1.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
2.
Napoleon I on His Imperial Throne
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Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne is an 1806 portrait of Napoleon I of France in his coronation costume, painted by the French painter Ingres. The painting shows Napoleon as emperor, in the costume he wore for his coronation, in his right hand he holds the sceptre of Charlemagne and in his left the hand of justice. On his head is a laurel wreath, similar to one worn by Caesar. He also wears an ermine hood under the collar of the Légion dhonneur, a gold-embroidered satin tunic. The coronation sword is in its scabbard and held up by a silk scarf, the subject wears white shoes embroidered in gold and resting on a cushion. The carpet under the throne displays an imperial eagle, the signature INGRES P xit is in the bottom left, and ANNO1806 in the bottom right. The painting was exhibited as work number 272 at the 1806 Paris Salon as His Majesty the Emperor on his throne, at the same salon Robert Lefèvre exhibited his Portrait of Napoleon in his coronation costume. In 1815 Ingress painting was transferred to the Louvre Museum, where it was first inventoried as MR2069 and is now known as INV. In 1832 the comte de Forbin had it put on display in the Hotel des Invalides and it is now on show in the Musée de lArmée. At the top right of the painting, cut off halfway across its width, can be seen a shield with the arms of the Papal States, Este, Lombardy, Venice and Savoy, Ingres himself also used this pose for his Jupiter and Thetis. The musée de Montauban has a chalice with an image after a Byzantine panel showing the seated emperor, which may have been Ingres direct model. For Robert Rosenblum, Ingress model was the figure of God the Father on the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, which was in the Louvre at the time Ingres painted this portrait. First we consider the Portrait of the Emperor, How, with so much talent, a line so flawless, the answer is that he wanted to do something singular, something extraordinary. The good mind consists of choosing a sure and easy way to go, but in this infancy of art, there is at least naivety and truth, and this system was the only one that artists knew how to paint by, they could do no better etc. We heard what was being said in the Salon, and we observed that feelings were unanimous, why at first having faced the portrait of the Emperor, its the most difficult thing to do well. This throne is heavy and massive, the hand holds the sceptre is not happily executed. It is said that the artist has taken this attitude, as well as in the rest, in the Gothic medallion. However, Ingres himself stated, I think much of Jean de Bruges, I would wish to resemble him in many ways, but still, he is not my painter and I believe that cited him at random
3.
Jacques-Louis David
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Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. David later became a supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre. Imprisoned after Robespierres fall from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his release, at this time he developed his Empire style, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. After Napoleons fall from Imperial power and the Bourbon revival, David exiled himself to Brussels, then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he remained until his death. David had a number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art of the early 19th century. Jacques-Louis David was born into a family in Paris on 30 August 1748. When he was nine his father was killed in a duel. He covered his notebooks with drawings, and he said, I was always hiding behind the instructors chair. Soon, he desired to be a painter, but his uncles and he overcame the opposition, and went to learn from François Boucher, the leading painter of the time, who was also a distant relative. Boucher was a Rococo painter, but tastes were changing, Boucher decided that instead of taking over Davids tutelage, he would send David to his friend, Joseph-Marie Vien, a painter who embraced the classical reaction to Rococo. There David attended the Royal Academy, based in what is now the Louvre, each year the Academy awarded an outstanding student the prestigious Prix de Rome, which funded a three- to five-year stay in the Eternal City. Each pensionnaire was lodged in the French Academys Roman outpost, which from the years 1737 to 1793 was the Palazzo Mancini in the Via del Corso. David competed for, and failed to win, the prize for three years, each failure contributing to his lifelong grudge against the institution. After his second loss in 1772, David went on a hunger strike, confident he now had the support and backing needed to win the prize, he resumed his studies with great zeal—only to fail to win the Prix de Rome again the following year. Finally, in 1774, David was awarded the Prix de Rome on the strength of his painting of Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus Disease, a subject set by the judges. In October 1775 he made the journey to Italy with his mentor, Joseph-Marie Vien, while in Italy, David especially studied the works of 17th-century masters such as Poussin, Caravaggio, and the Carracci. Mengs principled, historicizing approach to the representation of classical subjects profoundly influenced Davids pre-revolutionary painting, such as The Vestal Virgin, mengs also introduced David to the theoretical writings on ancient sculpture by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the German scholar held to be the founder of modern art history. In 1779, David toured the newly excavated ruins of Pompeii, while in Rome, David also assiduously studied the High Renaissance painters, Raphael making a profound and lasting impression on the young French artist
4.
