23 Facts About Louis Bonaparte

Louis Bonaparte was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland.

Louis Bonaparte was the fifth surviving child and fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino, out of eight children who lived past infancy.

Louis Bonaparte and his siblings were all born on Corsica, which had been conquered by France less than a decade before his birth.

Louis Bonaparte followed his older brothers into the French Army, where he benefited from Napoleon's patronage.

Napoleon had intended for Holland to be little more than a puppet state, but Louis Bonaparte was determined to be as independent as possible, and in fact became quite popular amongst his new people.

Louis Bonaparte was a younger brother of Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien, and Elisa Bonaparte, and the older brother of Pauline, Caroline, and Jerome Bonaparte.

Louis Bonaparte' godparents were the island's governor, Mr de Marbeuf and the wife of the intendant, Bertrand de Boucheporn, whom Letizia and her husband, Carlo, had befriended.

Thanks to his older brother, Napoleon, Louis Bonaparte was given a commission in the French Military, and was promoted to Lieutenant in the 4th Artillery Regiment, and from there he was made Aide de Camp on Napoleon's staff.

Louis Bonaparte later became a General by the age of 25, although he himself felt that he had risen too high in too short a time.

However, Louis Bonaparte had his own mind, and tried to be a responsible and independent ruler.

Louis Bonaparte forced his court and ministers to speak only Dutch, and to renounce their French citizenships.

Louis Bonaparte only came to Holland reluctantly, and deliberately tried to avoid Louis as much as possible.

Louis Bonaparte changed capitals over a dozen times, trying Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and other places.

Louis Bonaparte's constant moving kept the court in upheaval since they had to follow him everywhere.

The European diplomatic corps went so far as to petition Louis Bonaparte to remain in one place so they could keep up with him.

In 1806, Louis Bonaparte called for his son to be sent to him in Holland, but he was again refused by Hortense, who believed that her son would never be returned to France.

When Louis Bonaparte appealed to his brother Napoleon for help, Napoleon sided with Hortense.

Napoleon then accused Louis Bonaparte of putting Dutch interests above those of France, and removed most of the French forces in Holland for the coming war in the east, leaving only about 9,000 garrison soldiers in the country.

Louis Bonaparte refused and declared the occupation of the Kingdom by a French army as unlawful.

Louis Bonaparte was appointed as the Constable of France in 1808, a strictly honorary title.

Louis Bonaparte wrote to Napoleon after the latter's defeat in Russia to request that the Dutch throne be restored to him; however, Napoleon refused.

Louis Bonaparte died on 25 July 1846 in Livorno, and his remains were buried at Saint-Leu-la-Foret, Ile-de-France.

Louis Bonaparte was married on 4 January 1802 to Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of the deceased general Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and his wife Josephine Tascher de la Pagerie.