NEWS / French Emperor Napoléon’s marriage and divorce certificates to be auctioned off

The marriage and divorce certificates of French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte are set to be auctioned off at Sotheby’s on June 25. The handwritten ornate marriage certificate that provided religious legitimation of the civil marriage between Napoléon and Joséphine is estimated to be valued at 30,000 to 50,000 euros.

According to Fine Books Magazine, the large red folio expected to be put to auction also contains the French Emperor’s divorce certificate valued at 50,000 to 80,000 euros. The folio also contains other documents pertaining to Napoléon’s divorce, including edicts and court decisions.

A military commander from Corsica, Napoléon Bonaparte rose to prominence during the tumultuous decade of the 1790s that followed the French Revolution of 1789. He commanded French forces during the War of the First Coalition against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Venice, Papal States, and Naples, and later led an attempted French invasion of Egypt and Syria against Great Britain and Turkey during the War of the Second Coalition.

In 1799, Bonaparte was asked by Director Emmanuel Joseph Sièyes, who had been sharing power with other directors as part of the Directory system of power in place since 1795, to stage a coup to solidify his power. As a result of the coup, however Bonaparte became First Consul of France, sidelining Sièyes and other leaders. Bonaparte went on to consolidate his power and win the War of the Second Coalition. In 1804, he was crowned Emperor Napoléon I.

Napoléon I had married Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796. However, the marriage failed to produce any offspring and the French leader divorce Joséphine in 1810. He went on to marry Marie-Louise Hapsburg of Austria and had one son, Napoléon II, although it is known that he also had other illegitimate children.

While Napoléon was successful in defeating Austria and Prussia in the Wars of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Coalitions, his invasions of Spain in 1808 and Russia in 1812 stretched his empire’s resources thin and eventually led to his ouster in 1814 and the restoration of the French Kingdom under the leadership of Louis XVIII Bourbon.

Napoléon was exiled to the Mediterranean island of Elba, but managed to come back and overthrow Louis XVIII in 1815. However, his return to power was short-lived, as he was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and exiled again, this time to the far more remote island of St. Helena. Napoléon died from a stomach ulcer at the age of 51 in 1821.