List of monarchs III
- Thread starter Shiva
- Start date
-
- Tags
- alt history lists ruler game
If there isnt i probabky can make a monarchist indonesia ruler (sukarno was given a suggestion to be a monarch by the japanese)
Ooh, a Bonaparte List. Very interesting. Love how it mirrors OTL in that the Bonaparte can't even agree on who should be Head of the Dynasty.
Btw, for those interested in dynastic politics, and such; I do invite you to the NG community. We currently have a 1230s game, if anyone is interested, please send me a PM!
What if Napoleon stayed on Elba?
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite headIt was also during that time that Ippolita met her future husband, Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, the illegitimate grandson of Napoleon II. Meeting at a ball in 1871, the two soon entered a period of courtship that saw her accepting his hand in marriage in 1875. That same year her brother, now a young adult, also declared his intention to abdicate his birthright, and request that their grandfather make her the heir (using the fact that Joseph I chose his heir instead of the principality going to his closest male relative as the legal reasoning behind it being possible).
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her __________________________.
I'll finish it in just a moment
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
[1] When Napoleon was defeated in 1814 following the War of the Sixth Coalition, he agreed to abdicate and go in exile on the island of Elba, which was to be a independent principality ruled by him until his death, at which point would return to Tuscany. As the Sovereign of Elba, Napoleon modernizied the island by carrying out a series of economic and social reforms - Napoleon thought of escaping the island and return to France, but decided it would be too risky and stayed where he was. In 1818, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, would cede Elba to Napoleon and his heirs in perpetuity in the hopes of getting the good will of the House of Bonaparte.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846[4] Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte was the second son of Louis Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's younger brother, and Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte, née de Beauharnais, who was the step daughter of the Emperor as she was the daughter of the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, the Emperor's first wife, from a previous marriage. His older brother, Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte, was born in 1802 but died in 1807 at age four, making Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte his father's heir. His younger brother, was born in 1809 and named Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte.
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite head
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her __________________________.
Carlo Buonaparte, a Corsican-Genoese Nobleman (1746-1785)
1. Joseph I, King of Spain and Prince of Elba (1768-1844)
- Zénaide Bonaparte, Princess of Canino and Musignano - See the Lucien Branch(3)
- Charlotte Bonaparte, Princess Consort of Elba - See the Louis Branch(5)
2. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and Prince of Elba (1769-1821)
- Napoleon II, Emperor of the French (1811-1832)
-- Karl Heinrich of Austria-Bonaparte, Duke of Gorizia (1830-1885), mother was an Austria-Este
--- Austria-Bonaparte Branch of the Family, Dukes of Gorizia and later Kings of Carniola
--- Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, Prince Consort of Elba - See the Louis Branch(5)
3. Lucien, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (1775-1840)
- His daughters by his first marriage, two of whom married
- Charles Lucien, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (1803-1857) m. his cousin Zénaide (1801-1854)
-- Joseph Lucien, 3rd Prince of Canino and Musignano (1824-1866)
-- Lucien-Joseph, 4th Prince of Canino and Musignano (1828-1872)
-- Charles Napoléon, 5th Prince of Canino and Musignano (1839-1899)
--- Continued the Lucienite Branch of the Family
-- Other children
- Nine other children
4. Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1777-1820)
- Elisa Napoléone Baciocchi (1806-1869)
-- Charles Félix, Count of Calamita (1826-1877)
--- His eldest son, who became a Russian nobleman after marrying a Romanov Grand Duchess
---His second son, who became the Prince of Neuchatel by marriage
--- His third son, who married a british heiress
5. Louis I, King of Holland and Prince of Elba (1778-1846)
- Louis II, Prince of Elba (1804-1893) m. Charlotte Bonaparte (1802-1918)
-- Joseph Napoleon, Hereditary Prince of Elba (1827-1868)
m. Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino (1831-1868)
--- Louis Joseph Bonaparte (1850-1868)
--- Ippolita I, Princess of Elba (1851-1922) m. Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte (1850-1922)
Any children the next poster wants
--- Giacomo Bonaparte (1858-1911) m. Theodosia I, Duchess of Ragusa (1860-1903)
The Ruling Dynasty of Ragusa, the House of Bonaparte-Marmont
--- Other children who died in infancy or in the Fire at the Lutetian Palace
-- Catarina Bonaparte (1828-1877) m. Maximillian II, King of Bavaria (1811-1864)
--- Ludwig II, King of Bavaria (1847-1916)
Continued the House of Wittelsbach
--- Duke Otto of Bavaria (1850-1895)
Had children but they were morganatic
-- Bernard Bonaparte, Prince Bonaparte at Elba (1834-1880)
--- Antonio I, Prince of the Couto Misto (1858-1905)
Started the House Bonaparte of Couto Misto
--- Orazio I, Prince of Heligoland (185
Started the House Bonaparte of Heligoland
--- Mariangela Bonaparte (1861-1920) m. Hélie, Prince of Benevento (1859-)
Continued the Talleyrand-Périgord Dynasty of Benevento
--- Carolina Bonaparte (1864-1906) m. Pedro VI, King of Portugal (1863-1911)
Continued the House of Braganza of Portugal
--- Other children, who included the fathers of the Bonaparte Branches of Brittany, Lebanon and Cyprus)
-- Bruno Bonaparte, Prince Bonaparte at Elba (1837-1869)
--- Yolante Bonaparte (1873-) m. Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy (1869-)
Continued the Savoy Dynasty
--- Giovanni I, King of Corsica (1874-)
Started the Royal House Bonaparte of Corsica
--- Charles XI, King of Provence (1876-)
Started the House Bonaparte of Provence
--- Euphemia Bonaparte (1877-1905) m. Louis II, Prince of Monaco (1870-)
Continued the Grimaldi Dynasty in Monaco (which has a bit more of a militaristi tinge to it)
--- Thomas I, King of Conchinchina (1879-)
Started the House Bonaparte of "Asia"
--- Giovanna Bonaparte (1880-1907) m. the Duke of Sora
--- Roberto Bonaparte (1882-) m. Lili'uokalani, Queen of Hawaii (1879-)
Continued the Royal House of Hawaii, only now with Bonaparte as the male line
--- Leandro Bonaparte (1883-) m. the Princess of Piombino
--- Luisa Bonaparte (1885-) m. Franz III, Austrian Emperor (1883-)
Continued the Imperial House of Austria
-- Victor Bonaparte (1842-1917) m. Isabel I, Empress of Brazil (1846-1921)
Continued the Brazilian Imperial Family
-- Maria Immaculata Bonaparte (184 a catholic nun
(Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
- Charles Louis Bonaparte, Count of Teba (1808-1873)
m. Maria Eugenia, 16th Countess of Teba, 15th Marchioness of Ardales (1826-1920)
-- Louis de Montijo y Bonaparte, 17th Count of Teba, 15th Marquis of Ardales (1857-)
--- His children include a Queen of Spain, Maria Antonia of Montijo y Bonaparte (1881-)
6. Maria Pauline Bonaparte (1780-1825)
