View source for House of Beauharnais

{{Short description|French noble family}}
{{Other uses|Beauharnais (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox noble house|surname=Beauharnais|native_name=|native_name_lang=|other_name=Leuchtenberg|coat of arms=Blason fam fr Beauharnais.svg|image_size=150px|caption=Beauharnais [[#Coat of arms|coat of arms]]|motto=''Autre ne sers''<ref>{{Cite book|author=Johannes Rietstap|author-link=Johannes Rietstap|title=Armorial de Rietstap|publisher=Gouda|date=1884–1887}}</ref>|motto_lang=[[French]]|motto_trans={{langx|en|We do not serve others}}|type=[[Dynasty|Noble family]]|country=[[France]], [[Sweden]], [[Brazil]], [[Portugal]], [[Germany]], [[Russia]]|estates=[[:fr:Château de La Ferté-Beauharnais|Château de La Ferté-Beauharnais]]<br>[[:fr:Palais Leuchtenberg (Peterhof)|Palais Leuchtenberg]]<br>[[Mariinsky Palace]]|titles=* [[List of Swedish royal consorts|Queen of Sweden]]
* [[Sweden-Norway|Queen of Norway]]
* [[Viceroy|Viceroy of Italy]]
* [[Nobility of the First French Empire|French Prince]]
* [[Prince of Eichstätt]]
* [[Duke of Brittany]]
* [[Prince of Venice]]
* [[List of Brazilian royal consorts|Empress of Brazil]]
* [[List of Portuguese royal consorts|Prince-Consort of Portugal]]
* [[Duke of Galliera]]
* [[Duke of Navarre]]
* [[Duke of Leuchtenberg]]
* [[Duke of Santa Cruz]]
* Princess of [[Bologna]]
* [[Duchess of Galliera]]
* [[Hortense de Beauharnais|Duchess of Saint-Leu]]
* [[Marquis]] of [[La Ferté-Beauharnais|La Ferté]]|styles="[[Imperial Highness]]"<br>"[[Royal Majesty]]"<br>"[[Serene Highness]]"|founded=14th century|founder=Francis of Beauharnais|final ruler=[[Josephine of Leuchtenberg|Josephine, Queen of Sweden and Norway]]|current head=[[Nicolas de Leuchtenberg]]|deposition=}}

The '''House of Beauharnais''' (or ''House of Leuchtenberg''; {{IPA|fr|bo.aʁ.nɛ|pron}}) is a [[French nobility|French noble family]]. It is now headed by the [[Duke of Leuchtenberg]], descendant in male line of [[Eugène de Beauharnais]].

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date = August 2024}}
[[File:Armoiries d Auguste et Maximilien de Leuchtenberg.svg|thumb|150px|Arms of Dukes of Leuchtenberg of the House of Beauharnais]]

Originating in [[Brittany]], the Beauharnais (or Beauharnois) became established in the fourteenth century in [[Orléans]]. When that city was besieged in 1429, Jehan Beauharnais played a role in its defence and by doing so witnessed to the process of [[Joan of Arc]]'s rehabilitation. The Beauharnais provided the kingdom with soldiers and magistrates, and contracted alliances in several spheres, including that of the university of law in Orléans. In the 16th century, there were Beauharnais in Orléans as magistrates, merchants, canons and other professions.

From the end of the 16th century to the end of the 17th, the offices of president and of [[lieutenant général]] to the [[bailliage]] and [[siège présidial]] of Orléans were handed down hereditarily through the Beauharnais family. The most eminent of these magistrates was [[Francis IV of Beauharnais|Francis IV de Beauharnais]], sieur of la Grillère (at [[Vouzon]], Loir-et-Cher), born in Orléans in 1630, and dying there in 1681.

At the end of the 17th century, the office of lieutenant général du bailliage d'Orléans was ceded to an allied branch, the Curaults. The most eminent of the Beauharnais thus turned to careers in the navy and the colonial administration in the Americas. Another [[François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye, Baron de Beauville|François de Beauharnais]] (1665–1746) became intendant of [[New France]] (i.e. Canada), where a seigneurie was granted to him in 1707. His nephew, [[Francis V of Beauharnais|Francis V de Beauharnais]], was made chef d'escadre des armées royales, then governor of Martinique.

The Beauharnais of Orléans were also great landholders thanks to their many seigneuries in the region. In the 15th century they were seigneurs of la Chaussée (or Miramion), fief of the parish of [[Saint-Jean-de-Braye]], in the suburbs of Orléans. They also had interests at [[Sologne]] until the early 16th century, and Guillaume de Beauharnais held the estate of Villechauve, at [[Sennely]]. Some years later, the Beauharnais acquiring the neighbouring seigneurie of la Grillère, at Vouzon, with they held until the beginning of the 18th century (when it passed, by the marriage of a female Beauharnais, to the [[Choiseul-Gouffier]] family).

On 20 April 1752, Francis V, marquis de Beauharnais (1714–1800), governor of [[Martinique]], maternal great-grandfather of the future [[Napoleon III of France]], bought the seigneurie of La Ferté-Avrain, in Sologne. He was raised to a marquis by letters patent dated July 1764 with the title of [[La Ferté-Beauharnais]], a name the commune still bears (département of Loir-et-Cher).

==Genealogy==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2017}}

===Partial genealogy (male and female lines)===
*William I Beauharnais
*William II Beauharnais
*Jean Beauharnais, seigneur de Miramion
*William III Beauharnais
*William IV Beauharnais
*Francis I of Beauharnais, seigneur of Miramion (died 1587)
*'''[[Francis II of Beauharnais|François II de Beauharnais]]''' (died 1651), first president of the Présidial d'Orléans (en 1598) and lieutenant général au bailliage; [[Estates General (France)|Third Estate]] député at the [[French States-General|States General]] of 1614; seigneur of la Grillère, at Vouzon (Loir-et-Cher).

Married to Anne Brachet; 7 children, including

*'''Jean de Beauharnais''' (1606–1661), [[maître d'Hôtel ordinaire du roi]];

Married to Marie Mallet; 3 children including

*'''[[Francis IV of Beauharnais|François de Beauharnais]]''' (1630–1681), [[écuyer]], sieur de la Boische.

Married in 1663 to Marguerite Françoise Pivart de Chastullé; 14 children, including

*'''[[Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois]]'''
*'''[[Claude de Beauharnais (1680–1738)|Claude de Beauharnais]]''' (1680–1736), seigneur de Beaumont; [[capitaine des vaisseaux]] du roi, [[chevalier de Saint-Louis]].

Married to Renée Hardouineau; 2 sons

*I. '''[[Francis V of Beauharnais|François de Beauharnais]]''' (1714–1800), marquis de [[La Ferté-Beauharnais]] (from 1764); [[chef d'escadre]] des armées royales; governor of Martinique.

Married twice –
#his cousin Marie-Anne Pivart de Chastullé
#Marie-Euphémie Tascher de la Pagerie.

