I lived for some years in Rambouillet when I first lived in France and soon learned of the town's connection to Napoleon via the Chateau and the Palais du Roi de Rome.
In Rambouillet, Napoleon Ier, wishing to have a small palace for his son near his occasional residence at the Chateau de Rambouillet, had the former Hotel of the Governor of Rambouillet transformed, built between 1784 and 1785 by order of Louis XVI. This small palace was for the use of the King of Rome (a title afforded to Napoleon's infant son), pending the construction of the immense and grandiose palace on the hill of Chaillot, Paris. This later palace never evenuated due to Napoleon's fall from grace.
I had known of the sad life and tragic end of Napoleon Bonaparte's son (nicknamed l'Aiglon or little eagle) and had visited the garden of the little palace where the child grew up several times in my life in France. I always found it peaceful and pretty but sad. Recently I revisited it and was horrified to see the state of such an historic monument which is supposed to be looked after by the mayor and councillors of Rambouillet, a town I used to call home. The mayor is (still) the head of the French Senate so looking after this historic property is well within his abilites. He and the local council clearly don't seem to care much for this tourist attraction.
Its state is deplorable, the garden full of weeds, the plaque with a message for l'Aiglon is missing or covered in weeds, the fountain inoperable, garish modern toys for children to play on are set in part of the lawn - so ghastly given the context. The interior of the house is painted in such a way as to not detract from any art exhibitions but it contains no soul and not a trace of its former tragic inhabitant. The house houses a 'museum' of board games most of the time. No real info on l'Aiglon. Sad, sad, shameful. My daughter, who has
I enjoyed looking at various artworks promoting art of the Chevreuse area but felt there was a lack of history and soul about the place. Parts of the stairs were crumbling. The building opposite, which had once been part of the complex, seems empty and abandoned with broken windows and pigeons flying in and out. Horrifying. Monsieur Larcher should be ashamed. I wrote in the visitors' book of
my disappointment.
Why does this property matter? It's not flashy, it's not furnished but it is a relic from a specific time in history, a rather momentous time and it illustrates a story that most people (including the French) don't seem to know. Doesn't anyone wonder why Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew took the title of Napoleon III? Where was number II? Well here's that sorry story...
On , Napoleon wrote a conditional abdication, reserving the succession rights of his infant son. On , Napoleon finally relinquished the crown for him and his descendants, but the Senate refused to keep the imperial regime in favour of a restoration of the Bourbons (Louis 18th). The young Napoleon II did not become emperor in , between the conditional abdication of and the unconditional abdication of . Napoleon bid farewell to his troops at Fontainebleau and left for the Island of Elba, off the Italian coast, refusing to allow his wife and son to join him. A convoy taking Empress Marie-Louise and her son to Vienna sailed on . Napoleon never saw his wife and son again.
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As we know, Napoleon returned to France after a short time in exile and ex-military rallied to his cause. The Bourbons were unpopular, but the world was tired of all the wars. He was defeated at Waterloo when he and his marshall made tactical errors. This time abdication was permanent and he lived the rest of his life on a stony outcrop island off the coast of Africa: Saint Helena. There were no visits from his wife and son who were now living in Marie-Louise's home country of Austria. The boy was disappearing from history.
I suppose this is one reason why I have written this particular blogpost. You may say "poor little rich boy'' and you would be right. However, I still feel sad about any child who showed promise but whose circumstances wrecked it all. I find this particular aspect of the life of Napoleon sad and disappointing that neither he nor his wife made much effort to truly parent this little boy who was ripped away from his country and made to feel ashamed of his father.
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The name of Bonaparte was hated and feared throughout Europe.
"Little Napoleon is an object of disorder and fear for most European cabinets. We must have heard the conversations of recent years, to know to what extent the name of this child was angering and frightened even the most skilful ministers and to be aware of everything they invented and proposed to at least make one forget his existence. "
Like his father he pursued a military career, but it occured in Austria, being estranged from the country of his birth. This handsome young man grew up not knowing his father and hardly seeing his mother, brought up as an Austrian prince "Franz" at court by his grandfather Francis I of Austria, thus hiding his identity but it was probable that he lead a rather lonely life where he didn't quite fit in.
His official army career began at age 12, in 1823, when he was made a cadet in the Austrian Army. Accounts from his tutors describe the son of Napoleon as intelligent, serious, and focused. Additionally, he was very tall, having grown to nearly 6 feet (1.8m) by the time he was 17.
On , doctors admitted they could do no more, which is why Napoleon II bitterly said, "My birth and my death, that's my whole story. Between my cradle and my grave, there's a big zero." His mother, who was alerted, did not join him in Vienna until Sunday. He died on
The destiny of a young man who was proclaimed King of Rome at birth and whose father was Napoleon I might have included a vaste empire if his name had not become so poisonous. He died a simple Austrian prince, someone mysterious and touching who fascinated poets and whose name has maintained to this day a type of culte which saw in particular the return of his remains (l'Aiglon) to Paris as a Nazi public relations event. He is buried at Les Invalides now just below the sarcophagus of his famous father. His heart and intestines remain in Vienna to this day, which is traditional for members of the Habsburg family.
Napoleon II was technically "Emperor of the French" for two weeks, when he was not in France. It was because of this short reign of Napoleon II that Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I, proclaimed himself emperor of the French under the name of Napoleon III.
This sad story was made into a play: L'Aiglon is a play in six acts by Edmond Rostand based on the life of Napoleon II, who was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife, Empress Marie Louise.
Sources for images:
Heraldry Par Katepanomegas, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10525411
Photo of Franz Par Leopold Bucher — Malmaison, Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau, Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7494834
Death bed Par Franz Xaver Stöber / D’après Johann Ender — Dorotheum, Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19168817
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1 comments:
Fascinating thank you. Polly.
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