Marie louise of austria biography template

Duchess of Parma (r. 1814–1847); Empress of the French (1810–1814)

Marie Louise (12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847) was Duchess of Parma from 11 April 1814 until her death in 1847. She was Napoleon's second wife and as such Empress of the French and Queen of Italy from their marriage on 2 April 1810 until his abdication on 6 April 1814.

As the eldest child of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria, and his second wife, Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Marie Louise grew up during a period marked by ongoing and unceasing conflict between Austria and revolutionary France. A series of military defeats at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte had inflicted a heavy human toll on Austria and led Francis to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire. The end of the War of the Fifth Coalition resulted in the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise in 1810, which ushered in a brief period of peace and friendship between Austria and the French Empire. Marie Louise agreed to the marriage despite being raised to despise

These included the execution of her aunt, Marie Antoinette (1793), the expulsion of her relatives from their Italian principalities (1796-98), the loss of important areas of her homeland and the repeated occupation of her hometown, Vienna, by the French (1805, 1809). The "archenemy" who seemed to be responsible for all these events was a man called Napoleon Bonaparte.

Marie Louise's father, Emperor Franz, was not equal to the extraordinary political and military challenges of his age, and so, in truth, power rested in other hands, like those of the ambitious and skilful politician Clemens von Metternich, or the talented military officer, Archduke Karl. Even the Emperor saw himself more as a loving father to his people, and he devoted far more time and attention to his own children than was usual in royal families at the time. He enjoyed a particularly close relationship with his eldest daughter, Marie Louise, who was generally believed to be his favourite child. And so, in spite of the constant wars, which twice forced her family to flee from Vienna, she and her siblings grew up in what was to all intents and purposes a peaceful bourgeois environment.

When the tide began to turn against Napoleon in 1814, Marie Louise returned to Vienna, where she found herself in a difficult position. As the exiled wife of Napoleon she found herself coming increasingly under attack, having developed the affectations of an empress and being unwilling to abandon her French lifestyle in matters of fashion, culinary habits and comportment. Thus in her former home country she was soon regarded as spoilt and arrogant.

Contact with Napoleon was systematically impeded by the Viennese Court. Great efforts were made to ensure that the former empress grew apart from her husband. Soon Count Adam von Neipperg (1775–1829), who had a reputation for being a ladies’ man, was assigned to her entourage as cavalier-in-waiting in the hope that he would turn her thoughts in new directions. The plan worked. A scheme to reunite Marie Louise and Napoleon on Elba was initially postponed and then quietly shelved. Husband and wife were destined never to see each other again.

By the time Napoleon returned to Paris from exile on Elba and briefly seized power again, Marie Louise was no longer willing to return to him. This again emphasizes her lack of initiative and simple disposition. She was always biddable and obedient – at first towards her father, then her husband and finally once more towards her father.

At the Congress of Vienna Marie Louise was awarded the duchy of Parma together with Piacenza and Guastalla so that she would be provided for in keeping with her station and as a substitute for her lost status as empress. In 1816 she took up residence in Parma.

Her small son Napoleon Franz remained in the charge of his grandfather in Vienna. After initial protest Maria Louise accepted the separation from her child. Contact between the two became less and less frequent. Marie Louise was now living in Parma, where she had three children by her lover, Count Neipperg, whose existence was kept secret: Alb

Empress and regent of France, duchess of Parma, who was Napoleon's second wife . Name variations: Maria Louisa or Maria Luisa; Marie-Louise; Marie-Louise of France; Marie-Louise Habsburg; Mary Louise of Austria. Archduchess of Austria (1814–1847). Born in Vienna, Austria, on December 12, 1791; died in Parma, Italy, on December 17, 1847; daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman emperor (r. 1792–1806), who was king of Austria as Francis I (r. 1804–1835), and Maria Teresa of Naples (1772–1807); sister of Ferdinand I, emperor of Austria (r. 1835–1848), and Leopoldina of Austria (1797–1817); daughter-in-law of Letizia Bonaparte (1750–1836); became second wife of Napoleon I, emperor of France (r. 1804–1815), in 1810; married Count Adam Adalbert von Neipperg, in 1821; married Count Charles de Bombelles, in 1834; children: (first marriage) Napoleon II (1811–1832), also known as the duc de Reichstadt, king of Rome; (second marriage) two.

Marie Louise of Austria was born in 1791, the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman emperor, and Maria Teresa of Naples . Marie Louise's marriage to Napoleon I Bonaparte was arranged for the purpose of producing an heir and in hopes of establishing a bond between his regime and the Habsburgs, one of Europe's oldest royal houses. However political the bond may have been, Napoleon, who had reluctantly divorced Josephine , grew genuinely fond of Marie Louise, especially when she gave birth to an heir in 1811. When Napoleon abdicated in 1814 and went into exile on the island of Elba, Marie Louise returned home to her father and was granted sovereignty over Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. She was a liberal ruler. After Napoleon's death, she married Count Adam von Neipperg in 1821 and had two children. Following Neipperg's demise in 1829 and an uprising in 1831, she was driven from Parma but was later returned by the Austrians. Marie Louise married Count Charles de Bombelles in 1834, 13 years before she