19 January 1927
The death of Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine.
Who? She's better known as Empress Carlota, and she died on today's date at the age of 86. She had been insane for 60 years. Poor Carlota!
She was the only daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium, and when she was 17 she married Maximilian von Habsburg, the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph. Carlota enthusiastically supported her weak husband when Mexican nobles, backed by Napoleon III of France, offered Maximilian the crown of Mexico. The couple arrived in Mexico in 1864, but things went poorly. The United States invoked the Monroe Doctrine, and Napoleon III withdrew his support, and the forces of Benito Juárez wiped out the emperor's army. Maximilian was executed, but Carlota wasn't around to see it. She had left Mexico in July 1866 to raise support in Europe, and she never saw her husband again. While in Europe, she went mad. She eventually ended up in an asylum in Brussels under the care of Leopold II, her brother (the proprietor of the Congo Free State and one of the more vile men of the late 19th century). Why she went insane remains a mystery. Even into her later life she kept asking for her husband and wondering why he wasn't around.
Who? She's better known as Empress Carlota, and she died on today's date at the age of 86. She had been insane for 60 years. Poor Carlota!
She was the only daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium, and when she was 17 she married Maximilian von Habsburg, the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph. Carlota enthusiastically supported her weak husband when Mexican nobles, backed by Napoleon III of France, offered Maximilian the crown of Mexico. The couple arrived in Mexico in 1864, but things went poorly. The United States invoked the Monroe Doctrine, and Napoleon III withdrew his support, and the forces of Benito Juárez wiped out the emperor's army. Maximilian was executed, but Carlota wasn't around to see it. She had left Mexico in July 1866 to raise support in Europe, and she never saw her husband again. While in Europe, she went mad. She eventually ended up in an asylum in Brussels under the care of Leopold II, her brother (the proprietor of the Congo Free State and one of the more vile men of the late 19th century). Why she went insane remains a mystery. Even into her later life she kept asking for her husband and wondering why he wasn't around.
posted by Greg | 2:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home