7. Maria Annunziata Carlonie (1782-1839) married Joachim Murat, 1st Prince Murat
- Achile, 2nd Prince Murat (1801-1847)
-- Migrated to British Florida, abdicated his title and started the American House of Murat
- Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat (1803-1878)
-- Had children, who either lived in France or in Russia
8. Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860), King of Westphalia (1807-1813) and 1st Prince of Montfort
- Produced the German Branch of the Family, who has mostly remained on its own
1. Joseph I, King of Spain and Prince of Elba (1768-1844)
- Zénaide Bonaparte, Princess of Canino and Musignano - See the Lucien Branch(3)
- Charlotte Bonaparte, Princess Consort of Elba - See the Louis Branch(5)
2. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and Prince of Elba (1769-1821)
- Napoleon II, Emperor of the French (1811-1832)
-- Karl Heinrich of Austria-Bonaparte, Duke of Gorizia (1830-1885), mother was an Austria-Este
--- Austria-Bonaparte Branch of the Family, Dukes of Gorizia and later Kings of Carniola
--- Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, Prince Consort of Elba - See the Louis Branch(5)
3. Lucien, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano (1775-1840)
- His daughters by his first marriage, two of whom married
- Charles Lucien, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (1803-1857) m. his cousin Zénaide (1801-1854)
-- Joseph Lucien, 3rd Prince of Canino and Musignano (1824-1866)
-- Lucien-Joseph, 4th Prince of Canino and Musignano (1828-1872)
-- Charles Napoléon, 5th Prince of Canino and Musignano (1839-1899)
--- Continued the Lucienite Branch of the Family
-- Other children
- Nine other children
4. Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1777-1820)
- Elisa Napoléone Baciocchi (1806-1869)
-- Charles Félix, Count of Calamita (1826-1877)
--- His eldest son, who became a Russian nobleman after marrying a Romanov Grand Duchess
---His second son, who became the Prince of Neuchatel by marriage
--- His third son, who married a british heiress
5. Louis I, King of Holland and Prince of Elba (1778-1846)
- Louis II, Prince of Elba (1804-1893) m. Charlotte Bonaparte (1802-1918)
-- Joseph Napoleon, Hereditary Prince of Elba (1827-1868)
m. Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino (1831-1868)
--- Louis Joseph Bonaparte (1850-1868)
--- Ippolita I, Princess of Elba (1851-1922) m. Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte (1850-1922)
Any children the next poster wants
--- Giacomo Bonaparte (1858-1911) m. Theodosia I, Duchess of Ragusa (1860-1903)
The Ruling Dynasty of Ragusa, the House of Bonaparte-Marmont
--- Other children who died in infancy or in the Fire at the Lutetian Palace
-- Catarina Bonaparte (1828-1877) m. Maximillian II, King of Bavaria (1811-1864)
--- Ludwig II, King of Bavaria (1847-1916)
Continued the House of Wittelsbach
--- Duke Otto of Bavaria (1850-1895)
Had children but they were morganatic
-- Bernard Bonaparte, Prince Bonaparte at Elba (1834-1880)
--- Antonio I, Prince of the Couto Misto (1858-1905)
Started the House Bonaparte of Couto Misto
--- Orazio I, Prince of Heligoland (185
Started the House Bonaparte of Heligoland
--- Mariangela Bonaparte (1861-1920) m. Hélie, Prince of Benevento (1859-)
Continued the Talleyrand-Périgord Dynasty of Benevento
--- Carolina Bonaparte (1864-1906) m. Pedro VI, King of Portugal (1863-1911)
Continued the House of Braganza of Portugal
--- Other children, who included the fathers of the Bonaparte Branches of Brittany, Lebanon and Cyprus)
-- Bruno Bonaparte, Prince Bonaparte at Elba (1837-1869)
--- Yolante Bonaparte (1873-) m. Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy (1869-)
Continued the Savoy Dynasty
--- Giovanni I, King of Corsica (1874-)
Started the Royal House Bonaparte of Corsica
--- Charles XI, King of Provence (1876-)
Started the House Bonaparte of Provence
--- Euphemia Bonaparte (1877-1905) m. Louis II, Prince of Monaco (1870-)
Continued the Grimaldi Dynasty in Monaco (which has a bit more of a militaristi tinge to it)
--- Thomas I, King of Conchinchina (1879-)
Started the House Bonaparte of "Asia"
--- Giovanna Bonaparte (1880-1907) m. the Duke of Sora
--- Roberto Bonaparte (1882-) m. Lili'uokalani, Queen of Hawaii (1879-)
Continued the Royal House of Hawaii, only now with Bonaparte as the male line
--- Leandro Bonaparte (1883-) m. the Princess of Piombino
--- Luisa Bonaparte (1885-) m. Franz III, Austrian Emperor (1883-)
Continued the Imperial House of Austria
-- Victor Bonaparte (1842-1917) m. Isabel I, Empress of Brazil (1846-1921)
Continued the Brazilian Imperial Family
-- Maria Immaculata Bonaparte (184
a catholic nun(Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
- Charles Louis Bonaparte, Count of Teba (1808-1873)
m. Maria Eugenia, 16th Countess of Teba, 15th Marchioness of Ardales (1826-1920)
-- Louis de Montijo y Bonaparte, 17th Count of Teba, 15th Marquis of Ardales (1857-)
--- His children include a Queen of Spain, Maria Antonia of Montijo y Bonaparte (1881-)
6. Maria Pauline Bonaparte (1780-1825)
7. Maria Annunziata Carlonie (1782-1839) married Joachim Murat, 1st Prince Murat
- Achile, 2nd Prince Murat (1801-1847)
-- Migrated to British Florida, abdicated his title and started the American House of Murat
- Lucien, 3rd Prince Murat (1803-1878)
-- Had children, who either lived in France or in Russia
8. Jerome Bonaparte (1784-1860), King of Westphalia (1807-1813) and 1st Prince of Montfort
- Produced the German Branch of the Family, who has mostly remained on its own
Last edited:
What if Napoleon stayed on Elba?
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
[6] Joseph Charles Bonaparte was the oldest son of Princess Ippolita and Prince Franz Georg and was born in 1876, he was the oldest son of eight children, four sons and three daughters. He was a notorious gambler who almost gave away his title of Hereditary Prince of Elba to the then-current Lucienite head Charles Napoléon in a drunken poker game in 1897.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his ___________.
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
[1] When Napoleon was defeated in 1814 following the War of the Sixth Coalition, he agreed to abdicate and go in exile on the island of Elba, which was to be a independent principality ruled by him until his death, at which point would return to Tuscany. As the Sovereign of Elba, Napoleon modernizied the island by carrying out a series of economic and social reforms - Napoleon thought of escaping the island and return to France, but decided it would be too risky and stayed where he was. In 1818, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, would cede Elba to Napoleon and his heirs in perpetuity in the hopes of getting the good will of the House of Bonaparte.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846[4] Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte was the second son of Louis Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's younger brother, and Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte, née de Beauharnais, who was the step daughter of the Emperor as she was the daughter of the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, the Emperor's first wife, from a previous marriage. His older brother, Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte, was born in 1802 but died in 1807 at age four, making Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte his father's heir. His younger brother, was born in 1809 and named Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte.
