Summary

Medal Marriage of the Prince of Baden, Issued by France, 1806
Artist: Bertrand Andrieu and Bertrand Droz
Minted by Paris Mint

Obverse Description

Laureate head right; around NAPOLEON EMP ET ROI.; on head truncation, DROZ FECIT; below in small letters, DENON DIREXI / M.DCCCVI. (with die crack)

Reverse Description

The Prince and Princess clasping hands and about to kiss; above the star of Napoleon, N within rays; at left, STEPHANIE NAPOLEON; at right, C. F. LOUIS DE BADE; in exergue, ALLIANCE MDCCCVI.; around rim in small lettering, ANDRIEU F. DENON DT.

Edge Description

Plain

Significance

On December 13, 1779 Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais married to Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie. On July 23, 1794, Alexandre was guillotined and on March 9, 1796 Joséphine married married Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoléon now became second cousin of Stephanie. Her "uncle" became Emperor of the French on December 2, 1804. As a prominent member of the new Imperial Family, Stephanie held residence in the Tuileries Palace.

As a consequence of Napoleon's effort to secure an alliance with the Prince-elector of Baden a marriage between the descendants of the two sovereigns, connecting the two dynasties was arranged. The Prince-Elector was to be represented by his grandson. Napoleon on the other hand lacked legitimate descendants of his own so he adopted Stephanie and named her "Princesse Française". The marriage took place in Paris on April 8, 1806. By most accounts the arranged marriage was not particularly successful. Her husband was determined to continue living as a bachelor. He set residence in Karlsruhe. She was allowed to settle separately in Mannheim. Even the official complaints by the Emperor did not resolve this situation.

For a fuller account see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phanie_de_Beauharnais

More Information