Hermitage Museum
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The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of only a small part is on permanent display. The collections occupy a complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, the museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky, of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre, are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, the museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for visitors is located in the Winter Palace. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse, the word derives from Old French hermit, ermit hermit, recluse, from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally people who live alone, which is in turn derived from ἐρημός, desert. Originally, the building housing the collection was the Small Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage Museum encompasses many buildings on the Palace Embankment, apart from the Small Hermitage, the museum now also includes the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the Winter Palace, the former main residence of the Russian tsars. In recent years, the Hermitage has expanded to the General Staff Building on the Palace Square facing the Winter Palace, the Western European Art collection includes European paintings, sculpture, and applied art from the 13th to the 20th centuries. It is displayed, in about 120 rooms, on the first, drawings and prints are displayed in temporary exhibitions. Since 1940, the Egyptian collection, dating back to 1852 and it serves as a passage to the exhibition of Classical Antiquities. A modest collection of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, including a number of Assyrian reliefs from Babylon, Dur-Sharrukin, the collection of Classical Antiquities occupies most of the ground floor of the Old and New Hermitage buildings. Its floor is made of a marble mosaic imitating ancient tradition, while the stucco walls
5.
Jean-Baptiste Regnault
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Jean-Baptiste Regnault was a French painter. Regnault was born in Paris, and began life at sea in a merchant vessel, at the age of fifteen his talent attracted attention, and he was sent to Italy by M. de Monval under the care of Bardin. After his return to Paris, Regnault, in 1776, won the Grand Prix for his painting Alexandre and Diogène, jean-Baptiste Regnault was married first to Sophie Meyer, then Sophie Félicité Beaucourt. He is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Alexandre et Diogène, ou Diogéne Visité par Alexandre LÉducation dAchille, Musée du Louvre. Déscente de Croix, Musée du Louvre, socrate arrachant Alcibiade des bras de la Volupté, Musée du Louvre. La Liberté ou la Mort, Kunsthalle Hamburg, les Trois Grâces, Musée du Louvre. Desaix recevant la mort à la bataille de Marengo, Musée du château, portrait de Napoléon au camp de Boulogne. La Marche triomphale de Napoléon Ier vers le temple de limmortalité, mariage du prince Jérôme et de la princesse de Wurtemberg. La Toilette de Vénus, National Gallery of Victoria, lAmour et lHymen buvant dans la coupe de lAmitié, Meaux, Musée Bossuet, gift of Professeur Changeux. Jupiter et Io, Brest, Musée des Beaux-Arts Cupidon et Psyché, pygmalion et sa statue, Lorigine de la peinture, This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
6.
Salon (Paris)
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The Salon, or rarely Paris Salon, beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world, at the 1761 Salon, thirty-three painters, nine sculptors, and eleven engravers contributed. From 1881 onward, it has been managed by the Société des Artistes Français, in 1667, the royally sanctioned French institution of art patronage, the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, held its first semi-public art exhibit at the Salon Carré. The Salons original focus was the display of the work of recent graduates of the École des Beaux-Arts, exhibition at the Salon de Paris was essential for any artist to achieve success in France for at least the next 200 years. Exhibition in the Salon marked a sign of royal favor, in 1725, the Salon was held in the Palace of the Louvre, when it became known as Salon or Salon de Paris. In 1737, the exhibitions, held from 18 August 1737 to 5 September 1737 at the Grand Salon of the Louvre and they were held, at first, annually, and then biennially, in odd-numbered years. They would start on the feast day of St. Louis, once made regular and public, the Salons status was never seriously in doubt. In 1748 a jury of awarded artists was introduced, from this time forward, the influence of the Salon was undisputed. The Salon exhibited paintings floor-to-ceiling and on every inch of space. The jostling of artwork became the subject of other paintings. Printed catalogues of the Salons are primary documents for art historians, critical descriptions of the exhibitions published in the gazettes mark the beginning of the modern occupation of art critic. The French revolution opened the exhibition to foreign artists, the vernissage of opening night was a grand social occasion, and a crush that gave subject matter to newspaper caricaturists like Honoré Daumier. Charles Baudelaire, Denis Diderot and others wrote reviews of the Salons, the 1848 revolution liberalized the Salon. The amount of refused works was greatly reduced, the increasingly conservative and academic juries were not receptive to the Impressionist painters, whose works were usually rejected, or poorly placed if accepted. The Salon opposed the Impressionists shift away from traditional painting styles, in 1863 the Salon jury turned away an unusually high number of the submitted paintings. An uproar resulted, particularly from regular exhibitors who had been rejected, in order to prove that the Salons were democratic, Napoleon III instituted the Salon des Refusés, containing a selection of the works that the Salon had rejected that year. It opened on 17 May 1863, marking the birth of the avant-garde, the Impressionists held their own independent exhibitions in 1874,1876,1877,1879,1880,1881,1882 and 1886. In 1881, the government withdrew official sponsorship from the annual Salon, in December 1890, the leader of the Société des Artistes Français, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, propagated the idea that Salon should be an exhibition of young, not-yet awarded, artists
7.