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite headIt was also during that time that Ippolita met her future husband, Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, the illegitimate grandson of Napoleon II. Meeting at a ball in 1871, the two soon entered a period of courtship that saw her accepting his hand in marriage in 1875. That same year her brother, now a young adult, also declared his intention to abdicate his birthright, and request that their grandfather make her the heir (using the fact that Joseph I chose his heir instead of the principality going to his closest male relative as the legal reasoning behind it being possible).
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite head
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his ___________.
What if Napoleon stayed on Elba?
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
1948-1960: Louis III (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [7]
[7] Louis Giovanni Charles Giorgio Jerome Lucian Bonaparte was a Prince of a new age.
The eldest son of Joseph II and Adelaide of Westphalia, Louis (called Gio by close friends and family) reach maturity in a world full of new ideas and standards. He liked to have a good time and he liked people. And he didn't see why he should only have a good time with certain types of people.
So, it surprised no one when the young Louis married, not a fellow blue blood, but a girl of no particular bloodline or heritage: Loretta Columbo. Loretta was a typist when she met Louis, a real career girl. But the class difference didn't faze Louis, and in 1934, the 31-year-old Louis would marry the 25-year-old Loretta. The couple would have four children.
As the European situation darkened (France continued to expand their reach), Elba was something of an oasis from the trouble, and the now Prince Louis strove to ignore the threat. The regular parties and events thrown by Prince Louis would cause Elba to become both the largest tourist destination and a hub of espionage.
And while normally you can't ignore your problems until they go away, Prince Louis managed it by dying before the whole thing blew up in his face. The Prince would die in an automobile accident at age 57, leaving the whole mess in the lap of his heir: ________.
And while politicians and economists still curse Prince Louis's inattention to this day, romanticists and poets still long for the Golden Age of Elba.
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
1948-1960: Louis III (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [7]
[1] When Napoleon was defeated in 1814 following the War of the Sixth Coalition, he agreed to abdicate and go in exile on the island of Elba, which was to be a independent principality ruled by him until his death, at which point would return to Tuscany. As the Sovereign of Elba, Napoleon modernizied the island by carrying out a series of economic and social reforms - Napoleon thought of escaping the island and return to France, but decided it would be too risky and stayed where he was. In 1818, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, would cede Elba to Napoleon and his heirs in perpetuity in the hopes of getting the good will of the House of Bonaparte.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite headIt was also during that time that Ippolita met her future husband, Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, the illegitimate grandson of Napoleon II. Meeting at a ball in 1871, the two soon entered a period of courtship that saw her accepting his hand in marriage in 1875. That same year her brother, now a young adult, also declared his intention to abdicate his birthright, and request that their grandfather make her the heir (using the fact that Joseph I chose his heir instead of the principality going to his closest male relative as the legal reasoning behind it being possible).
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
[6] Joseph Charles Bonaparte was the oldest son of Princess Ippolita and Prince Franz Georg and was born in 1876, he was the oldest son of eight children, four sons and three daughters. He was a notorious gambler who almost gave away his title of Hereditary Prince of Elba to the then-current Lucienite head Charles Napoléon in a drunken poker game in 1897.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his son .
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
View attachment 638577
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846
[4] Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte was the second son of Louis Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's younger brother, and Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte, née de Beauharnais, who was the step daughter of the Emperor as she was the daughter of the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, the Emperor's first wife, from a previous marriage. His older brother, Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte, was born in 1802 but died in 1807 at age four, making Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte his father's heir. His younger brother, was born in 1809 and named Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte.Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then thet had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandemn with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their seven children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite head
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his son .
[7] Louis Giovanni Charles Giorgio Jerome Lucian Bonaparte was a Prince of a new age.
The eldest son of Joseph II and Adelaide of Westphalia, Louis (called Gio by close friends and family) reach maturity in a world full of new ideas and standards. He liked to have a good time and he liked people. And he didn't see why he should only have a good time with certain types of people.
So, it surprised no one when the young Louis married, not a fellow blue blood, but a girl of no particular bloodline or heritage: Loretta Columbo. Loretta was a typist when she met Louis, a real career girl. But the class difference didn't faze Louis, and in 1934, the 31-year-old Louis would marry the 25-year-old Loretta. The couple would have four children.
As the European situation darkened (France continued to expand their reach), Elba was something of an oasis from the trouble, and the now Prince Louis strove to ignore the threat. The regular parties and events thrown by Prince Louis would cause Elba to become both the largest tourist destination and a hub of espionage.
And while normally you can't ignore your problems until they go away, Prince Louis managed it by dying before the whole thing blew up in his face. The Prince would die in an automobile accident at age 57, leaving the whole mess in the lap of his heir: ________.
And while politicians and economists still curse Prince Louis's inattention to this day, romanticists and poets still long for the Golden Age of Elba.
Last edited:
How could he be 31 in 1934 when he married and 45 in 1960 when he died?
Good catch, I changed his death date after I set his end of reign date. I’ll fix that.
What if Napoleon stayed on Elba?
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
1948-1960: Louis III (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [7]
1960-Present: Charlotte I (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [8]
Princess Charlotte, 1968[8] Charlotte was the youngest child of Prince Louis III and Princess Loretta; she was the only daughter. Her older brothers were with their father when the car accident occurred and they all died, leaving her the heir. Immediately it was suspected that the fascists in France had been behind the accident and it wasn't an accident. As the car had gone sailing off a cliff and been destroyed in an explosion on the rocky beach beneath, it was impossible to verify. However, rumors abounded that the Prince's brake line had been cut.
The situation in Europe that her father had ignored while striving to keep Elba a place of neutrality, was very similar to over fifty years earlier as the continent divided up into two camps. This time, however, the alliances were quite different.
Since the 1930s the Republic in France had transformed into a fascist dictatorship under Chief Marshal Phillipe Pétain. He'd married late in life at the age of 64 and his only son, Henri Pétain, was born in 1922. By the mid 40s, Henri was Deputy Marshall of all France, his father's official heir, and known as the Young Marshall in contrast to his father being the Old Marshall. When the Old Marshall died at the age of 95 in 1951, the Young Marshall took over and consolidated his power even further. Henri wanted to have himself declared Emperor and establish a Second French Empire; but there was one major problem. Prince Louis III of Elba was the official heir of the first Emperor and to many, declaring France an Empire again was tantamount to inviting the heir of Napoleon to restore the Bonapartes to power. Furthermore, the Prince in Elba had been a constitutional presiding monarch of a democracy and had been for a century. Elba stood in the way.
France had a number of allies in more conservative monarchist nations or those that, like France, had turned their republic into a façade for a fascist dictatorship. Allied with France were the Russian Empire, the Bulgarian State, the Spanish Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Hungary, which dominated the Balkans. Standing against France were the democracies- both republics and constitutional monarchies. Chief among these was the Kingdom of Italy and the Latin Alliance, the Austrian Kingdom, Greater Prussia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Republic of Turkey.