Two children from his first marriage:
**A. '''[[Francis VI of Beauharnais|François de Beauharnais]]''' (1756–1823), marquis de [[La Ferté-Beauharnais]].
**B. '''[[Alexandre François Marie de Beauharnais]]''' (1760–1794), vicomte de Beauharnais; noble député from the bailliage of Blois to the [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates General]] of 1789; général en chef of the [[Armée du Rhin]] in 1793; guillotined in 1794.
In 1779 married Marie-Josèphe-Rose (known as "Joséphine") Tascher de la Pagerie. Two children :
***1. '''[[Eugène de Beauharnais|Eugène Rose de Beauharnais]]''' (1781–1824), prince [[France|français]], viceroy of Italy, prince of [[Venice]], grand-duke of [[Frankfurt]], duke of [[Leuchtenberg]] and prince of [[Eichstätt]].
****a. '''[[Joséphine of Leuchtenberg|Joséphine Maximilienne Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais]]''' (1807–1876), princess of [[Bologne]], duchess of Galliera, duchess of Leuchtenberg, queen of Sweden and of Norway.
*****i. '''[[Charles XV of Sweden|Charles Louis Eugène Bernadotte]]''' (1826–1872), king of Sweden and Norway (grandson of [[Marshal of the Empire|marshal]] [[Charles XIV Jean de Suède|Bernadotte]], founder of the dynasty).
*****ii. '''[[Prince Gustaf, Duke of Uppland|Gustave Bernadotte]]''' (1827–1852), prince of Sweden and duke of [[Uppland]].
*****iii. '''[[Oscar II of Sweden|Oscar Frédéric Bernadotte]]''' (1829–1907), king of Sweden and Norway.
*****iv. '''[[Princess Eugenie of Sweden|Charlotte Eugénie Auguste Amélie Albertine Bernadotte]]''' (1830–1889), princess of Sweden-Norway.
*****v. '''[[Prince August, Duke of Dalarna|Charles Nicolas Auguste Bernadotte]]''' (1831–1873), prince of Sweden-Norway and duke of [[Dalécarlie]].
****b. '''[[Eugénie de Beauharnais|Eugénie Hortense Auguste de Beauharnais]]''' (1808–1847), duchess of Leuchtenberg and princess of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
****c. '''[[Auguste de Leuchtenberg|Auguste Charles Eugène Napoléon de Beauharnais]]''' (1810–1835), duke of Leuchtenberg, prince of [[Eichstätt]], [[infante]] of Portugal and duke of Santa-Cruz.
****d. '''[[Amélie de Leuchtenberg|Amélie Auguste Eugénie Napoléone de Beauharnais]]''' (1812–1873), duchess of Leuchtenberg and empress of Brazil.
*****i. '''[[Amélie du Brésil|Marie Amélie Augusta Eugénie Joséphine Louise Théodelinde Héloïse Françoise de Bragance]]''' (1831–1853), princess of Brazil.
****e. '''[[Théodolinde de Beauharnais|Théodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais]]''' (1814–1857), duchess of Leuchtenberg, countess of [[Württemberg]] and duchess of Urach.
****f. '''Caroline Clotilde de Beauharnais''' (1816–1816).
****g. '''[[Maximilien de Leuchtenberg|Maximilien Joseph Eugène Auguste Napoléon de Beauharnais]]''' (1817–1852), duke of Leuchtenberg, prince of [[Eichstätt]] and duke in Russia with the style "your imperial highness".
***2. '''[[Hortense de Beauharnais|Hortense Eugénie Cécile de Beauharnais]]''' (1783–1837), queen of [[Kingdom of Holland|Holland]].
****a. '''[[Napoleon III|Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte]]''' (1808–1873), emperor of the French
*II. '''[[Claude de Beauharnais (1717–1784)|Claude de Beauharnais]]''' (1717–1784), comte des Roches-Baritaud.
**A. '''[[Claude de Beauharnais (1756–1819)|Claude de Beauharnais]]''' (1756–1819), comte des Roches-Baritaud, first married Adrienne de Lezay-Marnésia
***[[Stéphanie de Beauharnais|Stéphanie]] (1789–1860) imperial princess, in 1806 married [[Charles, Grand Duke of Baden|Charles]], grand duke of Baden, presumed mother of [[Gaspard Hauser]].

===Members by marriage===
*'''[[Fanny de Beauharnais]]''' (1738–1813), French poet, wife of Claude de Beauharnais (1717–1784).
*'''[[Joséphine de Beauharnais]]''' (1763–1814), French empress, wife of [[Alexandre de Beauharnais]] (1760–1794) then of [[Napoleon I of France]].
*'''[[Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819–1876)]]''' (1819–1876), Grand Duchess of Russia by birth, married [[Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg]] and then count Grigori Stroganov.

===Members of the Beauharnois house===
*[[François de Beauharnois de la Chaussaye, Baron de Beauville]] (grandson of Jean de Beauharnais (1606–1661))
*[[Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois]] (grandson of Jean de Beauharnais (1606–1661))
*[[Claude de Beauharnois de Beaumont et de Villechauve]] (grandson of Jean de Beauharnais (1606–1661))

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{More footnotes needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Page numbers needed|date=September 2024}}
*A. Pommier, "Recherches sur les Beauharnais du XVIIe siècle à Orléans", dans ''Bulletin de la Société historique et archéologique de l'Orléanais'', t. XXIII, n° 235 (1937).
*R. Gallon, ''Les Beauharnais'', Orléans, La Galerie des Ventes d'Orléans, 1979.
*Christian Poitou, "Napoléon III et la Sologne", dans ''La Sologne et son passé, 9, Bulletin du Groupe de Recherches Archéologiques et Historiques de Sologne'', t. XIII, n° 2, avril-juin 1991.
*Philippe de Montjoulvent, ''Les Beauharnais, 1-Les grands ancêtres,'' Paris, Editions Christian, 2005 (569 p.)

==External links==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Beauharnais |short=x}}

{{House of Beauharnais}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Beauharnais}}
[[Category:House of Beauharnais| ]]
[[Category:French noble families|Beauharnais]]