Aachen
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Aachen or Bad Aachen, traditionally known in English and French as Aix-la-Chapelle, is a spa and border city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was the residence of Charlemagne, and, from 936 to 1531. Aachen is the westernmost city in Germany, located near the borders with Belgium, RWTH Aachen University is located in the city. Aachens industries include science, engineering and information technology, in 2009, Aachen was ranked eighth among cities in Germany for innovation. The location has been inhabited by humans since the Neolithic era, about 5,000 years ago, latin Aquae figures in Aachens Roman name Aquae granni, which meant waters of Grannus, referring to the Celtic god of healing who was worshipped at the springs. Aachens name in French and German evolved in parallel, Aachens local dialect is called Öcher Platt and belongs to the Ripuarian language. Bronze Age settlement is evidenced by the remains of barrows found, for example, during the Iron Age, the area was settled by Celtic peoples who were perhaps drawn by the marshy Aachen basins hot sulphur springs where they worshipped Grannus, god of light and healing. Later, the 25-hectare Roman spa resort town of Aquae Granni was, according to legend, founded by Grenus, under Hadrian, a kind of forum, surrounded by colonnades, connected the two spa complexes. There was also a residential area, part of it inhabited by a flourishing Jewish community. The Romans built bathhouses near Burtscheid, a temple precinct called Vernenum was built near the modern Kornelimünster/Walheim. Today, remains have been found of three bathhouses, including two fountains in the Elisenbrunnen and the Burtscheid bathhouse, Roman civil administration in Aachen broke down between the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries. Rome withdrew its troops from the area, but the town remained populated, by 470, the town came to be ruled by the Ripuarian Franks and subordinated to their capital, Cologne. Einhard mentions that in 765–6 Pepin spent both Christmas and Easter at Aquis villa, which must have been equipped to support the royal household for several months. In the year of his coronation as king of the Franks,768, Charlemagne spent most winters in Aachen between 792 and his death in 814. Aachen became the focus of his court and the centre of his empire. In 936, Otto I was crowned king of East Francia in the church built by Charlemagne. During the reign of Otto II, the nobles revolted and the West Franks, under Lothair, Aachen was attacked again by Odo of Champagne, who attacked the imperial palace while Conrad II was absent. Odo relinquished it quickly and was killed soon afterwards, the palace and town of Aachen had fortifying walls built by order of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa between 1172 and 1176
8.
Carle Vernet
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Carle Vernet was a French painter, the youngest child of Claude Joseph Vernet, and the father of Horace Vernet. Born in Bordeaux, Vernet was a pupil of his father, strangely, after winning the grand prix, his father had to recall him back from Rome to France to prevent him from entering a monastery. In his Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, he broke tradition and drew the horse with the forms he had learnt from nature in stables. His hunting-pieces, races, landscapes, and work as a lithographer were also very popular, carles sister was executed by the guillotine during the Revolution. After this, he gave up art, when he again began to produce under the French Directory, his style had changed radically. He started drawing in minute detail battles and campaigns to glorify Napoleon and his drawings of Napoleons Italian campaign won acclaim as did the Battle of Marengo, and for his Morning of Austerlitz Napoleon awarded him the Legion of Honour. Louis XVIII of France awarded him the Order of Saint Michael, afterwards he excelled in hunting scenes and depictions of horses. In addition to being a painter and lithographer, Carle Vernet was an avid horseman, just days before his death at the age of seventy-eight, he was seen racing as if he were a sprightly young man. Les Neuf Sœurs This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
9.
Louvre
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The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
10.