Caught in the middle was Elba, right between French Corsica and the Italian State of Tuscany in the Kingdom of Italy. Charlotte's grandfather had made Elba a fortress while keeping it neutral. Other neutral nations were on the periphery of possible war: the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Republic of the Caucuses, and the Republic of Upper Norway. But not Elba.
So the idea that the death of the royal family was due to the Young Marshall's order was not just a wild idea. During the last months of Prince Louis III's life, French forces had built up on Corsica while at the same time Italian ones built up in Tuscany, as well as both nations building up along their borders. (The same was happening between Austria and Hungary, Prussia and Russia, Bulgaria and Turkey, and the United Kingdom with France and Spain for a war at sea.)
Princess Loretta Bonaparte, Regent 1960-1968, known as the Princess Mother
The Princess Mother was a young, vibrant 51 year old woman when she became regent for her daughter. The fact that she'd lost her husband and three older children filled her with a determination and passion to protect her principality, her princess, and her people. The fact that she was famous throughout the world for her fairytale romance with her late husband gave her power to mobilize the non-fascist world on her behalf. (In 1956 a Hollywood movie had been made of her and Prince Louis's romance starring Grace Kelly as Princess Loretta and Gregory Peck as Louis.)
As the investigation into the 'accident' moved ahead, Loretta made an alliance with the nations that were expected to line up against France: Italy, Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Turkey. But what wasn't expected was that the United States of America made an alliance with Elba. If either one was attacked the other would consider it an act of war.
Suddenly France wasn't ready to invade Elba anymore. With all the European foes of France in alliance with Elba and Elba in alliance with the United States, it was clear that if war broke out that it would mean the industrial powerhouse of the West would be at war with France and her allies.
Instead of war, there was a new brinksmanship that reached the very precipice and then backed down. Instead of the armies of Europe meeting on the battlefield, the diplomats met in summits and conference. In the spring of 1963 a Grand Summit met at Cosmopoli with the Princess Mother presiding at the Summit and a treaty of peace was enacted.
The Young Marshall abandoned his plans of a new French Empire. Loretta began to be called the Princess Mother of Europe. Then in 1966 a student revolt in Paris expanded into a new Revolution and on January 7, 1967, the Fourth Republic was formed and Henri Pétain was arrested, tried, and found guilty of crimes against the People of France. He was exiled to a small island in the South Atlantic where he died in the mid 1980s.
Swiftly the other fascist dictatorships were overthrown, Republics were re-established, and the absolute monarchies became Constitutional ones.
On her 18th Birthday in 1968, the Princess Charlotte was coronated as the Reigning Princess and the Princess Mother retired to an advisory role.
Princess Charlotte was as loved as her mother throughout the world. She married in1971 to a Bonaparte, Jack Bonaparte, a direct descendant of Louis II's brother, Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. The Royal Wedding was televised to the world and the new royal couple dominated popular news. Jack was an American as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's grandson, Eugene Bonaparte, had moved there from Elba during the reign of Louis II.
The Famous Photo of the Royal Couple on their 20th Anniversary in 1991
Princess Mother Loretta died at the age of 82 in 1993. By then the Royal Couple had three children, with the Hereditary Prince, Napoleon Bonaparte III, being the oldest, born in 1974. Napoleon himself married in 2003 and now has two children, his heir being Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, born in 2006.
Elba has continued to be the resort capital of the world and as well, due to there being no income tax, a high tech center. Princess Charlotte and Prince Jack are both now 70 years old and Prince Napoleon is 45. The Fourth Republic continues strong in France, although there is a current wishing for the replacing of an elected President with a Constitutional Emperor, who would of course be Napoleon Bonaparte III.
Hereditary Prince Napoleon Bonaparte III
I'll come up with a new list in a bit.
Monarchs of Elba:
1814-1824: Napoleon I (House of Bonaparte) [1]
1824-1844: Joseph I (House of Bonaparte) [2]
1844-1846: Louis I (House of Bonaparte) [3]
1846-1893: Louis II (House of Bonaparte) [4]
1893-1922: Ippolita (House of Bonaparte) [5]
1922-1948: Joseph II (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [6]
1948-1960: Louis III (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [7]
1960-Present: Charlotte I (House of Austria-Bonaparte) [8]
[1] When Napoleon was defeated in 1814 following the War of the Sixth Coalition, he agreed to abdicate and go in exile on the island of Elba, which was to be a independent principality ruled by him until his death, at which point would return to Tuscany. As the Sovereign of Elba, Napoleon modernizied the island by carrying out a series of economic and social reforms - Napoleon thought of escaping the island and return to France, but decided it would be too risky and stayed where he was. In 1818, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, would cede Elba to Napoleon and his heirs in perpetuity in the hopes of getting the good will of the House of Bonaparte.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846[4] Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte was the second son of Louis Bonaparte, Emperor Napoleon's younger brother, and Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte, née de Beauharnais, who was the step daughter of the Emperor as she was the daughter of the Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, the Emperor's first wife, from a previous marriage. His older brother, Napoléon Louis Charles Bonaparte, was born in 1802 but died in 1807 at age four, making Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte his father's heir. His younger brother, was born in 1809 and named Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte.
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then they had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandem with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their six surviving children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite headIt was also during that time that Ippolita met her future husband, Franz Georg of Austria-Bonaparte, the illegitimate grandson of Napoleon II. Meeting at a ball in 1871, the two soon entered a period of courtship that saw her accepting his hand in marriage in 1875. That same year her brother, now a young adult, also declared his intention to abdicate his birthright, and request that their grandfather make her the heir (using the fact that Joseph I chose his heir instead of the principality going to his closest male relative as the legal reasoning behind it being possible).
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
[6] Joseph Charles Bonaparte was the oldest son of Princess Ippolita and Prince Franz Georg and was born in 1876, he was the oldest son of eight children, four sons and three daughters. He was a notorious gambler who almost gave away his title of Hereditary Prince of Elba to the then-current Lucienite head Charles Napoléon in a drunken poker game in 1897.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his son .
[7] Louis Giovanni Charles Giorgio Jerome Lucian Bonaparte was a Prince of a new age.
The eldest son of Joseph II and Adelaide of Westphalia, Louis (called Gio by close friends and family) reach maturity in a world full of new ideas and standards. He liked to have a good time and he liked people. And he didn't see why he should only have a good time with certain types of people.
So, it surprised no one when the young Louis married, not a fellow blue blood, but a girl of no particular bloodline or heritage: Loretta Columbo. Loretta was a typist when she met Louis, a real career girl. But the class difference didn't face Louis, and in 1934, the 31-year-old Louis would marry the 25-year-old Loretta. The couple would have four children.
As the European situation darkened (France continued to expand their reach), Elba was something of an oasis from the trouble, and the now Prince Louis strove to ignore the threat. The regular parties and events thrown by Prince Louis would cause Elba to become both the largest tourist destination and a hub of espionage.
And while normally you can't ignore your problems until they go away, Prince Louis managed it by dying before the whole thing blew up in his face. The Prince would die in an automobile accident at age 57, leaving the whole mess in the lap of his heir: his only child to survive the accident, ten year old Princess Charlotte Louise Josephine Napoléone Loretta Columbo Bonaparte.
