Théodolinde de Beauharnais

Théodolinde of Leuchtenberg (French: Théodelinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais; 13 April 1814 – 1 April 1857), Countess of Württemberg by marriage, was a Franco-German princess. She was a granddaughter of Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife.

Théodolinde of Leuchtenberg

Countess Wilhelm of Württemberg

Portrait by Friedrich Dürck, 1836

Born

13 April 1814
Mantua, Kingdom of Italy

Died

1 April 1857 (aged 42)
Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württemberg

Burial

Ludwigsburg Palace

Spouse

Count Wilhelm of Württemberg

(m. )

Issue

Augusta, Countess Rudolf von Thun und Hohenstein
Princess Marie
Princess Eugenia
Mathilde, Princess of Oriolo and Viano

Names
Théodolinde Louise Eugénie Auguste Napoléone de Beauharnais

House

Beauharnais

Father

Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg

Mother

Princess Augusta of Bavaria

Religion

Roman Catholic

Biography

The fifth of the seven children of Eugène de Beauharnais (1781–1824), Duke of Leuchtenberg, and his wife, Princess Augusta of Bavaria (1788–1851), Théodolinde was born in Mantua, Italy, and presumably named for Theudelinda, a 6th-century queen of the Lombards. She had two brothers (Auguste and Maximilian) and three surviving sisters (Joséphine, Eugénie, and Amélie). Joséphine de Beauharnais, the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and former Empress of France, was her paternal grandmother. The latter, however, died about six weeks after Théodolinde's birth.

Through her marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand, Count of Württemberg, Théodolinde became Countess (Gräfin) of Württemberg, but died before her husband was created Duke of Urach. She died after a short illness on the morning of 1 April 1857 in Stuttgart, Germany, and was buried in the family vault at Ludwigsburg Palace, with her heart buried at the Hauskapelle of the palace in Munich.

She was the subject of an 1836 portrait by Friedrich Dürck.

Marriage and issue

On 8 February 1841, at the age of 26, she was married in Munich to Wilhelm, Count of Württemberg (afterwards Duke of Urach), whose father, Wilhelm Friedrich of Württemberg, was a younger brother of Friedrich II, the last Duke of Würtemberg, whom Napoleon later (1806) elevated to the status of King of Württemberg, as Friedrich I. He was also a cousin of Princess Catharina of Württemberg (1783–1835), who became the second wife of Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother, in 1807.

Four daughters were born from this marriage:

Princess Augusta Eugenie of Urach (1842–1916)
- Married first Count Rudolf von Enzenberg zum Freyen und Jochelsthurn (1835–1874) and second Count Franz von Thun und Hohenstein (1826–1888). Both of her marriages produced issue.
Princess Marie Josephine of Urach (1844–1864).
Princess Eugenia Amalie of Urach (1848–1867).
Princess Mathilde of Urach (1854–1907)
- Married Paolo Altieri, Prince of Oriolo and Viano (1849–1901), by whom she had issue.

Her husband's second marriage to Princess Florestine of Monaco produced his heir, the future Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach.