Catharina of Württemberg

Princess Catharina Frederica of Württemberg (21 February 1783 – 29 November 1835) was Queen consort of Westphalia by marriage to Jérôme Bonaparte, who reigned as King of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813.

Catharina of Württemberg
A portrait of Queen Catharina in 1807
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
Ludwigsburg Palace Church
Spouse
IssueJérôme Napoléon Charles Bonaparte
Mathilde Bonaparte
Napoléon Joseph Charles Bonaparte
HouseWürttemberg
FatherFrederick I of Württemberg
MotherAugusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Life

Catharina was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, to the later King Frederick I of Württemberg and Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Her mother, who died when Catharina 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 Catharina's mother, her father married Charlotte, Princess Royal, 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 Catharina 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, Catharina became queen consort of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Reportedly, Catharina 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.[1]

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.

Catharina 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, Catharina died in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Issue

Ancestry
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References
  1. Lindwall, Lilly: (Swedish) Desideria. Bernadotternas anmoder.[Desideria. The Ancestral Mother of the Bernadottes] Stockholm. Åhlén och Åkerlunds Förlag A.-B. (1919)
  • 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

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