And while politicians and economists still curse Prince Louis's inattention to this day, romanticists and poets still long for the Golden Age of Elba.
Napoleon II (Napoleon's son) was not allowed to become the Prince of Elba, so when Napoleon died in 1824, the throne would go to his older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who'd been King of Naples and King of Spain during the French Empire, but was at this time a private citizen living in the United States.
[2] Joseph was born in 1768 and was 56 when he became Prince of Elba. He'd risen to prominence under his brother and had been King of Naples as Giuseppe I from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Spain as José I from 1808 until he was deposed in 1813. He then served his brother as Lieutenant General of the Empire and governed Paris.
When his brother was exiled to Elba, he chose to retire from public service and moved to the United States. When his nephew, Napoleon II, was ineligible due to the decree of 1818 by Ferdinand III, which allowed Napoleon's wife and son to join him on Elba, Joseph was made Prince of Elba. He'd previously been offered to be Emperor of Mexico by revolutionaries in 1820 and refused, but he accepted this in order to continue the House of Bonaparte as a royal house.
"Someday France will ask the heir of Napoleon to return and be its Emperor," he is reported to have told his 13 year old nephew when he arrived on the island and took up his position, "They may not allow you to be Prince of Elba, but you are the hope of the French and I am here to protect you and your heirs until that day."
However, many believe his true desire was to see his own family eventually take that position, as his two legitimate daughters were married to their cousins, sons of his younger brothers. As it was, his daughters and their husbands often spend time in his Elban Court as well as lived as citizens of France. His eldest daughter was Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (23 years old) and her husband was Charles Lucien Bonaparte (21 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Lucien Bonaparte. His younger daughter was Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (21 years old) and her fiancé was Napoléon-Louis Bonaparte (20 years old), son of Napoleon and Joseph's younger brother Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. They married in 1826.
Prince Joseph ruled Elba peacefully until his death in 1844. By then his nephew, Napoleon II, had died without legitimate issue. As his own daughters were not eligible, the throne went to his younger brother Louis Bonaparte, who'd been King of Holland during Napoleon's reign in France.
[3] Louis was born in 1778 and became the King of Holland and ruled it from 1806 to 1810 when his brother Napoleon invaded the Netherlands and annexed them to France. Louis would come to Elba for the wedding of his son Napoléon-Louis to his brother Joseph's youngest daughter Charlotte in 1826.
When Joseph died in 1844, there was some contention for who will take the title of Prince of Elba as Louis' nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte claimed that as the son of the third oldest Bonaparte, that he should take the throne. But in Joseph's will, it said that Louis will be his successor. This would in the future, lead to the descendants of Charles Lucian, called the Lucientines to try and take the throne of Elba.
Prince Louis' reign in Elba besides the beginning went peacefully until his death in 1846 at the age of 67. He was succeeded by his son, Napoléon-Louis, husband of Joseph I's younger daughter, Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte.
Prince Louis II dancing with Princess Charlotte at their Coronation Ball, 1846
As a child, as Louis II, he had briefly been King of Holland for ten days upon his father's abdication in 1810 before the Emperor annexed Holland to the French Empire. Louis II was not in Holland at this time but lived with his mother in Paris. He took the same royal name when he became the Reigning Prince.
Louis spent his young adulthood living in Paris part of the time and then in Portoferraio, the royal capital of Elba. He and his wife, Princess Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte, the daughter of Joseph I, devoted themselves during her father's reign and his father's reign to the Projet de Bonaparte, which was an intentional advocacy for the Francization of Elba, modeled on the Francization of Corsica, the homeland of the Bonapartes, in the previous century. Most of their time in Paris was spent recruiting Bonapartists to emigrate to the island. During their time on the island they worked to spread French culture and language.
When he took the throne, he was 42 and the princess was 43. They had six children who'd all survived infancy, the oldest born in 1827 and now 15 years old, the youngest 3 years old. Then they had one more in 1848. One of his first acts as Reigning Prince was to create a public school system for Elba and make French the language of the schools and government. While Charlotte's father, Prince Joseph I had supported the project, Louis I, had not cooperated with the Projet de Bonaparte, following the same pattern he'd adopted as King of Holland when he'd insisted on his court being Dutch in language and culture; in this case Italian being the language of his court for Elba. This had caused conflict between father and son, and so the Projet de Bonaparte while Louis I was Reigning Prince was never an official position of the Court.
As part of this, Louis II renamed the capital city from Portoferraia, which was Italian for Port of Iron, to Cosmopoli, the original name of the community when Cosimo I de' Medici had founded the city in 1548. Then Louis legalized gambling and constructed a grand luxury hotel and casino in Cosmopoli. By 1855 he was able to abolish all taxation in Elba as the income from the, by then, several casinos which were owned by the Reigning Prince, was more than enough to not only meet the Court's needs but improve the standard of living for all on the island.
The other great reform of Louis II was constitutional. In 1848 as revolution was sweeping across Europe, he created the Assemblée du Peuple, a monocameral legislative body of Conseillers elected by all male citizens of the island. (Anyone who was French who immigrated was automatically granted citizenship.) The Reigning Prince would continue to govern, but now in tandem with the democratically elected legislative body.
During Louis II's reign the island became prosperous and a playground for the rich and aristocrats of Europe. Elba pursued a policy of neutrality in the European Wars of the period while at the same time showing partiality without formal support of France and Tuscany and then the Kingdom of Italy.
Louis lived a long life and died at the age of 88. He was survived by his wife, Princess Charlotte, who was 90, and their six surviving children, many grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was succeeded by his granddaughter, Ippolita, who was the first reigning princess of Elba.
[5] Born in 1851 as the princess Maria Ippolita Giovanna Nicoletta Magdalena Rogeria Michaela Rafaela Gabriella Fernanda Catarina Luisa Natalina Euphemia di Buonaparte e Buonaparte (the House of Bonaparte of Elba having assumed the Spanish custom of using both parents' surname), the second-eldest child and only daughter of the Hereditary Prince Joseph Napoleon of Elba and his wife, Princess Maria Augusta of Piombino. Originally Ippolita was simply a highly ranked but not all-important daughter of the House of Bonaparte, whose education, while much higher than that of most women (she was tutored with her brothers) of the era, was still focused on her future as a wife and mother.
That mostly changed in 1868, when, at the age of 17, she lost her father, mother and most of her siblings at the infamous Fire at the Lutetian Palace (which has been since blamed on the Lucienites). The only surviving sibling and guardian of her younger brother, the 10-year-old Giacomo Buonaparte, who had lost his right leg and most of his face and vision in the fire and was now the heir to the Elban throne, Ippolita mostly lost her focus on marriage following that, focusing instead on viciously protection her brother's inheritance during the Time of Snakes, the semi-secret civil/gang war that enraptured the principality from 1869 to 1872
Ippolita in 1872, the same day she took that photograph she also ordered the "dealing with" of her cousin Lucien-Joseph, the Lucienite head
During her time as Hereditary Princess, Ippolita mostly served as her grandfather's stand-in (a part of her training to rulership) and his main ambassador, working her charms in the establishment of the Latin League in the 1880s, which saw the Kingdom of Italy finally accept the continued existence of the minor italian states (Piombino, Tavolara, Scavolino, Sora, Benevento, Cospaia, Ragusa, San Marino, the Two-Sicilian Remnant and Monaco) and established a free trade region among them all. She also was responsible for signing the Treaty of the Fruit with Monaco (who never lost 98% of its territory), establishing the two principalities 150-years-long friendship. Ippolita also worked as a matchmaker for her relatives, being responsible for the marriages of her brother and many of her male and female cousins, besides gaining the thrones of the Couto Misto and Heligoland for the twins Antonie and Horace, her first cousins.
