Napoleon 's engagement ring goes up for auction
16 March Daily Mail
We may think of Napoleon Bonaparte as the fearsome ruler of Europe
who tried to bring down Britain's greatest generals, but the emperor of
France had a softer side too.The beautiful engagement ring he gave to
his beloved wife Josephine is up for auction next week, and it shows
that the leader was a lover as well as a fighter.
The simple piece of jewellery comprises two tear-shaped gems, one
diamond and one sapphire, set onto a gold band.It is going under the
hammer at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau, near Paris, and is
expected to fetch up to €15,000 (£13,000).
At the time Napoleon married Josephine in 1796, he was a 26-year-old
revolutionary soldier and she was a widow who was six years older than
her husband.Her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was an
aristocrat who supported the French Revolution but later became a victim
of guillotine.When she was re-married she already had two children one
of several factors which meant the groom's family was deeply scandalised
at the match.The couple wed on March 9, 1796 after being engaged for
just two weeks.Napoleon left France two days later to lead the French
army on a successful invasion of Italy, which sealed his reputation as
one of the dominant figures in the post-revolutionary state.
He took charge of the government in a coup in 1799, and five years
later was declared ‘Emperor of the French'.The ruler was crowned at
Notre Dame cathedral - and after placing the crown on his own head, he
turned to Josephine and crowned her as empress.However, it soon became
clear that the ageing wife would never bear her powerful husband a
child.In 1810, they agreed to divorce but during the ceremony, they read
out statements expressing their devotion to one another. Napoleon
married Marie-Louise of Austria two months later in the hope of
producing an heir, and was heard to comment: ‘I have married a womb.’
But he apparently never forgot the love he bore to Josephine, and he
mentioned her in his last words on his death bed while in exile on St
Helena.He is believed to have cried out: ‘France. The army. The head of
the army.
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