Pope Pius VII
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Pope Pius VII, born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to his death in 1823. Chiaramonti was also a monk of the Order of Saint Benedict in addition to being a well known theologian, Chiaramonti was made Bishop of Tivoli in 1782, and resigned that position upon his appointment as Bishop of Imola in 1785. That same year, he was made a cardinal, in 1789, the French Revolution took place, and as a result a series of anti-clerical governments came into power in the country. In 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Rome and he was taken as prisoner to France, where he died in 1799. The following year, after a sede vecante period lasting six months, Chiaramonti was elected to the papacy. Pius at first attempted to take an approach in dealing with Napoleon. In 1809, however, during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon once again invaded the Papal States, Pius VII was taken prisoner and transported to France. He remained there until 1814 when, after the French were defeated, he was permitted to return to Rome, Pius lived the remainder of his life in relative peace. His papacy saw a significant growth of the Catholic Church in the United States, Pius VII died in 1823 at age 81. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI began the process towards canonizing him as a saint, Barnaba Chiaramonti was born in Cesena in 1742, the youngest son of Count Scipione Chiaramonti (30 April 1698 -13 September 1750. His mother, Giovanna Coronata, was the daughter of the Marquess Ghini, through her, though his family was of noble status, they were not wealthy but rather, were of middle-class stock. His maternal grandparents were Barnaba Eufrasio Ghini and Isabella de conti Aguselli and his paternal grandparents were Giacinto Chiaramonti and Ottavia Maria Altini, his paternal great-grandparents were Scipione Chiaramonti and Ottavia Maria Aldini. His paternal great-great grandparents were Chiaramonte Chiaramonti and Polissena Marescalchi and his siblings were Giacinto Ignazio, Tommaso and Ottavia. Two years after this on 20 August 1758, he became a professed member and he taught at Benedictine colleges in Parma and Rome, and was ordained a priest on 21 September 1765. A series of promotions resulted after his relative, Giovanni Angelo Braschi was elected Pope Pius VI, a few years before this election occurred, in 1773, Chiaramonti became the personal confessor to Braschi. In 1776, Pius VI appointed the 34-year-old Dom Gregory, who had been teaching at the Monastery of SantAnselmo in Rome, as honorary abbot in commendam of his monastery. Although this was an ancient practice, it drew complaints from the monks of the community, in December 1782, the pope appointed Dom Gregory as the Bishop of Tivoli, near Rome. Pius VI soon named him, in February 1785, the Cardinal-Priest of San Callisto, and as the Bishop of Imola, when the French Revolutionary Army invaded Italy in 1797, Cardinal Chiaramonti counseled temperance and submission to the newly created Cisalpine Republic
11.
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
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Marie Louise was an Austrian archduchess who reigned as Duchess of Parma from 1814 until her death. She was Napoleons second wife and, as such, Empress of the French from 1810 to 1814, a series of military defeats at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte had inflicted a heavy human toll on Austria and led Francis to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire. The end of the War of the Fifth Coalition resulted in the marriage of Napoleon and Marie Louise in 1810, Marie Louise dutifully agreed to the marriage despite being raised to despise France. She was an obedient wife and was adored by Napoleon, who had been eager to marry a member of one of Europes leading royal houses to cement his relatively young Empire. With Napoleon, she bore a son, styled the King of Rome at birth, later Duke of Reichstadt, Napoleons fortunes changed dramatically in 1812 after his failed invasion of Russia. The European powers, including Austria, resumed hostilities towards France in the War of the Sixth Coalition, the 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau handed over the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to Empress Marie Louise. She ruled the duchies until her death, Marie Louise married morganatically twice after Napoleons death in 1821. Her second husband was Count Adam Albert von Neipperg, an equerry she met in 1814 and she and Neipperg had three children. After Neippergs death, she married Count Charles-René de Bombelles, her chamberlain, in 1834, Marie Louise died in Parma in 1847. Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria was born at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on 12 December 1791 to Archduke Francis of Austria and his wife, Maria Theresa of Naples. Her father became Holy Roman Emperor a year later as Francis II, Marie Louise was a great granddaughter of Empress Maria Theresa through both her parents, as they were first cousins. She was also a granddaughter of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples. Marie Louises formative years were during a period of conflict between France and her family and she was brought up to detest France and French ideas. Marie Louise was influenced by her grandmother Maria Carolina, who despised the French Revolution which ultimately caused the death of her sister, Maria Carolinas Kingdom of Naples had also come into direct conflict with French forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The War of the Third Coalition brought Austria to the brink of ruin, the Imperial family was forced to flee Vienna in 1805. Marie Louise took refuge in Hungary and later Galicia before returning to Vienna in 1806 and her father relinquished the title of Holy Roman Emperor but remained Emperor of Austria. To make her more marriageable, her parents had her tutored in many languages, in addition to her native German, she became fluent in English, French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. In 1807, when Marie Louise was 15, her mother died after suffering a miscarriage, less than a year later, Emperor Francis married his first cousin Maria Ludovika Beatrix of Austria-Este, who was four years older than Marie Louise