Inheriting the throne of Elba in 1893, Ippolita's reign was marked by the mantainance of peace in her islands even while Europe was engulfed by the flames of war. Keeping the principality neutral during the Great War, which started in 1909 over disputes in North Africa, and only watching while Germany and Britain fought viciously against the French and the Russians. Only in the aftermath of the war that Ippolita got involved, helping herself with some minor French islands and gaining the thrones of some of the newborn states of Europe for her relatives (which, like her many other involvements with thrones and marriages, gained her the nickname of "The Aunt of Europe", to differentiate from the Mothers and Fathers-in-Law of Europe)
A long-lived woman like many of her relatives, but not ever surpassing her grandmother's 115 years (Princess Charlotte only died in 1918), Ippolita outlived her husband, who died only weeks before her at the age of 72, and some of her children, dying at the age of 71 from breast cancer. She was succeeded by her son Joseph.
Joseph would marry Princess Adelaide of Westphalia, daughter of Duke Jerome of Westphalia (who became Duke of Westphalia because of his good friendship with German Emperor Frederick III) in 1902, and they would go on to have five children between 1903 and 1911. Joseph was a big supporter of the Latin Leauge and would help his mother Ippolta expand it by adding new members including Spain, Corsica, and Provence.
When his mother Ippolita died in 1922, Joseph would become Prince Joseph II of Elba at the age of 46 and would rule in a time of peace throughout Europe. But trouble was brewing on the horizon because France was now under a Fascist regime. So Joseph II expanded the army and navy in case of an invasion by France.
Joseph II peacefully died in his sleep in 1948 at the age of 72, surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren. He was succeeded by his son .
The eldest son of Joseph II and Adelaide of Westphalia, Louis (called Gio by close friends and family) reach maturity in a world full of new ideas and standards. He liked to have a good time and he liked people. And he didn't see why he should only have a good time with certain types of people.
So, it surprised no one when the young Louis married, not a fellow blue blood, but a girl of no particular bloodline or heritage: Loretta Columbo. Loretta was a typist when she met Louis, a real career girl. But the class difference didn't face Louis, and in 1934, the 31-year-old Louis would marry the 25-year-old Loretta. The couple would have four children.
As the European situation darkened (France continued to expand their reach), Elba was something of an oasis from the trouble, and the now Prince Louis strove to ignore the threat. The regular parties and events thrown by Prince Louis would cause Elba to become both the largest tourist destination and a hub of espionage.
And while normally you can't ignore your problems until they go away, Prince Louis managed it by dying before the whole thing blew up in his face. The Prince would die in an automobile accident at age 57, leaving the whole mess in the lap of his heir: his only child to survive the accident, ten year old Princess Charlotte Louise Josephine Napoléone Loretta Columbo Bonaparte.
And while politicians and economists still curse Prince Louis's inattention to this day, romanticists and poets still long for the Golden Age of Elba.
Princess Charlotte, 1968
The situation in Europe that her father had ignored while striving to keep Elba a place of neutrality, was very similar to over fifty years earlier as the continent divided up into two camps. This time, however, the alliances were quite different.
Since the 1930s the Republic in France had transformed into a fascist dictatorship under Chief Marshal Phillipe Pétain. He'd married late in life at the age of 64 and his only son, Henri Pétain, was born in 1922. By the mid 40s, Henri was Deputy Marshall of all France, his father's official heir, and known as the Young Marshall in contrast to his father being the Old Marshall. When the Old Marshall died at the age of 95 in 1951, the Young Marshall took over and consolidated his power even further. Henri wanted to have himself declared Emperor and establish a Second French Empire; but there was one major problem. Prince Louis III of Elba was the official heir of the first Emperor and to many, declaring France an Empire again was tantamount to inviting the heir of Napoleon to restore the Bonapartes to power. Furthermore, the Prince in Elba had been a constitutional presiding monarch of a democracy and had been for a century. Elba stood in the way.
France had a number of allies in more conservative monarchist nations or those that, like France, had turned their republic into a façade for a fascist dictatorship. Allied with France were the Russian Empire, the Bulgarian State, the Spanish Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Hungary, which dominated the Balkans. Standing against France were the democracies- both republics and constitutional monarchies. Chief among these was the Kingdom of Italy and the Latin Alliance, the Austrian Kingdom, Greater Prussia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Republic of Turkey.
Caught in the middle was Elba, right between French Corsica and the Italian State of Tuscany in the Kingdom of Italy. Charlotte's grandfather had made Elba a fortress while keeping it neutral. Other neutral nations were on the periphery of possible war: the Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Republic of the Caucuses, and the Republic of Upper Norway. But not Elba.
So the idea that the death of the royal family was due to the Young Marshall's order was not just a wild idea. During the last months of Prince Louis III's life, French forces had built up on Corsica while at the same time Italian ones built up in Tuscany, as well as both nations building up along their borders. (The same was happening between Austria and Hungary, Prussia and Russia, Bulgaria and Turkey, and the United Kingdom with France and Spain for a war at sea.)
Into this mess stepped Charlotte's mother, the Princess Loretta. The fact she'd begun life as a commoner and her stock was old Elban, now served her well. She became the Regent and organized the Principality for the coming storm.Princess Loretta Bonaparte, Regent 1960-1968, known as the Princess Mother
The Princess Mother was a young, vibrant 51 year old woman when she became regent for her daughter. The fact that she'd lost her husband and three older children filled her with a determination and passion to protect her principality, her princess, and her people. The fact that she was famous throughout the world for her fairytale romance with her late husband gave her power to mobilize the non-fascist world on her behalf. (In 1956 a Hollywood movie had been made of her and Prince Louis's romance starring Grace Kelly as Princess Loretta and Gregory Peck as Louis.)
As the investigation into the 'accident' moved ahead, Loretta made an alliance with the nations that were expected to line up against France: Italy, Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Turkey. But what wasn't expected was that the United States of America made an alliance with Elba. If either one was attacked the other would consider it an act of war.
Suddenly France wasn't ready to invade Elba anymore. With all the European foes of France in alliance with Elba and Elba in alliance with the United States, it was clear that if war broke out that it would mean the industrial powerhouse of the West would be at war with France and her allies.
Instead of war, there was a new brinksmanship that reached the very precipice and then backed down. Instead of the armies of Europe meeting on the battlefield, the diplomats met in summits and conference. In the spring of 1963 a Grand Summit met at Cosmopoli with the Princess Mother presiding at the Summit and a treaty of peace was enacted.
