Historedia
EuropeEvent

Marriage of Napoleon and Joséphine

When
1795–1796
Where
Paris, where Joséphine lived after her imprisonment; Paris, venue of the civil marriage; Paris, where Joséphine remained before travelling to Milan
Episodes
3

In 1796 the widowed Joséphine de Beauharnais married General Napoléon Bonaparte, six years her junior, after meeting him in 1795 and receiving his proposal in January 1796. The wedding took place on 9 March 1796, with ages adjusted on the certificate, and the union later ended in annulment in 1810.

Episodes

  1. 1795 – January 1796 · Paris, where Joséphine lived after her imprisonmentCourtship and proposal

    Joséphine met Napoleon in 1795, became his mistress, and accepted his marriage proposal in January 1796.

  2. 9 March 1796 · Paris, venue of the civil marriageWedding on 9 March 1796

    Joséphine and Napoleon married on 9 March 1796, falsifying their ages on the certificate to appear closer in age.

  3. March – July 1796 · Paris, where Joséphine remained before travelling to MilanSeparation during the Italian campaign

    Napoleon departed for Italy after the wedding; Joséphine, left in Paris, began an affair with Hippolyte Charles in 1796.

Background and detail

Background. Joséphine, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, had been widowed when her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais was guillotined in Paris on 23 July 1794. She herself had been imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until her liberation arranged by Tallien in July 1794. In 1795 she met Napoleon Bonaparte and became his mistress.

The Marriage. In January 1796 Napoleon proposed, and the couple married on 9 March 1796. On the marriage certificate Joséphine reduced her age by four years and increased Napoleon's by eighteen months, making the newlyweds appear roughly the same age. The marriage was Joséphine's second.

Aftermath. Left in Paris while Napoleon campaigned in Italy, Joséphine began an affair with Hussar lieutenant Hippolyte Charles in 1796, yet joined Napoleon in Milan that July. He wrote her passionate letters, and she later became Empress of the French in 1804. Because she bore no children, Napoleon had the marriage annulled on 10 January 1810 and married Marie Louise of Austria.

People involved

Sources

  1. Joséphine de Beauharnais Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.