Eugène de Beauharnais

Eugène de Beauharnais
Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt French Prince Prince of Venice and Viceroy of Italy Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt
Eugène Beauharnais, portrait by Andrea Appiani, 1810.
Duke of Leuchtenberg
Reign	14 November 1817 – 21 February 1824
Successor	Auguste de Beauharnais
Prince of Eichstätt
Reign	14 November 1817 – 21 February 1824
Successor	Auguste de Beauharnais
Viceroy of Italy
Reign	5 June 1805 – 30 May 1814
Prince of Venice
Reign	20 December 1807 – 21 February 1824
Spouse	Princess Augusta of Bavaria
Issue
Josephine, Queen of Sweden and Norway Eugénie, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg Amélie, Empress of Brazil Théodolinde, Duchess of Urach Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg Carolina Clotilde de Beauharnais
Full name
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais
House	House of Beauharnais
Father	Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais
Mother	Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie
Born	3 September 1781 Paris, France
Died	21 February 1824(1824-02-21) (aged 42) Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria

Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam (3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie, future wife of French Emperor Napoléon I.

He was born in Paris, France and became the stepson and adopted child (but not the heir to the imperial throne) of Napoleon. His natural father was executed during the revolutionary Reign of Terror. He commanded the Army of Italy and was viceroy of Italy under his stepfather.

Historians have looked upon him as one of the ablest of Napoleon's relatives.

Contents 1 Military career 2 Status and titles 3 Family 4 Ancestry 5 In Popular Culture 6 External links

Military career

Eugène's first campaign was in the Vendée, where he fought at Quiberon. However, within a year his mother Joséphine had arranged his return to Paris. In the Italian campaigns of 1796–1797, Eugène served as aide-de-camp to his stepfather, whom he also accompanied to Egypt. In Egypt, Eugène was wounded during the Siege of Acre (1799). He returned to France in the autumn of 1799 and helped bring about the reconciliation which then took place between Bonaparte and his mother, torn apart by each other's affairs. When Napoleon became First Consul, Eugène became a captain in the Chasseurs à Cheval of the Consular Guard and with his squadron he took part in the Battle of Marengo.

During the War of the Fifth Coalition, Eugène was put in command of the Army of Italy, with General Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald as his military advisor. In April 1809 he fought and lost the Battle of Sacile against the Austrian army of the Archduke John, but Eugène's troops decisively won the rematch at the Battle of Raab that June. After the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Napoleon recalled the Army of Italy and after joining the main army, on the island of Lobau in the Danube, Eugène took part in the Battle of Wagram.

During the Russian campaign, Eugène again commanded the Army of Italy (IV Corps) with which he fought in the Battle of Borodino and the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. After Napoleon and then Joachim Murat had left the retreating army, Eugène took command of the remnants and led it back to Germany in 1813.

During the campaign of 1813, Eugène fought in the Battle of Lützen. Napoleon then sent him back to Italy, where he organised the defence against the Austrians, holding out on the Mincio until the abdication in 1814. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Eugène retired to Munich and at the behest of his father-in-law Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, did not get involved with Napoleon and France again.

Status and titles

In 14 June 1804 he was made an official member of the imperial family as His Imperial Highness, French Prince (Prince français) Eugène de Beauharnais. By a statute of 5 June 1805 the Emperor added Viceroy of Italy to his titles.

Prince Eugène was adopted by Napoleon on 12 January 1806; while excluded from the French empire's succession, he was given presumptive rights for him and his descendants in the male line to the throne of Italy in the absence of a second son of Napoleon on 16 February 1806, and hence on 20 December 1807 given the title of Prince de Venise ('Prince of Venice'), which had been instituted by article 9 of the decree of 30 March 1806 (when the former Austrian province of Venice was united to Bonaparte's kingdom of Italy) for the Heir Presumptive to Napoleon in Italy.

His stepfather also made him heir to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt in 1810 and hence he technically succeeded as Grand Duke to Archbishop Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, the Prince-Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, upon the latter's abdication in 1813. This position, however, was purely theoretical, as Dalberg's abdication was due to his Grand Duchy's imminent conquest by the Allied armies.

A further imperial sinecure was Archichancelier d'Etat de l'Empire de France (Archchancellor of State of the Empire of France).

Family

In 1806, Eugène married Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika Georgia of Bavaria (1788–1851), eldest daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, and his royal father-in-law made him Duke of Leuchtenberg and gave him the administration of the Principality of Eichstätt on 14 November 1817.

Eugène's and Augusta's children were:

1. Princess Joséphine Maximiliane Eugénie Napoléonne de Beauharnais (1807–1876) became the Queen Consort to King Oscar I of Sweden, himself the son of Napoleon's old love, Désirée Clary.
2. Princess Eugénie Hortense Auguste de Beauharnais (1808–1847). Married Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
3. Prince Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg, (1810–1835) married Queen Mary II of Portugal. There was no issue from this marriage
4. Princess Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais, (31 July 1812 – 26 January 1873) was the second wife of Peter I of Brazil (father of Mary II of Portugal) and became Empress of Brazil
5. Princess Theodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais (1814–1857). Married Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach.
6. Princess Carolina Clotilde de Beauharnais (1816)
7. Prince Maximilian Josèphe Eugène Auguste Napoléon de Beauharnais (1817–1852), married Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna of Russia, eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, and received the title of "Prince Romanovsky", addressed as "His Imperial Highness", in 1852.

