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Catharina of Württemberg

Katharina of Württemberg
Portrait by François Kinson, c.1810-1820.
Queen consort of Westphalia
Tenure22 August 1807 – 26 October 1813
Born21 February 1783
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died29 November 1835(1835-11-29) (aged 52)
Lausanne, Switzerland
Burial
Schlosskirche, Ludwigsburg Palace
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1807)​
IssuePrince Jérôme
Mathilde, Princess of San Donato
Napoléon, 2nd Prince of Monfort
Names
German: Friederike Katharina Sophie Dorothea
HouseWürttemberg
FatherFrederick I of Württemberg
MotherAugusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Princess Katharina of Württemberg (full name: Friederike Katharina Sophie Dorothea; [1] 21 February 1783 – 29 November 1835) was Queen of Westphalia by marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813.

Life

Katharina was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, to the later King Frederick I of Württemberg and his first wife, Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her mother, who died when Katharina was five years old, was a sister of Caroline of Brunswick and a niece of King George III of the United Kingdom. After the death of Katharina's mother, her father married Charlotte, Princess Royal, [2] eldest daughter of George III and thus a first cousin of his first wife.

In 1803, Württemberg entered into an alliance with France under Emperor Napoleon I, and one of the terms of the treaty was the marriage of Katharina with Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother. The wedding was held four years later, on 22 August 1807, at the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau in France.

Upon marriage, Katharina became Queen consort of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Reportedly, Katharina and Jérôme bonded strongly and had a happy marriage, remaining firmly attached to each other. King Jérôme, however, was unfaithful with multiple partners, including a three-year relationship with Diana Rabe von Pappenheim, but Catharina chose to turn a blind eye.

When the kingdom of Westphalia was dissolved in 1813, she followed Jerome to France. During the war, she and Désirée Clary took refuge with Julie Clary at Mortefontaine, and when the allied troops took Paris, they took refuge in the home of Desirée Clary in the capital.[3]

After the downfall of the Napoleonic Empire in 1814, her father expected her to separate from Jerome, as Empress Marie Louise had done from Napoleon, but instead she followed him into exile to Trieste in Austrian Italy.

During the Hundred Days in 1815, she helped Jerome to escape and join Napoleon, and was as a consequence deported to Württemberg, where she was placed under house arrest. After the defeat of Napoleon, she was joined by her spouse in house arrest.

Katharina and Jerome were eventually released from house arrest and spent their remaining life together in Trieste and Switzerland, under the name of the Princess and Prince of Montfort. In November 1835, Katharina died in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Issue

Katharina and Jérôme had three children: [4]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Briefwechsel der Königin Katharina und des Königs Jérome von Westphalen, sowie des Kaisers Napoleon I, mit dem König Friedrich von Württemberg. 1886. p. 390.
  2. ^ McNaughton, Arnold (1973). The Book of Kings : A Royal Genealogy. Internet Archive. [New York] : Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-8129-0280-8.
  3. ^ Lindwall, Lilly: (Swedish) Desideria. Bernadotternas anmoder.[Desideria. The Ancestral Mother of the Bernadottes] Stockholm. Åhlén och Åkerlunds Förlag A.-B. (1919)
  4. ^ McNaughton, Arnold (1973). The Book of Kings : A Royal Genealogy. Internet Archive. [New York] : Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co. p. 546. ISBN 978-0-8129-0280-8.
  • Sabine Köttelwesch, Katharina von Westphalen (1783–1835), in: Helmut Burmeister und Veronika Jäger (Hrsg.), König Jérôme und der Reformstaat Westphalen, Hofgeismar 2006, S. 73–94, ISSN 0440-7520

Media related to Catherine of Württemberg, Queen of Westphalia at Wikimedia Commons

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