The Josephine B. Trilogy

by Sandra Gulland

  *The stone slab found near the city of Rosetta provided the key to scholars on how to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Rosetta Stone is now in the British Museum.

  *Thérèse believed that the play was about her.

  *It’s not known whether Barras ever received this money; it is possible Talleyrand did in fact keep it.

  **Napoleon was expecting a decree from the Council of the Ancients giving him control of the troops in Paris. This was the first step in the plan.

  *In his memoirs—published one hundred years later—Barras confessed that he had in fact arranged for assassins to kill Bonaparte, but had called them off at the last minute.

  *Josephine was said to have a low, musical voice. When she read to Napoleon, the servants would hover outside the door to listen.

  *The actual vote was 3,009,445 in favour, 1,562 against. Sieyès and Ducos stepped down to be replaced by Cambacérès as Second Consul and Lebrun as Third.

  *Grisette: a lady of easy virtue.

  *The marriage ended poorly and Lisette died in misery.

  **The Launderesses Guild, one of the most powerful in Paris, had been lobbying for the return of the Mardi Gras because of all the laundry work the festivities generated.

  *Josephine’s childhood name was Rose and her nickname Yeyette. Mimi had been a slave on Josephine’s family’s sugar plantation in Martinique (“Martinico”). She and Josephine grew up together and had a sisterly relationship. It is possible that they were, in fact, half-sisters; Josephine’s father may have been Mimi’s father. Josephine had purchased Mimi’s freedom a few years previously.

  *“Italy” in 1800 comprised various independent states, including several northern territories claimed by Austria.

  * May 10. A new calendar had been established during the Revolution. The months were named after the natural world. (Floréal, for example, meant month of flowers.) The weeks were ten days long and ended with “Décadi,” the day of rest. Confusion resulted because people continued to use the traditional calendar.

  * Thérèse was separated from her husband (Tallien) and living openly with a married man (Ouvrard), by whom she had a number of children. Publicly, she was perceived as a “fallen woman,” and Napoleon did not want Josephine to associate with her. Nevertheless, the two friends continued to meet secretly at Malmaison.

  * Spanish Red: red dye in a horsehair pad, used as a blusher.

  *It was not uncommon for a woman to wear a leather mask to protect her skin from the weather.

  *Due to an injury, Signora Letizia could not bend her index finger.

  *Hortense and her cousin Émilie composed the following letter about the journey: “Never has there been a more agonizing journey to Plombières. Bonaparte mère showed courage. Madame Josephine trembled in fear. Mademoiselle Hortense and Madame Lavalette argued over a bottle of eau de Cologne. Colonel Rapp made us stop frequently in order to ease his bile. He slept while we forgot our troubles in the wine of Champagne.

  “The second day was easier, but the good Colonel Rapp was suffering still. We encouraged him to have a good meal, but our hopes crumbled when, arriving in Toul, we found only a miserable auberge which offered nothing but a little spinach in lamp oil and red asparagus simmered in sour milk. (We would have loved to see the gourmets of our household seated at this disgusting meal!) We left Toul in order to eat at Nancy because we ‘d been starved for two days.

  “We were joyfully welcomed when we arrived in Plombières. The illuminated village, the booming cannon, all the pretty women standing in the windows helped us not to feel sorry about being away from Malmaison.

  “This is the exact story of our trip, certified to be true.”

  *Josephine began menopause in her early thirties, likely due to the trauma of her imprisonment during the Terror.

  * The preliminary peace treaty with England opened up the Atlantic Ocean, which had been previously controlled by England’s fleet. Saint-Domingue (Haiti now) had been in French hands for some time, but France had been unable to sail there. Troops were required in order to quell an insurrection.

  * Catholicism had been outlawed during the Revolution.

  *The Duchess d’Aiguillon had shared a prison cell with Josephine during the Terror. She was not permitted to hold a position at court because she had been divorced.

  *Not long after the Marquis’s death, Désirée married the mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Pierre Danès de Montardat.

