Josephine of Leuchtenberg
Josephine of Leuchtenberg, also Josefina, was Queen of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 to 8 July 1859 as the wife of King Oscar I. She was also Princess of Bologna from birth and Duchess of Galliera from 1813. She was regarded as politically active during the reign of her spouse and acted as his political adviser, actively participating in government affairs. She is acknowledged as having introduced more liberal laws regarding religion.
Early life
Joséphine was born on 14 March 1807 in Milan, Italy. She was the first of six children of Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, and his wife, Princess Augusta of Bavaria. Her paternal grandmother and namesake was Joséphine Tascher de La Pagerie, the first wife of Napoleon; she was given the name 'Joséphine' by Napoleon's request. Her maternal grandfather was King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.At birth, she was given the title Princess of Bologna by Napoleon, and later she was also made Duchess of Galliera. She spent her first seven years in Italy. The family spent their days in Villa Bonaparte in Milan and at their summer residence in Monza outside Milan. In 1812, they received a visit from the former Empress Joséphine. In 1813, her father Eugène turned down the offer from his father-in-law to join the forces against Napoleon. In 1814, Augusta joined her father at his military headquarters at Mantua, where she gave birth to Théodolinde de Beauharnais, Joséphine's youngest sister. A little later, Joséphine and her siblings joined their mother in the fortress at Mantua in a procession of carriages with their courtiers. After the defeat of Napoleon that same year, her parents left for her maternal grandfather in Bavaria, and a little later, Joséphine and her siblings followed them in the company of Baron Darnay, earlier her father's secretary. Reportedly, this was a memory that stayed with Joséphine. Her father was given the title Duke of Leuchtenberg and the former principality of Eichstätt in Bavaria as a fief. Her childhood is described as happy. The family spent their summers at Eichstätt and their winters in Munich with Augusta's family.
Education
Joséphine could speak French, German and Italian and studied history and geography with Professor Le Sage; botany and natural science with Professor Martinus; mathematics, physics and astronomy with Professor Siebers.Marriage to the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway
feared the legitimist policy of the Congress of Vienna, and wished to give the House of Bernadotte connections through blood with old royal dynasties of Europe. The marriage of his son and heir to the throne, Crown Prince Oscar, was the solution to this problem, and in 1822, he finally forced his son to agree to marry and to make a trip to Europe to inspect a list of potential candidates for the position of Crown Princess and Queen. In this list, a Princess of Denmark was the first alternative; a Princess of Leuchtenberg was the second; a Princess of Hesse was the third and a Princess of Weimar was the fourth. Charles XIV John had chosen Josephine of Leuchtenberg as candidate number two, because she had connections both to the old dynasties of Europe through her mother, and to the House of Bonaparte through her father, and thus, she "joined the new interests with the old", as he expressed the matter.Engagement and wedding
Crown Prince Oscar declined marriage to a Danish Princess, but expressed his interest in the Princess of Leuchtenberg after his first meeting with Joséphine on 23 August 1822 in Eichstätt. The couple reportedly developed a mutual attraction and fell in love when they saw each other, and therefore, the marriage was accepted by both families and duly arranged. Joséphine took lessons in the Swedish language and corresponded with Oscar until the wedding. Her father was reportedly not against her conversion to Lutheranism, but the Swedish representatives had apparently thought it necessary to offer her the option to keep her religion. Although she was a devout Catholic, she agreed to raise her children in the Lutheran religion. She brought a Catholic priest, and regularly attended mass and confession in her private Catholic chapel. The Pope had given his consent to this. In Sweden, the law of 1781, Toleransediktet, declared freedom of religion for foreigners and immigrants, and Joséphine, as well as her mother-in-law Désirée, could be regarded as such. For Swedes, however, the conversion from the Lutheran Church to another religion formally meant confiscation of property and banishment from the country. The situation in Norway was similar. The Lutheran clergy was against the match, but the King had his way.Princess Joséphine married the Crown Prince by proxy at the Palais Leuchtenberg in Munich on 22 May 1823. They also conducted a wedding ceremony in person on 19 June 1823 in Stockholm, Sweden. The first wedding ceremony was Catholic, and the second wedding ceremony was Lutheran. Through her mother, Joséphine was a descendant of Charles IX of Sweden through a sister of Charles X Gustav of Sweden, making her children descendants of Gustav Vasa. Through her maternal grandfather, Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, she was also one of the descendants of Renata of Lorraine, granddaughter of Christian II of Denmark.