The Young Marshall abandoned his plans of a new French Empire. Loretta began to be called the Princess Mother of Europe. Then in 1966 a student revolt in Paris expanded into a new Revolution and on January 7, 1967, the Fourth Republic was formed and Henri Pétain was arrested, tried, and found guilty of crimes against the People of France. He was exiled to a small island in the South Atlantic where he died in the mid 1980s.
Swiftly the other fascist dictatorships were overthrown, Republics were re-established, and the absolute monarchies became Constitutional ones.
On her 18th Birthday in 1968, the Princess Charlotte was coronated as the Reigning Princess and the Princess Mother retired to an advisory role.
Princess Charlotte was as loved as her mother throughout the world. She married in1971 to a Bonaparte, Jack Bonaparte, a direct descendant of Louis II's brother, Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. The Royal Wedding was televised to the world and the new royal couple dominated popular news. Jack was an American as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's grandson, Eugene Bonaparte, had moved there from Elba during the reign of Louis II.
The Famous Photo of the Royal Couple on their 20th Anniversary in 1991
Princess Mother Loretta died at the age of 82 in 1993. By then the Royal Couple had three children, with the Hereditary Prince, Napoleon Bonaparte III, being the oldest, born in 1974. Napoleon himself married in 2003 and now has two children, his heir being Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, born in 2006.
Elba has continued to be the resort capital of the world and as well, due to there being no income tax, a high tech center. Princess Charlotte and Prince Jack are both now 70 years old and Prince Napoleon is 45. The Fourth Republic continues strong in France, although there is a current wishing for the replacing of an elected President with a Constitutional Emperor, who would of course be Napoleon Bonaparte III.
Hereditary Prince Napoleon Bonaparte III
I'll come up with a new list in a bit.
Last edited:
What if Napoleon died in the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and the French continued the Empire with Tallyrand as the 2nd Emperor?
Emperors of the French
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
[1] Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 and rose in prominence in the ancien regime as a clergyman and diplomat. He became a bishop in 1789 and attended the Estates General in that role, but joined the revolutionaries, renounced his bishopric, and was a major organizer of the Revolution. He was part of the coup in 1799 that established the Consulate and the rise of Napoleon to power. He was Napoleon's most important diplomat, although they disagreed often on policy. In 1802 he was laicized and later that year married Catherine Grand, who'd been his mistress since 1797. He opposed the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and when it was the disaster he predicted, including the death of Napoleon, he re-organized the French Senate, which appointed him the new Emperor instead of Napoleon's infant son, Prince Napoleon II.
He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noble woman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeed by ________________________________.
Emperors of the French
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noble woman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeed by ________________________________.
Last edited:
What if Napoleon died in the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and the French continued the Empire with Tallyrand as the 2nd Emperor?
Emperors of the French
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
1838-1847: Achille (House of Murat-Napoli) [2]
He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noble woman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeed by Emperor Achille I.
[3] Prince Charles Louis Napoleon Murat, nephew of Emperor Napoleon via his sister Caroline and son of General Joachim Murat, former Hereditary Grand Duke of Berg, briefly heir to the throne of Spain and when made Emperor, King of Naples. There was some opposition to having a foreign Head of State become Emperor of the French, but Naples had been under French suzerainity since 1806 when Joseph Bonaparte had been made King. He had married his cousin, Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, in 1825 and they produced several children, several male and only one female. Their eldest son would therefore be heir to a vast fortune and a vast number of titles - a challenger to the Emperor and it benefited France to bring all that under the imperial banner.
And thus the House of Murat sat on the imperial throne from 1838 when Achille was 37 and Elisa 32, their eldest son aged 13 and their daughter, only 11. Achille became interested in the French colonial assets, especially the former Spanish colony of Florida that had been acquired by the Empire in 1821. Oranges, sugar cane, cotton and tobacco became huge sources of wealth for the Empire.
When Achille died in 1847 at only 46, his son became King of Naples, but it was up to the Senate to determine who would become Emperor.
Emperors of the French
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
1838-1847: Achille (House of Murat-Napoli) [2]
[1] Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 and rose in prominence in the ancien regime as a clergyman and diplomat. He became a bishop in 1789 and attended the Estates General in that role, but joined the revolutionaries, renounced his bishopric, and was a major organizer of the Revolution. He was part of the coup in 1799 that established the Consulate and the rise of Napoleon to power. He was Napoleon's most important diplomat, although they disagreed often on policy. In 1802 he was laicized and later that year married Catherine Grand, who'd been his mistress since 1797. He opposed the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and when it was the disaster he predicted, including the death of Napoleon, he re-organized the French Senate, which appointed him the new Emperor instead of Napoleon's infant son, Prince Napoleon II.He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noble woman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeed by Emperor Achille I.
[3] Prince Charles Louis Napoleon Murat, nephew of Emperor Napoleon via his sister Caroline and son of General Joachim Murat, former Hereditary Grand Duke of Berg, briefly heir to the throne of Spain and when made Emperor, King of Naples. There was some opposition to having a foreign Head of State become Emperor of the French, but Naples had been under French suzerainity since 1806 when Joseph Bonaparte had been made King. He had married his cousin, Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, in 1825 and they produced several children, several male and only one female. Their eldest son would therefore be heir to a vast fortune and a vast number of titles - a challenger to the Emperor and it benefited France to bring all that under the imperial banner.
And thus the House of Murat sat on the imperial throne from 1838 when Achille was 37 and Elisa 32, their eldest son aged 13 and their daughter, only 11. Achille became interested in the French colonial assets, especially the former Spanish colony of Florida that had been acquired by the Empire in 1821. Oranges, sugar cane, cotton and tobacco became huge sources of wealth for the Empire.
When Achille died in 1847 at only 46, his son became King of Naples, but it was up to the Senate to determine who would become Emperor.
What if Napoleon died in the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and the French continued the Empire with Tallyrand as the 2nd Emperor?
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
1838-1847: Achille (House of Murat-Napoli) [2]
1847-1881: Eugène (House of Pepoli) [3]
[4] After several long discussions, Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli, son of Marquis Guido Taddeo Pepoli and of Princess Letizia Murat, daughter of Joachim Murat and therefore nephew to the First Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte, was selected as Emperor. Gioacchino renounced his Italian titles and in the city of Paris, Gioacchino was crowned as Eugène I, Emperor of France.
Soon after he became Emperor, Eugène allied France with the Kingdom of Sardinia and declared war on the Austrians. The Italian War of 1848-1850 resulted in Sardinia becoming the Kingdom of Italy, but most of Lombardy-Venetia remained under the control of the Austrian Empire.
In the German War of 1866, he aided the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrians. After being convinced by his German wife, Federica of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, he also helped the Prussians against Austria. After the war, Prussia and allied German states became the North German Empire. And finally, Lombardy-Venetia was annexed from Austria by the Kingdom of Italy.
During his rule, Eugène improved the agricultural and commercial industries of France. He reformed the Colony of Florida to have their own colonial parliament, while still being part of the French Empire. The French Emperor also encouraged immigration to Florida, which began growing abundantly wealthy from trade. In 1881, at the age of 65, the French Emperor passed away in the city of Sigmaringen, surrounded by his wife and his four children. He was succeeded by __________.
