This is the perspective of Madame Durand about the court of Napoleon. She was a woman who was part of the royal household who heard all the gossip but one imagines that no one who really knew what was going on stopped to help clarify her perceptions of the main personages inner realities. This writer is correctly corrected frequently in the footnotes of this text by a historian with a better command of the facts. I’m sharing this to give you this perspective, flawed as it is. This lady was there and this is what she thinks was happening based on what she saw going on. The real major facts should still be the same. Madame Durand so far strikes me as someone telling her memoirs to the best of her ability.
In this excerpt, we can see the tendency people had to view Hortense, for whatever reason probably more than likely because of jealousy, in a negative light. Durand claims that Hortense didn’t try to get along with Louis. Hortense actually tried very hard to the point that it was literally killing her. Louis was very interested in fostering the perception that he was the victim of his awful wife. Jealousy played a major role in Hortense’s marriage problems and in so much of her friction with others. We’ll see how sensitive Madame Durand’s perception is as the story moves along. Hopefully she’ll surprise us. Hortense’s account of her marriage is available here.
When we last left off, Madame Durand was saying that Napoleon were not involved in an affair. Napoleon loved her but as a daughter.
Durand, in our previous excerpt, was saying that Louis was forced to marry Hortense when he really loved Stephanie Tascher de la Pagerie [later Duchess d’Aremberg/Princess of Baden] - Hortense’s cousin. The person Durand probably was reaching to remember is Hortense’s other cousin, Emilie de Beauharnais. Louis really did have something with Emilie.
Napoleon set Emilie up with the very good but not handsome and older Lavalette. Emilie, after the marriage, did still pine for Louis. Somewhere through the years, Emilie fell deeply in love with Lavalette as she courageously busted Lavalette out of prison the night before his scheduled execution in 1815. That amazing story is here.
Meneval says Louis was in love with Emilie at the time of his marriage to Hortense. He also says Hortense was in love with someone else and neglects to say whom she loved. My guess is that Meneval was implicating General Duroc or Napoleon himself.
If Louis had been still in love with Emilie at the time of his marriage, he probably wouldn’t have behaved like a husband mad with jealousy over his wife. Napoleon also never questioned Louis’ love for Hortense and faulted her on precisely this point. He advised her to use this power to reign him in. Basically Hortense didn’t know how to please or domineer Louis [as Napoleon suggested] and Louis was physically and mentally suffering from various ailments.
Madame Durand writes:
[Stephanie Tascher] which was later united with the Prince of Aremberg. From there came Louis' distancing from a woman whose character was amiable, and who made unnecessary efforts to bring him back to her. He never forgave his brother for the violence he had done to his inclination.
Sourness reigned between them since that time; and when after the death of his eldest son, the Emperor asked him for the second to adopt, he never consented. Napoleon, who aspired to the glory of being the founder of a fourth dynasty, nevertheless wanted an heir, and an heir whom he could train early in his maxims.
From that time on, he talked about his divorce; he took care to allow this idea to spread, without contradicting it, and he saw that he could allow himself this step when he saw fit, without hurting the feelings of his subjects too much.
Josephine held her ground for some time; she was universally loved; she had as much ascendancy over him as it was possible to obtain; she knew how to seize all means of pleasing. She often diverted many storms, and seemed alone to have the gift of calming a naturally imperious and irascible character.
When Bonaparte, still the first Consul, wanted to become emperor, he found strong resistance in his own family [His mother, Cardinal Fesch* and his brother Lucien] made in vain the greatest efforts for him to give up this idea].
As a result of these debates, the first two went to spend some time in Rome; the third, after a violent scene in which he predicted part of what would happen to him, left him, swearing that he would never live under his despotism. He really left a few days later with all his family, and did not return to France until the hundred days. Murat had been appointed king of Naples only after Lucien's refusal, who, when his brother offered him this crown, replied that if he accepted the -
To be continued.
Footnote corrections.
*False. Fesch, at the time of the empire, had been ambassador to Rome for eighteen months. He accompanied the pope to the coronation, etc., etc.
C’est le point de vue de Madame Durand sur la cour de Napoléon. C'était une femme qui faisait partie de la maison royale qui entendait tous les potins mais on imagine que personne qui savait vraiment ce qui se passait ne s'arrêta pour clarifier ses perceptions des principales réalités intérieures des personnages.
Cet écrivain est correctement corrigé fréquemment dans les notes de bas de ce texte par un historien ayant une meilleure maîtrise des faits. Je partage ceci pour vous donner cette perspective, aussi imparfaite qu'elle soit.
Cette dame était là et c'est ce qu'elle pense se passer en fonction de ce qu'elle a vu se passer. Les vrais faits majeurs devraient toujours être les mêmes. Jusqu'à présent, Mme Durand me semble être quelqu'un qui raconte ses mémoires du mieux qu'elle peut.
Dans cet extrait, nous pouvons voir la tendance que les gens avaient à voir Hortense, pour une raison probablement à cause de la jalousie, sous un jour négatif. Durand prétend qu'Hortense n'a pas essayé de s'entendre avec Louis.
Hortense a fait de son mieux au point que cela la tuait littéralement. Louis était très intéressé à favoriser la perception qu'il était la victime de sa terrible femme. La jalousie a joué un rôle majeur dans les problèmes de mariage de Hortense et dans tant de ses frictions avec les autres.
Nous verrons à quel point la perception de Madame Durand est sensible au fil de l’histoire. J'espère qu'elle nous surprendra.
La dernière fois que nous nous sommes arrêtés, Mme Durand disait que Napoléon n'était pas impliqué dans une affaire avec Hortense. Napoléon l'aimait mais comme une fille.
Durand, dans notre extrait précédent, disait que Louis a été forcé d'épouser Hortense alors qu'il aimait vraiment Stéphanie Tascher de la Pagerie [plus tard Duchesse d'Aremberg / Princesse de Bade] - la cousine d'Hortense.
La personne que Durand atteignait probablement pour se souvenir est l'autre cousine d'Hortense, Emilie de Beauharnais. Louis avait vraiment quelque chose avec Emilie. Napoléon a installé Emilie avec la très bonne mais pas beau et plus vieille Lavalette. Émilie, après le mariage, avait encore du fil à retordre pour Louis.
Quelque part au fil des ans, Emilie est tombée profondément amoureuse de Lavalette alors qu'elle sortait courageusement Lavalette de la prison la veille de son exécution prévue en 1815.
Meneval dit que Louis était amoureux d'Emilie au moment de son mariage avec Hortense. Si Louis avait toujours été amoureux d'Emilie au moment de son mariage, il ne se serait probablement pas comporté comme un mari fou de jalousie envers sa femme. Napoléon n'a jamais remis en question l'amour de Louis pour Hortense et lui a reproché précisément sur ce point. Il lui a conseillé d'utiliser ce pouvoir pour le régner. Fondamentalement, Hortense ne savait pas comment plaire ou dominer Louis [comme Napoléon l'a suggéré] et Louis souffrait physiquement et mentalement de divers maux.
Madame Durand écrit:
En 1808, Arenberg épouse Stéphanie Tascher de La Pagerie, une nièce de Joséphine de Beauharnais (impératrice de l'Empire français).
For more click here.