Josephine arrived in Sweden in the company of her mother-in-law, Queen Desideria, who had been absent for eleven years. They arrived in Manilla outside Stockholm 13 June 1823, where they were welcomed by King Charles XIV John, Crown Prince Oscar, military salutes and great crowds, and escorted to Haga Palace, where Josephine was embraced by Princess Sophia Albertina, Abbess of Quedlinburg. The second wedding ceremony took place six days later. Six days after her arrival in Sweden, her middle name 'Napoléonne' was removed. This was because Sweden had fought against Bonaparte in the recent war. She had brought with her several pieces of exclusive jewelry made in Paris for her paternal grandmother, which are still among the possessions of the Royal Houses of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. In Sweden, she was known by the Swedish version of her name: Josefina. In her retinue, she brought with her Bertha Zück, who she made her treasurer, and her Catholic confessor Jacob Lorenz Studach: until their death, they enjoyed such a close relationship that they were referred to as "The Trio". Josephine was escorted to Sweden by a temporary lady-in-waiting, Countess Aurora Wilhelmina Brahe, but once arrived, Countess Elisabet Charlotta Piper and, from 1836, Countess Charlotta Skjöldebrand served as her Överhovmästarinna or senior lady-in-waiting.
Crown Princess
Josephine was a social success in Sweden from the moment of her arrival, both as a private person in the circles of high society as well as a public person, and was to become more popular as Queen than her predecessor and successor. Already as Crown Princess, she was able to play the representational part that her mother-in-law was not able to fulfill, and she played a great role in making the new dynasty popular in Sweden. In the summer of 1824, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess visited Christiania in Norway, where they engaged in many public appearances to make the monarchy popular. Oscar had been given the task of temporary Viceroy during his visit, and Josephine was present in a box when he appeared before the Storting. After this, they made a trip through Sweden to present her to the public. She was described as charming, beautiful and dignified, and she was also regarded as gifted: she impressed by being able to speak the Swedish language almost fluently at her arrival. At a ball in 1838 Fritz von Dardel described her: "As for the Crown Princess, she was beautiful and dignified, perhaps too thin but very intelligent and quite delightful toward all. No one has anything to reproach her for other than for her Catholic religion."Her relationship to her father-in-law was very warm. The King treated her with great affection and, for example, used to hide sweets in his pockets, which she searched through and, at one occasion, found a jewel hidden in a sweet. On 21 August 1823, Charles XIV John declared that this day, the same date he had been elected Crown Prince, should be the name day for Josephine, and henceforth be celebrated as Josephine-Day. The first such celebration took place that day at Drottningholm Palace, and Josephine Day was celebrated in Sweden for decades after that: it became a tradition for the public in Stockholm to travel to Drottningholm Palace at that day, where festivities had been arranged for them, and cheer for Josephine, who greeted them from a balcony.
Her relationship with her mother-in-law, however, was somewhat tense during the first years, as Queen Désirée reportedly felt neglected by her spouse, and that her place as a Queen was overshadowed by Josephine's popularity. After the initial years, however, the relationship between Josephine and Désirée became more friendly and harmonious.