Eugène de Beauharnais died on 21 February 1824 in Munich.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Eugène de Beauharnais

16. François de Beauharnais, seigneur de La Boische               8. Claude de Beauharnais, comte des Roches-Baritaud                       17. Marguerite Françoise de Pyvart de Chastillé               4. François de Beauharnais, marquis de la Ferté-Beauharnais                             18. Pierre Hardouineau, seigneur de La Laudanière               9. Renée Hardouineau de Laudanière                       19. Renée Le Pays de Beauville               2. Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais                                   20. Jacques Pyvart de Chastullé               10. François-Louis de Pyvart de Chastullé                       21. Madeleine de Beauchesne               5. Marie Anne Henriette Françoise de Pyvart de Chastullé                             22. Pierre Hardouineau, seigneur de La Laudanière               11. Jeanne Hardouineau de Laudanière                       23. Renée Le Pays de Beauville               1. Eugène de Beauharnais                                         24. Gaspard de Tascher, seigneur de la Pagerie               12. Gaspard Joseph Tascher de la Pagerie                       25. Edmée Henriette Madeleine du Plessis de Savonnières               6. Joseph-Gaspard Tascher de la Pagerie                             26. François Bourreau, seigneur de la Chevalerie               13. Françoise Bourreau de la Chevalerie                       27. Marie Thérèse Jaham des Prés               3. Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie                                   28. Joseph des Vergers de Sablons               14. Joseph François des Vergers de Sannois                       29. Élisabeth de Maigne du Plat               7. Rose-Claire des Vergers de Sannois                             30. Anthony Brown               15. Catherine Marie Brown                       31. Catherine des Vergers de Sannois

In Popular Culture

Eugene de Beauharnais was portrayed by actor Tim Curry in the 1974 mini-series Napoleon and Love.

External links

• Genealogy of the Ducal Family of Leuchtenberg
• http://genealogy.euweb.cz
• Heraldica.org - Napoleonic titles outside France
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Beauharnais, Eugène de". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
•  "Beauharnais, Eugène de". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co. 1914. 

Preceded by None

Duke of Leuchtenberg 14 November 1817 – 21 February 1824

Succeeded by Auguste de Beauharnais

House of Beauharnais Generations are numbered from Claude de Beauharnais, seigneur de Beaumont. 1st generation François V, Marquis de La Ferté-Beauharnais  • Claude, 1st Count of Roches-Baritaud m. Françoise Mouchard 2nd generation François • François VI, Marquis de La Ferté-Beauharnais m. Françoise de Beauharnais  • Claude, 2nd Count of Roches-Baritaud  • Anne, Countess de Barral  • Alexandre, Viscount of Beauharnais m. Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie (later Empress of the French) 3rd generation Adélaïde  • Françoise  • Émilie, Countess of Lavalette  • Eugène, Duke of Leuchtenberg* m. Princess Augusta of Bavaria  • Amedee • Hortense, Queen of Holland*  • Alberic • Stéphanie, Grand Duchess of Baden*  • Josephine, Marquise de Quiqueran-Beaujeu  • Eugénie  • Hortense, Countess de Querelles  • Auguste 4th generation Joséphine, Queen of Sweden and Norway**  • Eugénie, Princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen**  • Auguste, Duke of Leuchtenberg** m. Queen Maria II of Portugal  • Amélie, Empress of Brazil**  • Théodolinde, Countess of Württemberg**  • Carolina**  • Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^ m. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia 5th generation Alexandra**^  • Marie, Princess William of Baden**^  • Nicholas, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^  • Eugenia, Duchess Alexander of Oldenburg**^  • Eugen, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^  • Sergei**^  • Georgi, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^ m. 1st Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg, m. 2nd Princess Anastasia of Montenegro 6th generation Nicholas de Beauharnais**  • Daria, Princess Leon Kotchoubey  • George**  • Alexander, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^  • Sergei, Duke of Leuchtenberg**^  • Elena, Countess Stefan Tyszkiewicz**^ 7th generation Nicholas de Beauharnais**  • Dimitri**  • Nadezhda, Mrs. Mogilevsky**  • Maximilian**  • Natalie, Baroness Vladimir Meller-Zakomelsky**  • Tamara, Mrs. Constantin Karanfilov**  • Sergei**  • Andrei**  • Michael**  • Constantine**  • Marie, Countess Nikolai Mengden-Altenwoga** 8th generation Elena**  • Maria Magdalen, Mrs. Joseph de Pasquale**  • George**  • Anna, Mrs. Stout**  • Eugénie Élisabeth, Mrs. von Bruch**  • Xenia, Countess Dimitri Grabbe**  • Olga, Mrs. Ronald Newburgh**  • Olga, Mrs. Oleg Gaydeburov**  • Nicholas**  • Serge** • Elizabeth, Mrs. John Craft** 9th generation Nicholas Maxiliam • Constantine *also a Prince or Princess des Francais **also a Prince or Princess of Leuchtenberg and Eichstädt ^also a Prince Romanovsky or Princess Romanovskaja

Persondata
Name	Beauharnais, Eugene De
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 September 1781
Place of birth	Paris, France
Date of death	21 February 1824
Place of death	Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria