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The four preceding medals were ordered to be struck
by the government of France, on the marriage of Napoleon with Maria Louisa,
Archduchess of Austria, daughter of the Austrian Emperor. The varieties
of all these medals have been struck since, and intended to receive an
engraved inscription of the event, at the option of the purchaser. After
repudiating his wife Josephine, the Prince of Neufchatel was dispatched
to Vienna, to demand the hand of Maria Louisa for the Emperor Napoleon.
On the 27th of February, 1810, the Emperor Napoleon notified this event
to the Senate, informing them, at the same time, that a contract had already
been entered into with her father for that purpose: in fact the business
had been so completely arranged, that a very few days after his Ambassador's
arrival at Vienna, the usual ceremony was performed, the Archduke Charles
being the proxy of Napoleon on the occasion.
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| The ceremony took place on the 11th of March, and was
followed by many fetes, rejoicings, &c.; soon after which the new Empress
set off for Paris, by a road literally strewed with flowers, and was met
at Compiegne by the Emperor Napoleon. |
| The marriage took place with the Emperor on the 2nd
of April, at Paris, when the train of the Empress was supported by four
Queens; after which the Emperor and his bride set off for St. Cloud. Three
days afterwards, they received the congratulations of the Senate, on which
occasion Napoleon's answer was short and general; but the Empress, contrary
to the practice of her predecessors, made no reply. |
| The general report at this time was, that the marriage
of the Archduchess Maria Louisa with the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, was
one of the secret articles of the treaty of Vienna. The author when at Paris,
1816, speaking on this subject, was positively assured by one of the council,
that this opinion was groundless, and without the least foundation; that
the event was spontaneous and sudden, that it derived in the first instance
from the Emperor of Austria himself, who, on hearing that an alliance was
about to be formed by Napoleon either with the court of Russia or Saxony,
expressed himself somewhat surprised that Napoleon had not wished an alliance
with his house; this was communicated to Napoleon by dispatches from Vienna,
who on receiving these hints, immediately summoned a privy council at the
Tuileries, 1st February, 1810; in the council, there was a diversity of
opinions, the Russian, the Austrian, and the Saxon alliance, were respectively
supported by the members, but Prince Eugene having been the first to decide
in favour of the Austrian alliance, the majority of the council followed,
it being presumed that this prince had fully known the wishes of the Emperor
: though, had the decision been otherwise, whatever might have been Napoleon's
feelings on the occasion, he was determined to submit, considering what
was done, was intended for the beneficial interest of all France. The council
was dissolved at two o'clock in the morning of the following day, and Prince
Eugene was authorised immediately to communicate the result to Prince Schwartzenberg,
and the farther preliminaries were ordered to be entered on with the ambassador
of Austria, then accredited at Napoleon's court; and farther, that no mistake
or delay might take place, the minister of foreign relations was empowered
to sign, word for word, the same form of contract which had been agreed
upon in the marriage of Louis XVI. and the Archduchess Maria Antoinetta.
Thus this event was begun, discussed, and concluded within the space of
twenty-four hours; and on the 7th February, 1810, the contract of marriage
was signed at Paris. |
| By this marriage, Napoleon became related to the Emperor
of Austria, as his son-in-law, nephew to the Archduke Charles, great nephew
to the Queen of Naples, first cousin to Ferdinand the VIIth of Spain, and
to the Prince Regent of Portugal, besides being cousin to the amiable Duchess
of Angouleme, as well as related to the present reigning family of France. |
| |
Bramsen - 956
Mariage à Paris avec Marie-Louise. (Andrieu et Galle.) |
| Comme celui du No 952. |
Rev: Comme celui du No
952, avec la différence, qu'à l'exergue on lit: 1810. |
| Médaille, 15 mm. - T. N. 39, 6; M. F.
388, 150 D. |
| Des médailles des quatre
modules différents décrits sous les numéros 952, 954,
955 et 956 furent frappées à l'occasion du mariage au 2 Avril.
Les plus grandes furent données, en or ou en argent, aux personnes
qui assistèrent á cérémonie. Les plus petites
furent jetées au peuple. |
