Jump to content

House of Bonaparte

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Yopie (talk | contribs) at 14:02, 16 April 2016 (Reverted good faith edits by BumShakalaka (talk): Fringe trivia. (TW)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Bonaparte (disambiguation).

House of Bonaparte
CountryFrench Empire
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Spain
Kingdom of Westphalia
Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Naples
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Founded1804
FounderNapoleon I, Emperor of the French
Current headDisputed:
Charles, Prince Napoléon or
Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon
Final rulerNapoleon III, Emperor of the French
TitlesEmperor of the French
Emperor in Elba
King of Italy
King of Spain
King of Holland
King of Westphalia
King of Naples
King of Rome (courtesy title only)
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Estate(s)France, Italy
Dissolution1815: Bourbon Restoration
1870: Defeat in Franco-Prussian War
Cadet branchesPrince Canino Line (extinct)
Prince Napoléon Line

The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, a French military leader who had risen to notability out of the French Revolution and who in 1804 transformed the First French Republic into the First French Empire, five years after his coup d'état of November 1799. Napoleon turned the Grande Armée against every major European power and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories during the Napoleonic Wars. He installed members of his family on the thrones of client states, extending the power of the dynasty.

The House of Bonaparte formed the Imperial House of France during the French Empire, together with some non-Bonaparte family members. In addition to holding the title of Emperor of the French, the Bonaparte dynasty held various other titles and territories during the Napoleonic Wars, including their ancestral Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Kingdom of Holland, and the Kingdom of Naples. The dynasty held power for around a decade until the Napoleonic Wars began to take their toll. Making very powerful enemies, such as Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia, as well as royalist (particularly Bourbon) restorational movements in France, Spain, the Two Sicilies, and Sardinia, the dynasty eventually collapsed thanks to the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and the restoration of former dynasties by the Congress of Vienna.

During the reign of Napoleon I, the Imperial Family consisted of the Emperor's immediate relations – his wife, son, siblings, and some other close relatives, namely Joachim Murat, Joseph Fesch, and Eugène de Beauharnais.

Between the years 1852 and 1870 there was a Second French Empire, when a member of the Bonaparte dynasty again ruled France: Napoleon III the son of Louis Bonaparte. However, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 the dynasty was again ousted from the Imperial Throne. Since that time there has been a series of pretenders. Supporters of the Bonaparte family's claim to the throne of France are known as Bonapartists. Current head Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, has a Bourbon mother.

Italian origins

The Bonaparte (originally Buonaparte) family were from minor Italian nobility who held most of their property in the hill town of San Miniato near Florence, Italy. The name derives from Italian, buona, "good" and parte, "part" or "side".

After settling in Florence the family enjoyed a relationship with the then ruling Medici family. Jacopo Buonaparte was a friend and advisor to Medici Pope Clement VII. Jacopo was also a witness to and wrote an account of the sack of Rome, which is one of the most important historical documents recounting that event.[1] Two of Jacopo's nephews, Pier Antonio Buonaparte and Giovanni Buonaparte, however, took part in the 1527 Medici rebellion, after which they were banished from Florence and later were restored by Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence. Jacopo's brother Benedetto Buonaparte maintained political neutrality.[2]

The family later separated into two branches; One stayed in San Miniato, and the other moved to Sarzana. Buonaparte-Sarzana, Nobili di Sarzana had been compelled to leave Florence due to the defeat of the Ghibellines. A member of the Sarzana branch and ancestor to Napoleon, Francesco Buonaparte came to Corsica in 16th century when the island was in Genoese possession.

The Buonaparte tomb lies in the Church of San Francesco in San Miniato.

The last member of the Italian branches was a canon named Gregorio Bonaparte, who died in 1803 leaving Napoleon as heir.[3]

Imperial House of France

Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1801), by Jacques-Louis David.
Imperial coat of arms
The Four Napoleons

Napoleon is the most prominent name associated with the Bonaparte family because he conquered much of the Western world during the early part of the 19th century. He was elected as First Consul of France on 10 November 1799 with the help of his brother, Lucien Bonaparte, and president of the Council of Five Hundred at Saint-Cloud. He was crowned Emperor of the French and ruled from 1804–1814, 1815.

