Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Empress of the French from 1810 to 1814 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marie Louise (12 December 1791 – 17 December 1847) was an Austrian archduchess who reigned as 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 1 April 1810 until his abdication on 6 April 1814.
| Marie Louise | |||||
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 Portrait by Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guérin, c. 1812. She wears a diamond and emerald crown, a necklace, and earrings given as a wedding gift by Napoleon. | |||||
| Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla | |||||
| Reign | 11 April 1814 – 17 December 1847 | ||||
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| Empress consort of the French Queen consort of Italy | |||||
| Tenure | 1 April 1810 – 6 April 1814 | ||||
| Born | Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria (1791-12-12)12 December 1791 Hofburg, Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire | ||||
| Died | 17 December 1847(1847-12-17) (aged 56) Parma, Duchy of Parma | ||||
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| House | Habsburg-Lorraine | ||||
| Father | Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor | ||||
| Mother | Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
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 France. She bore Napoleon a son, styled the King of Rome at birth, who briefly succeeded him as Napoleon II. Marie Louise's son was later titled Duke of Reichstadt.
Napoleon's fortunes changed dramatically in 1812 after his failed invasion of Russia. The European powers, including Austria, resumed hostilities towards France in the War of the Sixth Coalition, which ended with the abdication of Napoleon and his exile to Elba. The 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau gave the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to Marie Louise, who ruled the duchies until her death.
Marie Louise married morganatically twice after Napoleon's death in 1821. Her second husband was Count Adam Albert von Neipperg (married 1821), an equerry she met in 1814. She and Neipperg had three children: Albertine, William Albert, and Mathilde. Neipperg died in 1829. Marie Louise married Count Charles-René de Bombelles, her chamberlain, in 1834. She died in Parma in 1847.