The relationship between Josephine and Oscar was initially described as a mutually happy one, and the couple shared their interests in culture, painting, writing and singing. Oscar and Josephine had five children, of whom two were to become kings of Sweden and Norway. However, Oscar was known for his extramarital affairs, a fact that deeply tormented Josephine. Oscar was to resume his contact with Jacquette Löwenhielm after the wedding, though Josephine is initially not believed to have been aware of this: however, in 1826, she gave the first signs of being aware of his affairs in her diary, and in 1828, she wrote of painful suspicions of adultery and also that it pained her to be constantly pregnant. In 1832, a year after the birth of her last child, she wrote in her diary about the contemporary view that a woman was expected to endure a husband's extramarital affairs: A woman should suffer in silence, and that she found this contemporary view unjust. In 1835, her pain over Oscar's behavior caused her to take a trip to the spa Medevi to calm her nerves. Her husband's relationship with the famed actress Emilie Högquist was well known. It was also not a temporary affair, but a serious relationship, which began in 1836 and resulted in two sons. Josephine described the years of Oscar's relationship with Emilie Högquist as a walk "through fire". Josephine and Oscar, however, continued to appear together in public, and her dignified behavior placed the sympathies on her side. Oscar became unpopular because of it, and King Charles XIV John reprimanded him for it out of sympathy for Josephine's suffering. During her later years as Crown Princess, this situation, which contributed to a conflict between the monarch and the Crown Prince, introduced Josephine to politics as she became active as a mediator between her spouse and her father-in-law.
Josephine was interested in gardening and painting. Her interest in art was active and genuine. She supported the career of the painter Sofia Adlersparre, and also encouraged the artistic interest and talent of her own daughter, Princess Eugénie, who became a talented amateur artist. In 1836, she received a visit from her mother and her brother and two sisters. In 1843, she visited her mother in Munich.
Josephine was very much involved in social reforms and philanthropy. At her arrival in Sweden, she formed a close relationship with Princess Sophia Albertine of Sweden, who introduced her to this work by engaging her in Välgörande Fruntimmerssällskapet for the support of poor women. After the death of Sophia Albertine, she took over the protection of this organization, as she would do for the charity organizations of Queen Désirée and her daughter-in-law Queen Louise after their deaths. She also founded several charitable organizations herself. Already as a Crown Princess, she received petitioners asking for help twice a week, and her activity expanded over the years. Her main focus was the support of poor women and children. She founded the Sällskapet de fattigas vänner for poor widows in 1826; Sällskapet för uppmuntran av öm och sedlig modersvård for the support of poor mothers in 1827; Sällskapet för arbetsamhetens uppmuntran, an employment agency for women in 1833; and Kronprinsessans slöjdskola för fattiga flickor.. Josephine, though deeply religious and influenced by the Christian idea of charity, did not believe it to be the task of religion but of the state to provide welfare, and she kept the two issues separate in her charity work. In her library, there were works about early Christian socialism, which appear to have been thoroughly read.
Josephine had her own Catholic chapel at the Royal Palace. Privately, she is known to have tried to influence her mother-in-law to be more than a Catholic in name only: in 1844, her confessor stated that she had managed to convince her mother-in-law to attend confession for the first time in fifty years. Oscar always supported her religious rights, regardless of their personal relationship. As for the children, she could not interfere in their religion, however, she did speak with them of religion: she and her confessor sorted out everything they could find mutual in Catholicism and Lutheranism, and about these things, she felt free to talk about with her children without interfering.
Josephine took a great interest in Catholicism in Sweden and Norway. Upon her arrival, she found the Catholic congregation in Stockholm to be neglected. Among other things, it did not have a proper church building, and she felt that the current Catholic priest, Jean Baptiste Gridaine, who was also the confessor of her mother-in-law, damaged the reputation of the Catholics because of it. Upon the death of Gridaine in 1833, he was replaced by her own confessor Studach. 16 September 1837, the Sankta Eugenia Church in Stockholm was founded in her presence, the effort of her and Studach's work: this was the first Catholic church in Scandinavia since the Reformation, and became the first apostolic vicariate in Scandinavia: Norway was incorporated in 1841. She attended mass there herself on Sundays.