Louis, younger brother of Napoléon Bonaparte,
King of Holland (1806-1810), father of Napoléon III.
(Ajaccio, 1778 - Florence, 1846)

Louis wanted a peaceful life, but his brother decided his destiny. He was married and made king against his will. When he took the reins of power and became contrary the emperor deprives him of his kingdom.

At the age of five Louis left Corsica along with the rest of the family. He benefited from the paternal protection of his brother Napoleon, who ordered him to enroll in the school at Chalons, then had him made a second lieutenant and included him in his staff after the liberation of Toulon. When Bonaparte was named commanding general of the army in Italy Louis became an aide de camp. Louis was sent to report to the Directorate on the evening of the Battle of Castiglione. Soon after he was promoted to captain.

On returning to Paris he fell in love with a pupil of Madam Campan, a friend of his sister Caroline, so it was without enthusiasm that he embarked for Egypt, but he distinguished himself during the taking of Malta in June of 1798. Arrived in Egypt Louis watched powerlessly from the terrace of a house while Nelson’s ships destroyed the French fleet in the Bay of Abukir. Later, as an envoy of his brother, he was able to arrive safe and sane in Paris to give an account of the situation to the Directorate.

Fearing the arrangement of a marriage with Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of his sister-in-law, to whom he felt no attraction, he spent a month at the court in Berlin. Upon his return he enrolled in the Army in the Pyrenees. It did no good ; he ended by agreeing, and on January 4, 1802, he married Hortense, with whom he would have three children, one of whom would be Napoleon III.

During the following years Louis, now a brigadier general, spent long periods at thermal spas to nurse a fragile constitution. In 1804 he was made a prince and commander of the reserve of the army against England. When that became the great army and marched against Austria, Louis remained in Paris along with his brother Joseph. In charge of military affairs, he countered the Prussian threat to the frontiers by rapidly assembling the Army of the North (1806).

When Napoleon became emperor Louis became great chamberlain, a dignity of which his brother often reminded him after he became a king, to motivate him not to neglect the interests of France. Beginning in 1806 Napoleon really wanted to see his brother on the throne of Holland. When the Batavian deputies came to Paris to inform him of the wishes of the new kingdom, Louis was hardly enthusiastic and argued for the rights of the stadtholder. However, the latter died some days later, Playing his last card he invoked the bad northern climate. Napoleon retorted that it was better to die a king than to live a prince. Louis obeyed again and on June 5, 1806, he was proclaimed king of Holland.

Louis turned out to be a good king and was well thought of by the Dutch. He introduced a great administrative reorganization, instituted orders of knighthood, and finished great dikes. Napoleon warned him, "Don’t ever stop being French." Louis, however, adopted the interests of his new subjects, interests often contrary to those of France. Thus when the continental blockade paralysed Dutch commerce connections between the two brothers were strained.

During the Prussian Campaign (1806-7) it was against Louis’ will that Dutch troops were put into French armies. After he returned to Holland Napoleon made him sign the decree of the continental blockade, 15 December, 1806.

In 1807 the secret police informed the emperor of the contraband the Dutch were conducting with the English.

In March of 1808 Napoleon offered the throne of Spain to Louis. He refused it. The emperor, still without an heir, endowed Louis’ son with the Duchy of Berg and Cleves. In 1809 the Dutch took part in the Prussian Campaign. They took over Stralsund and fought against the duke of Brunswick. After peace was signed Louis was summoned to Paris, where he arrived on the first of December.

Watched by the police, he could not return to his kingdom. He ordered his ministers to defend the country and to flood it if necessary. Holland is the only country which is actually able to counter an invasion by simply erasing from the map the occupied territory. Napoleon issued an ultimatum to his brother : "It makes no difference to me whether someone taxes me with injustice and cruelty, provided that my system progresses. You are in my power."

Once again Louis yielded. He agreed to reinforce the measures interdicting trade with England and to increase his army. Upon returning to Holland he complained about the French occupation which took place during his absence. He ended up by abdicating in favor of his son and entrusted the regency to Hortense. On July 1, 1810, he left Holland and settled in Austria, outside his brother’s sphere of influence, "resigne a tout plutot qu’a etre quelque chose". On July 9 Holland became part of France.

After three years in retirement Louis offered his assistance to Napoleon in return for his kingdom. The response was not ambiguous : "I prefer to see Holland return to the House of Orange rather than to my brother". That is what happened.

Louis returned to France just as the Allies were invading the country (1814). Napoleon refused Louis’ advice. After the Bourbons were restored Louis preferred to exile himself to Rome although he would have been tolerated in France. He tried to claimed his elder son. The courts gave him the right, but Napoleon, returned from Elba, opposed that. Louis received satisfaction after the second restoration.

Louis lived in Tuscany for the rest of his life, devoting himself to writing. He was ill in 1846 but could not see his son again, Prince Louis Napoleon being under arrest in France. He died on July 25.