Following his conquest of most of Western Europe, Napoleon I made his elder brother Joseph (1768–1844) king first of Naples (1806–1808) and then of Spain (1808–1813), his younger brother Louis (1778–1846) King of Holland (1806–1810) (subsequently forcing his abdication after his failure to subordinate Dutch interests to those of France) and his youngest brother Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860) King of Westphalia, the short-lived realm created from some of the states of northwestern Germany (1807–1813).

Napoleon's son Napoléon François Charles Joseph (1811–1832) was created King of Rome (1811–1814) and was later styled Napoléon II by loyalists of the dynasty, though he only ruled for two weeks after his father's abdication. Louis-Napoléon (1808–1873), son of Louis, was President of France in 1848–1852 and Emperor in 1852–1870, reigning as Napoleon III; his son, Napoléon, Prince Imperial (1856–1879) died fighting the Zulus in Natal, South Africa. With his death, the family lost much of its remaining political appeal, though claimants continue to assert their right to the imperial title. A political movement for Corsican independence surfaced in the 1990s which included a Bonapartist restoration in its programme.

Crowns held by the family

Emperors of the French

Kings of Holland

  • Louis I (1806–1810)
  • Louis II (1810), also Grand Duke of Berg (1809–1813)

King of Naples

King of Westphalia

King of Spain

Grand Duchess of Tuscany

List of Heads of the House of Bonaparte (since 1852)

Disputed since 1997:

The family tree

French monarchy
Bonaparte dynasty
Napoleon I
Children
Napoleon II
Siblings
Joseph, King of Spain
Lucien, Prince of Canino
Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Louis, King of Holland
Pauline, Princess of Guastalla
Caroline, Queen of Naples
Jérôme, King of Westphalia
Nephews and nieces
Princess Zénaïde
Princess Charlotte
Charlotte, Princess Gabrielli
Prince Charles Lucien
Prince Louis Lucien
Prince Pierre Napoléon
Prince Napoléon Charles
Prince Napoléon Louis
Napoleon III
Prince Jérôme Napoléon
Prince Jérôme Napoléon Charles
Prince Napoléon
Princess Mathilde
Grandnephews and -nieces
Prince Joseph
Prince Lucien Cardinal Bonaparte
Augusta, Princess Gabrielli
Prince Roland
Princess Jeanne
Prince Jerome
Prince Charles
Napoléon (V) Victor
Maria Letizia, Duchess of Aosta
Great grandnephews and -nieces
Princess Marie
Princess Marie Clotilde
Napoléon (VI) Louis
Great great grandnephews and -nieces
Napoléon (VII) Charles
Princess Catherine
Princess Laure
Prince Jérôme
Great great great grandnephews and -nieces
Princess Caroline
Jean Christophe, Prince Napoléon
Napoleon II
Napoleon III
Children
Napoléon (IV), Prince Imperial

Carlo-Maria (Ajaccio, 1746–Montpellier, 1785) married Maria Letizia Ramolino (Ajaccio, 1750–Rome, 1836) in 1764. He was a minor official in the local courts. They had eight children:

  1. Joseph Bonaparte (Corte, 1768–Florence, 1844), King of Naples, then King of Spain, married Julie Clary, sister of Napoleon's childhood sweetheart, Désirée, who was to become the wife of General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (later Charles XIV of Sweden)
  2. Napoléon (I) Bonaparte (1769–1821) Emperor of the French
  3. Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840) Roman Prince of Canino and Musignano
  4. Maria-Anna Elisa Bonaparte (1777–1820), Grand-Duchess of Tuscany, married Félix Baciocchi Levoy, Prince of Lucca
    • Marie-Laetitia Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy
  5. Louis Bonaparte (1778–1846), King of Holland, married Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepdaughter
  6. Maria Paola or Marie Pauline Bonaparte (1780–1825) Princess and Duchess of Guastalla, married in 1797 to French General Charles Leclerc and later married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona.
  7. Maria Annunziata Caroline Bonaparte (1782–1839) married Joachim Murat, Marshal of France, Grand Duke of Berg, then King of Naples
  8. Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia
Carlo Buonaparte
(1746–1785)		Letizia Ramolino
(1750–1836)
3154678
Lucien Bonaparte
(1775–1840)
m.(2) Alexandrine de Bleschamp		Joseph Bonaparte
(1768–1844)
m. Julie Clary		Marie Louise of Austria
(1791–1847)		Napoléon I
(1769–1821)		Joséphine de Beauharnais
(1763–1814)		Alexandre de Beauharnais
(1760–1794)		Elisa Bonaparte
(1777–1820)
m. Félix Baciocchi		Pauline Bonaparte
(1780–1825)
m.(1) Charles Leclerc
m.(2) Camillo Borghese		Caroline Bonaparte
(1782–1839)
m. Joachim Murat		Betsy Patterson
(1785–1879)		Jérôme Bonaparte
(1784–1860)		Catharina of Württemberg
(1783–1835)
Napoléon II
(1811–1832)		Eugène de Beauharnais
(1781–1824)
m. Augusta of Bavaria		Hortense de Beauharnais
(1783–1837)		Louis Bonaparte
(1778–1846)		4 childrenAchille Murat
(1801–1847)
m. Catherine Willis Gray		Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte
(1805–1870)
m. Susan May Williams		Jérôme Napoléon Charles Bonaparte
(1814–1847)		Mathilde Bonaparte
(1820–1904)
m. Anatoly Demidov, Prince of San Donato		Prince Napoléon Bonaparte
(1822–1891)
m. Marie Clothilde of Savoy
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
(1803–1857)		Zénaïde Bonaparte
(1801–1854)		Julie Joséphine Bonaparte
(b.&d. 1796)		Charlotte Bonaparte
(1802–1839)		Napoléon Louis Bonaparte
(1804–1831)		Napoléon Charles Bonaparte
(1802–1807)		Napoléon III
(1808–1873)
m.Eugénie de Montijo		Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II
(1830–1893)
m. Caroline Edgar		Charles Bonaparte
(1851–1921)
m. Ellen Channing Day		Napoléon V Victor
(1862–1926)
m. Clémentine of Belgium		Napoléon Louis Joseph Jérôme Bonaparte
(1864–1932)		Maria Letizia Bonaparte
(1866–1926)
m. Amadeo of Savoy
Joseph Lucien Bonaparte
(1824–1865)		Lucien Cardinal Bonaparte
(1828–1895)		Napoléon Charles Bonaparte
(1839–1899)		10 othersNapoléon IV Eugène
(1856–1879)		Marie Clotilde Bonaparte
(1912–1996)		Napoléon VI Louis
(1914–1997)
m. Alix de Foresta
Zénaïde Bonaparte
(1860–1862)		Mary Bonaparte
(1870–1947)		Eugénie Bonaparte
(1872–1949)		Napoléon VII Charles
(b. 1950)		Catherine Elisabeth Bonaparte
(b. 1950)		Laure Clémentine Bonaparte
(b. 1952)		Jérôme Xavier Bonaparte
(b. 1957)
Caroline Bonaparte
(b. 1980)		Jean-Christophe Napoléon
(b. 1986)		Sophie Cathérine Bonaparte
(b. 1992)

Bonaparte arms

The arms of the Bonaparte family were: Gules two bends sinister between two mullets or. In 1804 Napoleon I changed the arms to Azure an imperial eagle or. The change applied to all members of his family except for his brother Lucien and his nephew, the son from Jerome's first marriage.

DNA research

According to a studies by G.Lucotte and his coauthors based on DNA research since 2011, Napoleon Bonaparte belonged to Y-DNA (direct male ancestry) haplogroup E1b1b1c1* (E-M34*). This haplogroup, rare in Europe, has its highest concentration in Ethiopia and in the Near East (Jordan, Yemen). According to the authors of the study, "Probably Napoléon also knew his remote oriental patrilineal origins, because Francesco Buonaparte (the Giovanni son), who was a mercenary under the orders of the Genoa Republic in Ajaccio in 1490, was nicknamed The Maure of Sarzane " The latest study identifies the common Bonaparte DNA markers from Carlo (Charles) Bonaparte to 3 living descendants.[4][5]

