The emotional and sexual life of Napoleon: “incompetent” in bed, intense love and a first time called into question

Usually busy preparing for military maneuvers and diplomatic negotiations, Napoleon Bonaparte (today represented in the adhesive tape of Ridley Scott with Joaquin Phoenix in the protagonist) used to express himself in his letters on other, more mundane subjects. Among these, his particular relationship with women. Historical studies have portrayed a general as timid and awkward in front of them, far from his usual composure and confidence in the face of battle.

Regarding the presence of women in society, Napoleon did not think very differently from the ordinary man of his time; They had to limit themselves only to the home. At that time, they did not even enjoy political rights. “Women are the basis of all intrigues,” he said, “we must keep them at home, far from politics. They should be forbidden to appear in public, except with a black skirt and veil, or with the mezzaro, as in Genoa and Venice.

In one of his letters, Bonaparte implies that one of his first sexual encounters occurred with a prostitute. But this type of testimony, experts say, should be read carefully. “(Napoleon) was a frustrated writer, author before the age of thirty-six of approximately seventy essays, philosophical pieces, chronicles, treatises, pamphlets and public letters.” , underlines historian Andrew Roberts, in statements collected by ABC. That is to say, it could have been an exaggeration or pure fiction.

What is supported, This is because one of Napoleon’s first liaisons was with the daughter of a merchant, named Désirée Clary. At that time, the Corsican was a poor captain with no great prospects, with his family exiled from Corsica and a military career that would go no further, for the moment. And although she wrote to him, he ultimately rejected her.

“Napoleon himself recognized that (Désirée) was not a particularly attractive woman.” but, as an avowed music lover, he compared his voice to “that of a nightingale or to a piece by Paesiello, which only pleases sensitive people” – says Juan Antonio Granados Loureda in his Brief history of Napoleon-. If we add to this the admiration he felt for his “white hands” and his discreet and shy character, we understand that Désirée Clary represented the true feminine archetype of the young captain.

It seems that Napoleon was clear about his tastes in women. “No doubt he enjoyed her company, but his world was predominantly male. » -Granados continues-. We know that, formally, he liked women with small, tender and feminine hands and feet.

In these hectic days, Corsica is wasting no time. “During her periodic visits to Paris, she sought the company of the cultured and sophisticated women of the “Revolution.” : the actress Mademoiselle Constant, of the Comédie Française, Mademoiselle de Chastenay, Thérésa Tallien, who through her talents of beauty and seduction had forced her future husband Jean Lambert Tallien to confront Robespierre to save her from the guillotine, precipitating in the process her fall. of the tyrant,” writes Granados.

In the City of Lights, he will meet the woman who will mark his years of accession to power. “Through his friend Thérésa Tallien, he met a woman who fascinated him and who was then known in Parisian society under the name of Rose de Beauharnais. » It is Marie Joséphine Rosa Tascher de la Pagerie, Viscountess of Beauharnais, born in Martinique, whom he prefers to call Joséphine. “Napoleon was immediately fascinated by her Creole speech, she barely pronounced the R, and by Joséphine’s sweet conversation. » Granados points out.

“Small in stature, barely five feet tall, with a slender figure and a pleasant but not handsome face. » , what was essential about Joséphine de Beauharnais was her common sense and naturally good character, traits which allowed her to compete on an equal footing with the gifts of the most beautiful and cultured ladies of the elegant circles of Paris like Madame Tallien and Madame Récamier. . His Achilles heel was his bad teeth, which is why he barely opened his mouth to speak,” says Granados.

After sharing a bed for the first time, in January 1796, Napoleon wrote him a passionate and sweet letter. This will be the tone of all the following ones.

“Seven o’clock in the morning.

I woke up full of you. Your portrait and the memory of yesterday’s intoxicating afternoon did not rest my senses. Tender and incomparable Josefina, what strange effects you provoke in my heart! Do you feel upset? Sad maybe? Are you worried? In this case, my soul feels painful and your friend cannot rest… But I cannot rest either when I abandon myself to the deep feeling that invades me and I receive from your lips a flame which burns me. Ah, the last night! I understand that the portrait I have of you is very different from your true self! I’ll see you in three hours. In the meantime, my dolce amore, a thousand kisses; “But don’t kiss me, because your kisses inflame my blood.”

