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Charlotte of Belgium

Charlotte of Belgium (French: Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a princess of Belgium and member of the House of Wettin in the branch of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (as such she was also styled Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony). As the wife of Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia and later Emperor of Mexico, she became Archduchess of Austria (in 1857) and Empress of Mexico (in 1864). She was daughter, granddaughter, sister, sister in-law, cousin and wife of reigning or deposed sovereigns throughout Europe and Mexico.

Charlotte of Belgium

10 April 1864 – 15 May 1867

19 January 1927(1927-01-19) (aged 86)
Bouchout Castle, Meise, Kingdom of Belgium

(m. 1857; died 1867)

From the beginning of her marriage, she feuded with Empress Elisabeth in Vienna, and was glad when her husband was posted to Italy as Viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia. At this time, he was selected by the Emperor Napoleon III as a figurehead for his proposed French empire in Mexico, and Charlotte overcame her husband's doubts about the plan. Maximilian and Charlotte duly arrived in Mexico City in 1864, but their reign lasted little more than three years. She assisted her husband, who let her rule as regent during his absences from Mexico, for which reason she is considered the first woman to rule in the Americas.[1] When Napoleon III ordered the withdrawal of French military aid intended to support Maximilian, the situation of the Mexican imperial couple became untenable.


On her own initiative, Charlotte decided to go personally to Europe in order to attempt a final approach to Paris and the Vatican. She landed in France in August 1866, but suffered the successive refusals of both Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX. In Rome, the failure of her mission appeared to compromise her mental health to the point that an alienist doctor advocated the confinement of Charlotte in Miramare Castle. It was during her stay under house arrest that Maximilian was deposed and executed by Benito Juárez in June 1867. Unaware that she was now a widow, Charlotte was brought back to Belgium and confined successively in the Pavilion de Tervueren (in 1867 and again during 1869–1879), the Palace of Laeken (during 1867–1869) and finally at Bouchout Castle in Meise (from 1879), where she remained for the next 48 years in a deleterious mental state, giving rise to much speculation ever since, before dying in 1927 aged 86.

According to , she sighed holding a rosary and murmuring:

«Mexico (Mexique).»[112]

Prince Michael of Greece

According to José Iturriaga De la Fuente:

«Remind the universe of the beautiful blond-haired foreigner. God willing we are remembered with sadness, but without hatred.»

[113]

According to S. van Eckhaus:

«All that ended without being successful (Tout cela est fini et n'aboutira pas).»[115]

[114]

According to Caroline de Bransner, one of her ladies-in-waiting, in relation to having been reclined on her bed instead of her lounger as she wished:

«I expressed myself badly in words and I will regret it" (Je m'ai mal exprimée en paroles et j'en piitirai).»

[115]

Titles and honours[edit]

Titles[edit]

At her birth, as the daughter of King Leopold I, Charlotte was titled Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony, with the predicate of Royal Highness, according to the titles of her house, and bears the unofficial title of Princess of Belgium, which would be officially regularized by Royal Decree dated 14 March 1891. From 1864 to her death, she was styled Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of Mexico.[133][134]

Coat of arms of Carlota, Titular Empress Dowager of Mexico as dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa

Coat of arms of Carlota, Titular Empress Dowager of Mexico as dame of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa

Dual Cypher of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota of Mexico

Dual Cypher of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota of Mexico

Mexican director dedicated four films to the imperial couple. In these four films, the Empress is played by his wife, the Liechtenstein actress Medea de Novara: Juárez y Maximiliano (1934), La paloma (1937), The Mad Empress (1939) and Caballería del imperio (1942).[138]

Miguel Contreras Torres

portrayed Empress Charlotte in the film Juarez (1939), directed by William Dieterle.[139]

Bette Davis

portrayed the Empress in the film Those Years (Spanish: Aquellos años, 1973).[140]

Helena Rojo

In the 2016 movie , Greta Gerwig's character names her love birds Carlota and Maximilian.

20th Century Women

List of heads of state of Mexico

Baron

Auguste Goffinet

Bénit, André (2017). Charlotte, Princesse de Belgique et Impératrice du Mexique (1840-1927). Un conte de fées qui tourne au délire (in French). Plougastel.  978-2-91299-462-2.

ISBN

Bénit, André (2017). . Mises en littérature de la folie. Monografías de Çédille (in French). 7 (7). Universidad de La Lagune: 13–54. doi:10.21071/ced.v7i.10887. ISSN 1699-4949.

"Charlotte de Belgique, impératrice du Mexique. Une plongée dans les ténèbres de la folie. Essai de reconstitution fictionnelle"

Bénit, André (2020). Légendes, intrigues et médisances autour des "archidupes". Charlotte de Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, princesse de Belgique / Maximilien de Habsbourg, archiduc d'Autriche (in French). Brussels: Éditions scientifiques internationales Peter Lang.  978-2-8076-1470-3.[1]

ISBN

(1962). Charlotte et Maximilien (in French). Paris: Ditis.

Bibesco, Princess Marthe

Bilteryst, Damien (2014). (PDF) (in French). Bruxelles: Éditions Racine. ISBN 978-2-87386-894-9.

Philippe comte de Flandre – Frère de Léopold II

Capron, Victor (1986). Le Mariage de Maximilien et Charlotte. Journal du duc de Brabant. 1856-1857 (in French). Brussels.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

(2002). Maximilien et Charlotte du Mexique : la tragédie de l'ambition (in French). Paris: Perrin. ISBN 978-2-26201-765-1.

Castelot, André

Corti, Conte Egon Caesar (1924). Maximilian und Charlotte von Mexiko. Nach dem bisher unveröffentlichten Geheimarchive des Kaisers Maximilian und sonstigen unbekannten Quellen. 2 vols (in Spanish). Zurich, Leipzig, Vienna.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Corti, Conte Egon Caesar (1953). Maximilian von Mexiko. Die Tragödie eines Kaisers (in German). Frankfurt am Main.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Defrance, Olivier (2004). Léopold Ier et le clan Cobourg (in French). Bruxelles: Racine.  978-2-87386-335-7.

ISBN

Defrance, Olivier (2012). Ramener Charlotte. La mission du baron Adrien Goffinet à Vienne et Miramar – juillet 1867 (in French). Bruxelles: Fondation Roi Baudouin.  978-2-87212-669-9.

ISBN

de Reinach-Foussemagne, Hélène (1925). Charlotte de Belgique, impératrice du Mexique (in French). Paris: Plon.

Desternes, Suzanne; (1964). Maximilien et Charlotte (in French). Paris: Librairie Académique Perrin.

Chandet, Henriette

del Paso, Fernando (1987). (in Spanish). México. ISBN 9681318110.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Noticias del Imperio

Gómez Tepexicuapan, Amparo (2001). Igler, Susanne; Spiller, Roland (eds.). Carlota en México. Más nuevas del imperio (in Spanish). Frankfurt am Main: Estudios interdisciplinarios acerca de Carlota de México. pp. 27–40.

Harding, Bertita (1934). . New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Phantom Crown: The story of Maximilian and Carlota of Mexico

Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain (1976). L'Allemagne dynastique – HESSE-REUSS-SAXE (in French). Vol. I. Le Perreux-sur-Marne.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Hyde, Montgomery H. (1946). Mexican Empire. The history of Maximilian and Carlota of Mexico. London.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Igler, Susanne (2002). Carlota de México (in Spanish). Mexico.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Igler, Susanne (2006). Carlota de México. Grandes Protagonistas de la Historia Mexicana (in Spanish) (2nd ed.).

Igler, Susanne (2007). De la intrusa infame a la loca del castillo: Carlota de México en la literatura de su 'patria adoptiva' (in Spanish). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Kerckvoorde, Mia (1981). Charlotte: la passion, la fatalité (in French). Paris: Duculot.

(1874). Expédition du Mexique, 1861-1867; récit politique & militaire (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Léon Niox, Gustave

Lacerda Martins de Almeida, Sylvia (1973). Uma filha de D. Pedro I – Dona Maria Amélia (in Portuguese). Sao Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional.  B0037F14XW.

ASIN

Lambotte, Janine (1993). (in French). éditions Labor/RTBF Éditions. ISBN 2-8040-0907-6. OCLC 30898347.

Charlotte et Maximilien: l'Empire des archidupes

Maria y Campos, Armando (1944). Carlota de Bélgica: La infortunada Emperatriz de México (in Spanish). México.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

McAllen, M. M. (2014). Maximilian and Carlota. Europe's Last Empire in Mexico. Trinity University Press.  978-1-59534-183-9.

ISBN

(1998). The Empress of Farewells: The Story of Charlotte, Empress of Mexico. New York. ISBN 978-2-7382-1502-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

of Greece, Prince Michael

Paoli, Dominique (2008). L'Impératrice Charlotte - Le soleil noir de la mélancolie (in French). Paris: Perrin.  978-2-262-02131-3.

ISBN

Praviel, Armand (1937). La vida trágica de la emperatriz Carlota (in Spanish). Buenos Aires.{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

cite book

Ridley, Jasper (2001). Maximilian & Juarez. London: Phoenix Press.

Vazquez-Lozano, Gustavo (2023). Sixty Years of Solitude: The Life of Empress Charlotte of Mexico. Libros de México.  9798988041511.

ISBN

Vankerkhoven, Coralie (2012). Charlotte de Belgique, une folie impériale (in French). Brussels: Le Bord de l'Eau.  978-2-35687-156-5.

ISBN

Imperial House of Mexico

at Internet Archive

Works by or about Charlotte of Belgium

in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Newspaper clippings about Charlotte of Belgium