination attempt in 1800. In 1804, they became the Emperor and Empress of the French. An opulent coronation was held at Notre Dame Cathedral on 2nd December 1804. Pope Pius VII officiated.

Just days before the coronation, Joséphine found her husband in the bedroom of one of her ladies-in-waiting Elizabeth de Vaudey and infuriated at being caught cheating, he threatened to divorce her (again).

Hortense de Beauharnais played the unenviable role of peacemaker and the marriage survived. Joséphine persuaded a reluctant Napoleon to marry her again, this time in a religious ceremony. She claimed that the civil ceremony wasn't enough and she questioned the Pope about the marriage's validity in God's eyes.

Napoleon Tells Josephine It's Divorce

In January 1802, Hortense de Beauharnais married Napoleon's brother Louis. They were made King and Queen of Holland in 1806. Their marriage produced three sons, including the future Napoleon III, but it was not a happy union.

Eugène de Beauharnais married Princess Augusta of Bavaria in January 1807. The couple had seven children, and six of them made advantageous marriages in Europe's ruling houses. (One daughter, Catherine, died in 1816).

In December 1806, Napoleon's mistress (Louise Catherine) Eléonore Denuelle de la Plaigne gave birth to a son they named Charles, Comte Léon. He was impatient for a legitimate heir, and he mulled over whether he could divorce Josephine, marry again and have an heir.

On 3rd July 1807, Josephine's mother passed away in Martinique. She was now the only survivor from their family of five.

Perhaps the death delayed Napoleon's plans. It was not until November 1809 that he told Josephine that their marriage was over. She accepted his decision, and a grandiose divorce ceremony was conducted on 10th January 1810. Bizarrely, he professed his devotion to her at the event.

Far from ever finding cause for complaint, I can to the contrary only congratulate myself on the devotion and tenderness of my beloved wife.

— Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine at their divorce ceremony.

Death at the Chateau de Malmaison

Her divorce settlement was generous. She was still an empress and enjoyed all the dignities of an empress when she attended court. She received an annuity of 5 million francs, and Napoleon gave her several properties, including the Elysee Palace in the capital. (He later took the Elysee back for his own use).

She retired to one of the other properties that she received from Napoleon, the Château de Navarre in Normandy. Napoleon bestowed the title of Duchess of Navarre on her.

After a couple of years, Joséphine returned to Paris and the Château de Malmaison. She died there on 29th May 1814, less than two months after Napoleon's abdication. Her cause of death was noted as pneumonia.

Napoleon married Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria in 1810 and she bore him the long awaited son, Napoleon II (1810-1832). The couple separated in April 1814 when Napoleon fell from power.

Napoleon's last words on 5th May 1821 were reported as "France, army, head of the army. Josephine."

The restored French monarchy created the moniker "Joséphine de Beauharnais" that has travelled down the centuries. Joséphine was a Bonaparte, previously known as Rose de Beauharnais. "Joséphine de Beauharnais" was the royals device to separate her from Napoleon in peoples minds; their plan hasn't worked well.

Sources

• Josephine | Biography, Napoleon, & Facts | Britannica
  
• Joséphine de Beauharnais | Palace of Versailles
  
• Joséphine de Beauharnais, Empress of the French | Unofficial Royalty

Where Were Galicia and Lodomeria? Forgotten in History

 

A 1782 medal commemorating Galicia and Lodomeria's new constitution. Image: Wikipedia. Johann Nepomuk Wurth. CC3.0.

Halych and Volhynia

The Rurik dynasty established the Principality of Volhynia in Ruthenia in 987 A.D. It was populated by Eastern Slavs, and the capital Volodymyr-Volynskyi was named in honor of Saint Vladimir the Great, Prince of Novgorod, and Grand Prince of Kyiv (c. 958-1015).

His descendant, Roman the Great (c. 952-1205), united Volhynia and Halych, another principality ruled by the dynasty in 1198-9, to create the Duchy of Halych and Volhynia. In Latin, Halych translates to Galicia, and Volodymyr-Volynskyi becomes Lodomeria.

The duchy was also historically referred to as the Kingdom of Ruthenia, which on today’s maps is comprised of parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland. Roman's successors often referred to the united territory simply as Galicia.

Eastern Europe in 1911. Image: Wikipedia. Public Domain.