  *Etruria was an independent principality along the Mediterranean coast. A family alliance would have given Napoleon control over the port of Genoa—strategically important in the war against England.

  November 24.

  * Ceruse was a thick paste made with white lead—and consequently corrosive and poisonous. It was used for several centuries as a make-up base, with devastating consequences.

  * Napoleon had sent the Prefect of Police a letter saying that he wished to talk to the Duke d’Enghien, but the letter wasn’t delivered until after Enghien had been executed. Fouché was later to say that the Duke d’Enghien’s execution was “worse than a mistake, it was a blunder.”

  *The Civil Code (Code Civile des Français, later renamed Code Napoléon): a combination of Roman law, existing French law and the egalitarian principles of the Revolution. It remains the basis for jurisprudence in many countries of the world today.

  * 18 Brumaire: date of the coup in 1799 which overthrew the government of France and instituted Napoleon as First Consul.

  * Before General Moreau—who was exiled to America after being found guilty of involvement in the Cadoudal conspiracy—the ancient château had been owned by Josephine and Napoleon’s friend Paul Barras, who had conspired with the Royalists and was overthrown by Napoleon.

  * Josephine refused the bone fragment, saying that she had for her own support an arm as strong as Charlemagne’s.

  * Queen Marie Antoinette and queens before her had been required to give birth in a room crowded with gawking witnesses.

  *The Pope was initially reluctant to crown “the murderer of the Duke d’Enghien.” He only agreed after promises of concessions to the Church—though these were never fulfilled.

  *Napoleon had given Eugène the use of Hôtel Villeroy, 78 Rue de Lille. It is now the German embassy.

  * Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, dilated the pupils, imparting a languorous look of desire.

  * A member of the assembly wrote: “Nothing could have been more comical than the way the Bonaparte sisters acted. One sulked, another held smelling salts under her nose, and the third let the mantle drop.”

  *In crowning himself, Napoleon was following a ceremony Charlemagne had ordered when his son was crowned.

  *Napoleon was sending troops to Milan in order to protect Italy from invasion by Austria, which tended to view northern Italy as its domain.

  *England was involved financially, paying Russia and Austria to send troops against France.

  *Napoleon’s instructions to Eugène on how to rule Italy included these guidelines: “We live in an age where one cannot underestimate the perversity of the human heart. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of circumspection and prudence. Italians are naturally more deceitful than the French. The way to earn their respect is not to trust anyone. Dissimulation is natural at a certain age; for you, it must be a matter of principle. When you have spoken openly, tell yourself that you have made a mistake, and resolve not to do it again.

  “There will come a time when you will understand that there is little difference between one nationality and another. The goal of your administration is the well-being of my Italian subjects. You must sacrifice the things you care most about, and embrace customs which you dislike. In Italy, you must forget the glory of being French. You must persuade Italians that you love them. They know that there is no love without respect. Learn their language, socialize, take part in their festivities. Approve of what they approve of, and love what they love.

  “Speak as little as possible. You do no
t have enough training, and your education is insufficient for you to take part freely in discussions. Although Viceroy, you are only twenty-three. People may flatter you, but everyone will realize how little you know. You will earn more respect by virtue of your potential than by what you are today.

  “Do not imitate me; you must be more reserved.

  “Rarely preside over Council of State. You do not have enough knowledge to do so with success. When you do preside, do not speak. They will listen to you, but they will soon see that you are not competent. One cannot measure the strength of a prince who remains silent.

  “Do not be overly friendly to foreigners—there is little to be gained from them. An ambassador will never speak well of you because it is his job to speak poorly. The foreign ambassadors are, in a manner of speaking official spies. Preferably, surround yourself with young Italian men; the old ones are useless.”

  *The Austrians believed Napoleon and his army were still on the Channel coast. It was an understandable assumption: never in history had so large an army been moved so quickly.

  *On October 21, 1805, the French-Spanish fleet was defeated by England off Cape Trafalgar, on the southwest coast of Spain.