What drew Josephine’s attention to Napoleon? “Josephine’s sophistication, her knowledge of worldly things, her “experience” of life, all of this captivated Napoleon. -explains Granados-. But there was something else: Joséphine was interested in the affairs of her career, she listened to the reflections that Bonaparte presented to her with his dry speech, full of this strange determination. If anything, she was much less enthusiastic at first. “It is doubtful whether the Creoles ever completely followed this path,” notes the same author. Indeed, upon receiving Napoleon’s fiery love letters, she doubted the strength of her own feelings.

The civil marriage of Napoleon and Joséphine, on the night of March 9, 1796 (during a cold and quick ceremony), coincided with the start of the general’s first – and successful – campaign in Italy. But even though he added surprising victories, she was not afraid of being seen with her lover. Despite the infidelities and the risk that Bonaparte took in supporting the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire Year VIII (November 9, 1799), the couple’s relations continued. Everything changed when Corsican was crowned emperor in 1804. Since then, his obsession has been to have a son.

Joséphine had two children, already young, at the time of her marriage to Napoleon. But it turned out they couldn’t get any branching. The roles had been reversed: being an empress incapable of procreation put the Creole in a very delicate situation. . So, she held her ground and in the salons she did not hesitate to point the finger at the Corsican as “incompetent” in bed.

“Seeing that her marriage was in danger and that she was unable to give birth to a child, she wanted to blame him. Several witnesses from the time claim that Joséphine questioned Napoleon’s virility, even if she never reported it directly. It was a ploy to make a possible divorce difficult and to ridicule him in front of others,” said historian Ángeles Caso, author of Napoleon and Josephine. Letters of love and war.

In any case, driven by the interest of ensuring offspring and determined to prove that he could conceive, the emperor frequented other women. One of them was Éléonore Denuelle, a young divorcee who was not yet 20 years old, who was introduced to him in 1806 by her younger sister Caroline. A few months later, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Carlos, known as Count León. Napoleon only saw him once and Éléonore did not continue to treat him either.

The reason is that Napoleon had lost his head because of another woman; Polish Countess Maria Walewska, passionate patriot. “Twenty years old, she was the daughter of a Polish nobleman who instilled in her a deep love for a homeland impoverished by the powerful kingdoms that surrounded it. , Russia and Prussia. The young woman saw in Napoleon the man capable of giving Poland back its territory and its dignity. “I admired him deeply even before I had the opportunity to meet him,” Granados writes.

They met precisely in Poland. “As brave as he was, and knowing that his admired hero had finally arrived in Warsaw, On New Year’s Day 1807, she took a bouquet of flowers and a simple peasant dress and went to greet him at the pass of his war room. -said Granados-. Almost standing on the seat, she was able to say to him: “Welcome, Sire, welcome a thousand times to our country… The whole of Poland feels overwhelmed to feel your footsteps on its soil.” Napoleon was delighted.

Marie Walewska frequently visited the emperor French and even followed him in certain campaigns. She also gave him a son, Alejandro José. Formally, they stopped seeing each other in 1810, the year Bonaparte definitively divorced Joséphine (although they continued to correspond) to marry the daughter of the Emperor of Austria, Marie Louise de Habsburg-Lorraine, who gave him the heir he desired, Napoleon II, king of Rome. Marie Louise had imposed a condition: Napoleon had to stay away from his “Polish wife”, as Marie Waleska was called in the corridors of the palace.

Despite the distance, Marie Walewska remains faithful to Bonaparte, who had made a gesture towards his people by founding the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Although her star had waned, he visited her during her first exile, on the island of Elba. During this stay, Napoleon learned of Joséphine’s death in May 1850, following a flu that had become too complicated. At that time, the general was already entering his final years. The final exile, on the remote island of Saint Helena, distances him from his loves. It is said that in his last words he condensed his passions: “France, the army, Joséphine» (“France, the army, Joséphine”).