Rival Claimants to Galicia-Lodomeria's Rule

Roman the Great was initially an ally of the Poles but after shifting allegiances, he was killed in a battle against the Polish in 1205. Without his leadership, the Duchy of Galicia and Lodomeria became the cause of disputes between Poland and Hungary. Their rulers, Leszek I “The White” and King Andrew II, each believed that their claim to the duchy was greater. King Andrew of Hungary was the first of his line, the House of Arpad, to proclaim himself the King of Halych and Lodomeria in 1208.

The Rurik dynasty's claimant Danylo Romanovich, Roman the Great’s third son, born in 1201, was forced to wait until 1221 before he could secure power in Volhynia and 1235 for rulership of Halych. Rival rulers included Mstislav Mstislavich, Coloman of Hungary, King Andrew’s second son, and Leszek I, Coloman’s father-in-law. Danylo Romanovich was recognized as the undisputed King of Galicia and Lodomeria and in 1253 he was proclaimed the first King of all Rus by Pope Innocent IV. Danylo’s sons Shvarn and Lev ruled after him but with Lev’s death came more chaos..

Civil War and a Power Split

Civil war terrorized the kingdom for over fifty years in the 1300s. In 1323 after the direct line of descent from Roman the Great was left without any survivors, Casimir III “The Great” of Poland claimed Galicia-Volhynia for the Kingdom of Poland. Casimir declared that he was King of Ruthenia and took control of Galicia and West Volhynia.

East Volyhnia and Kyiv were awarded to Mindaugas, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, from 1253 the Kingdom of Lithuania. In 1434 Ruthenia became a province with its capital in Lviv, under a Ruthenian Voivodeship(governorship). Galicia-Volhynia became entirely Polish in the 1569 Treaty of the Union of Lubin.

The Partitions of Poland

During the three Partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795 huge tranches of Poland and Lithuania were purloined by Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Catherine the Great of Russia had installed her lover Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1764 and this helped Catherine, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and King Frederick the Great of Prussia to avoid excessive bloodshed.

As king, Stanislaw II August was heavily criticized for his lack of conviction when defending his kingdom. By the time of the 1795 partition Poland no longer had a standing army to defend itself and Stanislaw abdicated. He was incarcerated in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg for the remainder of his life which ended in 1798. He was given a state funeral by Catherine the Great’s son and successor Paul I.

The Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria

Ironically, under the Habsburg’s the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Poland and Austrian Galicia did not include the former power base of Volodymyr-Volynskyi.

A succession of Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna controlled Galicia with a firm hand and took vast amounts of money from their new lands so the kingdom became poorer and was considered less developed than the rest of Austro-Hungary. A great number of Galician men were conscripted into the army, more than in other areas of the empire.

According to historian Jacek Purchla, the Austrians viewed Galicia as "a barbaric place inhabited by strange people of questionable personal hygiene." However, the kingdom’s people were renowned for their sense of humour according to historian Norman Davies in his book Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe.

The Kingdom of Bareness and Starvation

As Napoleon and revolutions hit Europe in the 19th century Galicia was permitted more rights by Vienna including the abolition of serfdom in the late 1840s and its own legislative powers, a diet or sejm in 1861. Political uprisings were short-lived and unpopular with the Galicians. The people were more concerned with achieving equality between the Polish and Ruthenians within the kingdom rather than gaining autonomy from Vienna.

Unfortunately for them, the Ruthenians were significantly outnumbered by the Podolians, Polish aristocrats, landowners, and conservatives in the sejm so their needs were overlooked. The Galicians who aspired to Russian rather than Austrian rule were deemed to be traitors. From 1895 Galicia’s elections were called “bloody” as votes were rigged by Austrian officials and policemen were given free rein to batter voters who were against the status quo.

As repeated famines brought disaster for the people of Galicia mass emigration occurred. In the 1880’s Germany, the U.S.A., Canada, and Brazil offered fresh hope for the downtrodden and cash-strapped Galicians who saw the hopelessness in their homeland. It was estimated that the migration totalled several hundred thousand people. The Galician peasants who remained renamed it “The Kingdom of Bareness and Starvation.”

The Swift End of the Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria

The First World War was as brutal to Galicians, fighting for the axis powers with Austria, as it was to all nations. Under the terms of the Peace of Riga in 1921, Galicia was subsumed into Poland. The east was later attached to the U.S.S.R but the west remained Polish.

It’s a sorry fact that if you Google “Galicia” the results take you to Spain’s Galicia and not Poland's.

Sources

• Daniel Romanovich | ruler of Galicia and Volhynia | Britannica
  
• Galicia | historical region, Eastern Europe | Britannica