  *The Russian Tsar Alexandre wrote to a French general after the battle of Austerlitz: “Tell your master that I am going away. Tell him that he performed miracles yesterday, that the battle has increased my admiration for him, that he is a man predestined by Heaven, that it will take a hundred years for my army to equal his.”

  *As of this date, the French Empire officially returned to the Gregorian calendar.

  *Believing that skin eruptions would draw the “morbid humours” out of Louis’s body, Dr. Corvisart was intentionally exposing Louis to scabies by having him wear the unwashed linens of a diseased man. Another treatment involved “bathing” in steaming entrails.

  *Droit de cuissage: the feudal right of a lord to sleep with the bride of a subject on their wedding night.

  *Although Joseph had moved to Naples to reign as king, his wife Julie and their two daughters continued to live in Paris. In Naples Joseph lived openly with the Duchess d’Atri.

  *Napoleon had occasional seizures of an epileptic nature.

  *Madame de Souza’s son, Charles Flahaut, was in love with Hortense. The novel’s main character, Eugène de Rothelin, is believed to be based on Flahaut and the character Athénais on Hortense.

  *A daughter, Eugénie, was born the following day, on December 23.

  *Talleyrand went directly to the Austrians, offering “services” in exchange for one million francs.

  *After a napkin was used once, it was thrown behind the diner’s chair and a new one was supplied.

  *Josephine doubled her usual contribution to charity and, as well, gave away 72 pieces of lace, 380 gowns, 17 shawls, 146 bonnets and hats, 39 lengths of cloth, and 785 pairs of boots and slippers—virtually every pair she owned.

  * It was important for Josephine and her children to show public support for the new marriage. Indeed, both Eugène and Hortense (as well as Josephine) were involved in the discussions as to which royal princess should be chosen.

  * The prizes: 4,800 pâtés, 1,200 tongues, 3,000 sausages, 140 turkeys, 360 capons, 360 chickens, and 1,000 legs and 1,000 shoulders of mutton.

  * Eugène’s wife Auguste wrote her brother regarding the Bonaparte family: “When one has known them at close quarters one can only despise them. I could never have conceived anything so abominable as their ill-breeding. It is torture to have to go about with such people.”

  * The water spaniel jumped out the open window of Louis’s carriage at a posting house. It fell under the wheels and was crushed to death.

  * Twenty-one guns announced the birth of a girl, a hundred and one a boy. In Paris, on hearing the decisive twenty-second shot, the Gazette de France reported: “One single cry, one alone rose in Paris and made the walls of that old palace where the hero’s son had just been born tremble, and round which the crowd was so thick that there was not room even for a fly. Flags waved in the air, handkerchiefs fluttered—people ran hither and thither, embracing one another, announcing the news with laughter and tears of joy.”

  * Madame de Montesquiou has left the following account: “I arranged with Baron de Canisy that I would tell him as I got into the carriage that I left him the choice where we would go. A little time later, I would call out to him that if the baby needed to stop, we would go to Bagatelle. In effect, we arrived there. In entering the courtyard, Baron de Canisy announced, with a show of surprise, that the Empress Josephine was there. I responded that it was too late to turn back—it would be improper.”

  * The Grande Armée (Grand Army) was the largest army of all time. It was made up of 200,000 men from France, 150,000 from Germany, 80,000 from Italy, 60,000 from Poland and 110,000 volunteers from other countries.

  *A letter was said to be “crossed” when the letter-writer filled a sheet of paper, then turned the page sideways and continued writing across the filled-in sheet.

  *Josephine wrote: “Sire, I saw in the bulletin that you suffered a great loss and I wept. Your sorrows are mine, they will always be in my heart. I am writing you because I am not able to resist the need to tell you this, in the same way that I am unable to stop loving you with all my heart.”

  *Out of sympathy (and friendship), Tsar Alexandre arranged for the child to be entombed in the chapel of Hortense’s château at Saint-Leu.

  †An autopsy on Josephine’s body revealed an inflamed trachea with a gangrenous spot on the larynx. The lungs were choked with blood.