germanaustriannoblesandroyals:House of Wittelsbach & de Beauharnais: Princess Auguste of Bavaria
germanaustriannoblesandroyals:House of Wittelsbach & de Beauharnais: Princess Auguste of BavariaAuguste was the oldest daughter and second child of King Maximilian I. of Bavaria and his first wife Princess Auguste Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. She is the younger sister of King Ludwig I. of Bavaria and the older sister of Princess Amalia of Bavaria, Austrian Empress Caroline Augusta and Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria. By her father’s second marriage, she is also the half-sister of Queen Elisabeth Ludovika of Prussia, Queens Amalie Auguste and Maria Anna of Saxony, Archduchess Sophie of Austria, Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria and Princess Maximiliane of Bavaria. Through her siblings, she was an aunt to Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth, Kings Albert I and George I of Saxony, Queen Marie of the Two Sicilies, King Otto of Greece and King Maximilian II of Bavaria.Auguste’s mother died when she was just 7 years old. She had originally been engaged to her maternal cousin Grand Duke Charles of Baden but when Napoleon Bonaparte agreed to raise to the status of a kingdom, he wanted to marry his adoptive sonEugène de Beauharnais to Auguste in return. Napoleon had send his son a cup with Auguste’s portrait on it and ordered him to marry her as quickly as possible, reportedly because he thought her to be a great beauty. Charles of Baden was also pressured to marry Napoleon’s adopted daughter Stéphanie. Auguste herself was against marrying Eugéne but she was left no choice. They were married on January 14th, 1806, with the bride being 17 years old and the groom being 24. Despite being against the marriage at first, reportedly the relationship turned into one of love in the end.In 1814, after his adoptive father’s defeat, Eugéne laid down his arms and left his vicekingdom of Italy. He and Auguste arrived in Munich on May 4th the same year, less than a month after Auguste had given birth to their daughter Theodoline. During their time in Italy, the couple had produced four more children: Joséphine, Eugénie, Auguste and Amélie. Two more children would follow in 1816 - Caroline Clotilde, who died after ten days - and in 1817 - Maximilian. In order to financially support his daughter’s family, King Maximilian I of Bavaria made his son-in-law Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt in November of 1817.Eugéne fell gravely ill on Easter 1823 but was saved. However he died the following year. Auguste survived him by over twenty years. She died in Munich at the age of 63. Today the Augustenstraße (Auguste Street) in Munich is named after her.// Phoebe Dynevor in Bridgerton -- source link