Prince Canino Line

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The Prince Canino Line was the senior line of the Bonaparte family following the death of Joseph Bonaparte in 1846, founded by one of Emperor Napoleon I's younger brothers, Lucien Bonaparte. It became extinct in the male line in 1924. The Bonapartist pretenders of the so-called "Prince Napoléon Line" descend in the male line from Prince Jérôme Napoléon, Napoleon's youngest brother.

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[edit] First Empire law

Article 7 of the monarchical constitution of the First French Empire, promulgated 20 May 1804, established that upon extinction of the legitimate natural and adopted male, agnatic descendants of Napoleon I (1769-1821), and those of two of his brothers, Prince Joseph Napoléon ((1768-1844) and Prince Louis Napoléon (1775-1840), the throne was to be awarded to a man selected by the non-dynastic princely and ducal dignitaries of the empire, as ratified by plebiscite.[1] On 24 September 1806, the emperor's youngest brother, Jérôme Napoléon (1784-1860), was made a French prince, along with the future issue of his second marriage to Duchess Catherine of Wurttemberg, and he and his heirs were added into the succession. On 22 March 1815, during the Hundred Days, Napoleon also recognized his brother Lucien and Lucien's sons as Imperial French princes. At no time, however, were Lucien and his issue recognized during the First Empire as eligible by law to inherit the French throne, or any other throne. The title of Principe di Canino e Musignano borne by Lucien and his heirs male was a papal title of nobility, never legally recognized in France.[2]

Therefore, upon the death without issue in 1832 of the Duke of Reichstadt, titular Emperor Napoleon II, the claim to the Bonaparte crown of France devolved upon Prince Joseph Napoléon, formerly King of Naples and Spain. Following his death without sons in 1844, the Imperial claim bypassed Lucien's sons and devolved upon Prince Louis Napoléon, formerly King of Holland, even though Louis had been younger than Lucien.

[edit] Second Empire law

Louis's two elder sons pre-deceased their father, but his third son became Emperor Napoleon III in 1852. The Second Empire's constitution recognized the dynasticity of all of Napoleon I's brothers and their issue, but allowed the emperor to choose the order in which they would inherit the throne in the event he died without male issue. On 18 December 1852 the emperor appointed his only remaining uncle, Prince Jérôme Napoléon, former King of Westphalia, as heir presumptive, again bypassing the male line of Lucien. In May 1870, that order of succession was confirmed by referendum, except that Prince Napoléon Joseph (1822-1891), Jérôme's surviving son by his second wife, Duchess Catherine of Wurttemberg, was named to follow the emperor's son, the Prince Imperial Napoléon Eugène in the succession line.[3] However, a few months later the French Empire was abolished, and has not been restored. Meanwhile, the agnatic descendants of Jérôme Napoléon's branch (the Napoléon Line) are still extant, and still hold the dynastic claim to the Napoleonic legacy.

[edit] Basis of dynastic claim

Thus, despite being the senior Bonapartist line since 1846, at no time have Lucien, Prince di Canino, or his issue been the heirs to the Imperial throne of France under any law of either Empire.

[edit] Princes of Canino and Musignano

At this point, the male line ended.


[edit] Family tree

Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840) married twice firstly to Christine Boyer they had three daughters. He married secondly to Alexandrine de Bleschamp and had six children.

Children from his second marriage include:

  1. Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803–1857)
  2. Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte (1815-1881)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Velde, François. Heraldica.org. First Empire (1804-14 and 1815). Retrieved on November 7, 2006.
  2. ^ (1878) in A. Niemann: Almanach de Gotha (in French). Gotha: Justus Perthes, pp. 225-226. 
  3. ^ Velde, François. Heraldica.org. Second Empire (1852-70). Retrieved on November 7, 2006.

thePeerage.com European royal faily trees website

[edit] External links

Prince Canino Line

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