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Napoleon II of France Biography |
Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles Bonaparte (March 20, 1811 -July 22, 1832), Duke of Reichstadt, was the son of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.
Three years after his birth in Paris, the First French Empire to which he was heir collapsed, and he was taken by the empress to Chateau Blois in April of 1814. In 1815, after his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon abdicated in favor of his son, but Louis XVIII was restored and he never occupied the French throne. He was awarded the title of Duke of Reichstadt in 1818.
After 1815, the younger Napoleon was a virtual prisoner in Austria, where he died of tuberculosis at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna on July 22, 1832. In 1940 his remains were transferred, as a gift to France from Adolf Hitler, from Vienna to the dome of Les Invalides in Paris, where he now rests beside his father.
Bonapartists referred to him as the King of Rome and as Napoleon II. Although this latter designation had (and still has) no official status, the next Napoleon to come to the throne of France took the name Napoleon III in deference to him. He was also known as "L'Aiglon", or "The Eaglet". Edmond Rostand wrote a play, L'Aiglon (play) about his life. |
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