… of Etruria, being of Bourbon descent in order to tie the countries together. Lucien ran away and hid in Rome. Instead, he married the illiterate sister of his housekeeper, Christine Boyer. (Portrait: Queen of Etruria and Duchess of Lucca, Maria Luisa.. whom Lucien did NOT marry..)(note the pearls; in …
… because he allied himself with Robespierre during the Reign of Terror in France (around 1793). Lucien led the grenadiers in Napoleon’s revolution despite his misgivings about his brother’s ability to lead in the way that Lucien felt the country should be run. He was successful, but sitting atop his …
.. and they did not always get along well. Lucien’s rise to political and military fame was not due to family or political ties. It was because he studied history, archaelogy, politics, and went to military school. At the age of 14, Lucien arrived in France, where he named himself …
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Note the gold filigree and jewelry.. trying to make the early Regency “little white dress” heavier, richer, (and warmer) for Court. (Portrait: left to right: Napoleon’s sisters Caroline, Elise, Pauline, and then step-daughter Hortense)
..two who died before their 1st birthdays, and: Elisa Napoleone Baciocchi Levoy; married Phillippe, Comte Camerata-Passionei de Mazzoleni; had 1 son Jean-Baptiste Jerome Charles Napoleon Baciocchi Levoy who died at age 19 (portrait: a sedate Elise in late Regency ensemble in 1827)
… in 1813 (Joachim was her sister Caroline’s husband), Elise had to abdicate all her holdings. Lucca was captured by Murat’s anti-Napoleonic forces, and a pregnant Elise fled to Austria and then to Trieste where she hid with her brother Jerome. Elise was imprisoned at the exile of Napoleon, but …
… this young sister of Napoleon tore down ancient cathedrals to build palaces, such as one at Massa. She built aqueducts and spas. In 1807, when Napoleon’s 2nd wife Marie-Louise left Tuscany having been the 3rd person to fail at ruling it, Napoleon gave it to Elise. The result was …
… so Elise established the Academie des Beaux-Arts focused on marble sculpture. She financed sculptors and used the money to “reform” the clergy. Elise closed convents if they weren’t hospitals or schools, and set up the “Code de Napoleon”; strict penal codes with tax penalties. These funds she used to …
.. because he didn’t like him. Napoleon gave his sister and her husband the Principality of Piombino, which was strategic to his political plans because it was near Corsica and Elba. Elise ran Lucca and Piombio on her own. Felice only ran the military. The residents disliked her, and called …