Lucotte et al. published in October 2013 the extended Y-STR of Napoleon I based on descendant testing, and the descendants were E-M34, just like the emperor's beard hair tested a year before. The persons tested were the patrilineal descendants of Jérome Bonaparte, one of Napoleon's brothers, and of Alexandre Colonna-Walewski, Napoleon's illegitimate son with Marie Walewska. These three tests all yielded the same Y-STR haplotype (109 markers) confirming with 100% certainty that the first Emperor of the French belonged to the M34 branch of haplogroup E1b1b. However, Professor Lucotte also tested the Y-DNA of Napoleon III's hair and that Jean-Marc Banquet d'Orx, a presumed descendant through one of Napoleon III's illegitimate sons, the Count of Orx. The results revealed that Jean-Marc Banquet d'Orx was indeed Napoleon III's patrilineal descendant, but that the two men belonged to haplogroup I2, and therefore did not share the same paternal lineage as Napoleon I

Living members

Jérôme Bonaparte, founder of the legitimate line

The headship of the family is in dispute between Charles, Prince Napoléon, born 1950, great-great-grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte by his second marriage; and his son Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon (born 1986) who was appointed heir in the will of his grandfather Louis, Prince Napoléon.[6] The only other male member of the family is Charles's recently married brother, Prince Jérôme Napoléon (born 1957). There are no other legitimate descendants in the male line from Napoleon I or his brothers. There are, however, numerous descendants of Napoleon's illegitimate, but recognized son Alexandre Colonna-Walewski from his union with Marie, Countess Walewski. A descendant of Napoleon's sister Caroline Bonaparte is the actor René Auberjonois. Recent DNA matches with living descendants of Jerome and Count Walewski have confirmed the existence of descendants of Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, namely the Clovis family.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jacopo Bonaparte: Sac de Rome. Écrit EN 1527 par Jacques Bonaparte. Témoin oculaire, hrsgg. by Bonaparte, Napoléon Louis, Florenz 1850
  2. ^ Drake, Joshua F. (October 2005). "The partbooks of a Florentine ex-patriate: new light on Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Ms. Magl. XIX 164–7". Early Music. 33 (4): 639–646. doi:10.1093/em/cah154.
  3. ^ Burke, Sir Bernard (1869). Vicissitudes of Families. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dye.
  4. ^ Lucotte, Gerard; Thomasset, Thierry; Hrechdakian, Peter (2011). "Haplogroup of the Y Chromosome of Napoléon the First". Journal of Molecular Biology Research. 1 (1). doi:10.5539/jmbr.v1n1p12.
  5. ^ a b Lucotte, Gerard; Hrechdakian, Peter (2015). "New Advances Reconstructing the Y Chromosome Haplotype of Napoleon the First Based on Three of his Living Descendants". Journal of Molecular Biology Research. 5 (1). doi:10.5539/jmbr.v5n1p1.
  6. ^ Herbert, Susannah (12 March 1997). "Father and son in battle for the Napoléonic succession". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
House of Bonaparte
Vacant
Title last held by
House of Bourbon
Ruled as King of France 		Ruling House of the French Empire
1804–1814 		Succeeded by
House of Bourbon
Ruled as King of France
Vacant
Title last held by
House of Orléans
Ruled as King of the French 		Ruling House of the French Empire
1852–1870 		Empire Abolished
Third French Republic Declared
Preceded by Ruling House of the Kingdom of Italy
1805–1814 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ruling House of the Kingdom of Naples
1806–1808 		Succeeded by
Ruling House of the Kingdom of Spain
1808–1813
Preceded by
New Creation
Succeeded the Batavian Republic
 Ruling House of the Kingdom of Holland
1806–1810 		Kingdom Abolished
Part of the French Empire
Kingdom of the Netherlands created in 1815
Preceded by
New Creation
Formed from the territories ceded by Prussia in Peace of Tilsit
 Ruling House of the Kingdom of Westphalia
1807–1813 		Kingdom Abolished
Dissolved after Battle of Leipzig
Status quo of 1806 restored
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=House_of_Bonaparte&oldid=715543076"