1804-1812: Napoleon (House of Bonaparte)
1812- 1838: Charlemagne II (House of Tallyrand-Périgord) [1]
1838-1847: Achille (House of Murat-Napoli) [2]
1847-1881: Eugène (House of Pepoli) [3]
[1] Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in 1754 and rose in prominence in the ancien regime as a clergyman and diplomat. He became a bishop in 1789 and attended the Estates General in that role, but joined the revolutionaries, renounced his bishopric, and was a major organizer of the Revolution. He was part of the coup in 1799 that established the Consulate and the rise of Napoleon to power. He was Napoleon's most important diplomat, although they disagreed often on policy. In 1802 he was laicized and later that year married Catherine Grand, who'd been his mistress since 1797. He opposed the Invasion of Russia in 1812 and when it was the disaster he predicted, including the death of Napoleon, he re-organized the French Senate, which appointed him the new Emperor instead of Napoleon's infant son, Prince Napoleon II.
He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time, he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noblewoman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeeded by Emperor Achille I.
[2] Prince Charles Louis Napoleon Murat, nephew of Emperor Napoleon via his sister Caroline and son of General Joachim Murat, former Hereditary Grand Duke of Berg, briefly heir to the throne of Spain and when made Emperor, King of Naples. There was some opposition to having a foreign Head of State become Emperor of the French, but Naples had been under French suzerainty since 1806 when Joseph Bonaparte had been made King. He had married his cousin, Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, in 1825 and they produced several children, several male and only one female. Their eldest son would therefore be heir to a vast fortune and a vast number of titles - a challenger to the Emperor and it benefited France to bring all that under the imperial banner.
And thus the House of Murat sat on the imperial throne from 1838 when Achille was 37 and Elisa 32, their eldest son aged 13 and their daughter, only 11. Achille became interested in the French colonial assets, especially the former Spanish colony of Florida that had been acquired by the Empire in 1821. Oranges, sugar cane, cotton and tobacco became huge sources of wealth for the Empire.
When Achille died in 1847 at only 46, his son became King of Naples, but it was up to the Senate to determine who would become Emperor.
He took the Imperial name Charles I, but within a few years he was known as Charlemagne, Charles the Great, and in 1814 he had himself re-coronated by the Pope as Charlemagne II, indicating that he was continuing the Empire of the first Charlemagne. He had this ritual performed on Christmas Day 1814 just as the first Charlemagne had it done on the same day, in order to emphasize he was not just Napoleon's successor but the first Charlemagne's.
However, he still was called Tallyrand by those in other nations and by many in France.
Tallyrand pursued diplomacy instead of war to establish the Empire. In 1815 he negotiated with the other great powers a new peace in the Treaty of Vienna. France was restored to her 1792 borders, thus including Avignon, Montbéliard, and Salm, all which had not been part of the ancien regime. At the same time, he divorced his first wife and married Dorothea of Courland, a German noblewoman. He and his first wife had been estrange for a number of years at this point.
He and the new Empress had several children, as well as he was the step-father of her previous children, including Napoléon-Louis de Talleyrand-Périgord, the son of his own nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Emperor reigned during a time of peace and prosperity. He died at the age of 84 and was succeeded by Emperor Achille I.
[2] Prince Charles Louis Napoleon Murat, nephew of Emperor Napoleon via his sister Caroline and son of General Joachim Murat, former Hereditary Grand Duke of Berg, briefly heir to the throne of Spain and when made Emperor, King of Naples. There was some opposition to having a foreign Head of State become Emperor of the French, but Naples had been under French suzerainty since 1806 when Joseph Bonaparte had been made King. He had married his cousin, Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, in 1825 and they produced several children, several male and only one female. Their eldest son would therefore be heir to a vast fortune and a vast number of titles - a challenger to the Emperor and it benefited France to bring all that under the imperial banner.
And thus the House of Murat sat on the imperial throne from 1838 when Achille was 37 and Elisa 32, their eldest son aged 13 and their daughter, only 11. Achille became interested in the French colonial assets, especially the former Spanish colony of Florida that had been acquired by the Empire in 1821. Oranges, sugar cane, cotton and tobacco became huge sources of wealth for the Empire.
When Achille died in 1847 at only 46, his son became King of Naples, but it was up to the Senate to determine who would become Emperor.
Soon after he became Emperor, Eugène allied France with the Kingdom of Sardinia and declared war on the Austrians. The Italian War of 1848-1850 resulted in Sardinia becoming the Kingdom of Italy, but most of Lombardy-Venetia remained under the control of the Austrian Empire.
In the German War of 1866, he aided the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrians. After being convinced by his German wife, Federica of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, he also helped the Prussians against Austria. After the war, Prussia and allied German states became the North German Empire. And finally, Lombardy-Venetia was annexed from Austria by the Kingdom of Italy.
During his rule, Eugène improved the agricultural and commercial industries of France. He reformed the Colony of Florida to have their own colonial parliament, while still being part of the French Empire. The French Emperor also encouraged immigration to Florida, which began growing abundantly wealthy from trade. In 1881, at the age of 65, the French Emperor passed away in the city of Sigmaringen, surrounded by his wife and his four children. He was succeeded by __________.
Last edited:
Carlo Maria Buonaparte, b. 1745, d. 1785
1) Joseph Bonaparte, b. 1768, d. 1844
2) Emperor Napoleon I, Emperor of France, b. 1769, r. 1804 to 1812, m1. Josephine Beauharnais, m2. Marie Louise of Austria
a) Napoleon Francis aka Prince Napoleon II (...), b. 1811
3) Lucien Bonaparte, b. 1775, d. 1840
4) Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, b. 1777, 1805/1809 to 1820, m. Felice Pasquale Baciocchi
a) Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, b. 1806 to 1869, m. Achille I, Emperor of France and King of Naples, b. 1801, r. 1838 to 1847
1) Eldest Son who succeeds as King of Naples and heir to his mother's titles
2) Only Daughter
3) Several other sons
5) Louis Bonaparte, b. 1778, d. 1846
6) Pauline Bonaparte, b. 1780, d. 1825
7) Caroline Bonaparte, b. 1782, d. 1839, m. Joachim Murat, King of Naples (r. 1808 to 1820)
a) Achille I, Emperor of France and King of Naples, b. 1801, r. 1838 to 1847, m. Elisa Napoleone Bacciochi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Countess of Compignano, b. 1806 to 1869
1) Eldest Son who succeeds as King of Naples and heir to his mother's titles, b. 1825
2) Only Daughter, b. 1827
3) Several other sons
b) Marie Letizia, b. 1802, d. 1859, m. Guido Taddeo Pepoli, Conte de Castiglione)
1) Eugene I, Emperor of France, (prev. Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli), b. 1825, r. 1847 to 1881, m. Frederique of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen
a) Four children
c) Lucien Charles (...), Prince of Pontecorvo, b. 1803, d. 1878
d) Louise Julie, b. 1805, d. 1889
8) Jerome Bonaparte, b. 1784, d. 1860
Last edited: