Having one of those moments where you read about a woman who many people dislike, go 'Huh', read a little more, and then become Charter Member of her Defence Squad. In this case, Laure Junot, wife of General Jean-Andoche Junot.
Laure's memoirs, described by one historian as 'bitchy' are considered a key source of the Napoleonic period: she had known Napoleon since the age of five, and married his close friend and former room mate. She and Napoleon did not get on, he referred to her as 'petite peste'. On her side, the dislike may have something to do with how he used to come into her bedroom in the early morning and watch her when she was sixteen and visiting Malmaison after her marriage to Junot. When she 'seduced' her husband into staying the night, and the door was locked, Napoleon found this very unreasonable.
Junot had probably had a TBI at one point, and his mental health began declining rapidly during their marriage. In 1807, he had an affair with Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon. In 1809, Laure had an affair with Metternich, and in 1810, he found out.
Metternich had left the country. Eleonore Metternich, however, was still in Paris with her children, and wrote to her husband that she had received a letter from Laure asking her to come over at once. When she arrived, the door was locked behind her. Laure was sat on the sofa, with her face in her hands, and Junot was there with a love letter from Metternich to Laure. What ensured was a tirade lasting hours, attempting to get Eleonore to admit that the letter was from Metternich (Eleonore's response was "Not his handwriting!"), and generally ranting.
According to Laure's 'Intimate Journal', written ~20 years after, before Eleonore had arrived, Junot had attempted to rape her, but she had forced him off. He had then stabbed her with a pair of scissors, and begun to strangle her, stopping only when she lost consciousness and he saw her literal blood on his hands. Eleonore, in her letter to Metternich, refers to him as 'Bluebeard', suggesting she thought he was capable of killing Laure.
(Junot also attempted a psychological game with her, but 'unfortunately' that mail bag was captured by the Russians. He wrote to one mistress saying that if she took another lover, he would kill her.)
Junot was financially spendthrift, for which Laure was also blamed. He committed suicide in 1813, having thoroughly fucked up a number of military campaigns. Napoleon banished Laure from Paris, for reasons of her infidelity and financial affairs (Junot had left no money). She did not support Napoleon during the Hundred Days (quelle surprise!), and following the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy, became an authoress and salon holder. In the early 1830s, she was the lover of Balzac, and together they wrote and published her eighteen volume memoirs. These laud Junot-- it seems likely that a) her opinion of him could be contradictory: they had been married thirteen years, with four children, and b) writing about how shitty your dead husband was in the 1830s didn't look good. She died in poverty in 1838.
On her side, the dislike may have something to do with how he used to come into her bedroom in the early morning and watch her when she was sixteen and visiting Malmaison after her marriage to Junot. When she 'seduced' her husband into staying the night, and the door was locked, Napoleon found this very unreasonable.
...OMG. Wow, chalk another one up to the phenomenon of "woman objects rightly to terrible behavior and is therefore thought extremely unreasonable!" I mean, and then the stuff that happened after that!!
What ensured was a tirade lasting hours, attempting to get Eleonore to admit that the letter was from Metternich (Eleonore's response was "Not his handwriting!"), and generally ranting.
This is absolutely horrible, and also I must confess I snorted at the "Not his handwriting!" bit.
The tension between her Intimate Journal and memoirs is also fascinating.
Thank you for telling me about Laure, whom I didn't know anything about before!
Eleonore von Metternich did not sign up for any of this. According to Laure, Eleonore had made her a silent offer of help. (I say 'according to Laure' because Eleonore doesn't mention it, and there are definitely some parts of her memoirs where Laure is lying by omission or commission. I've seen people suggest this makes them bad memoirs, but I don't really agree: surely every author of memoirs lies to one degree or another. The question is what you can glean from them despite that, and I would say that even lies or misunderstandings are valuable.)
For additional awfulness a) Napoleon had at one point courted her widowed mother b) according to a biography informed by her grandson, until Junot proposed, Laure thought he was also courting her mother. (I saw someone say "her mother couldn't complain about Junot, her proposed husband for Laure was older" but I think that you actually can, just not on grounds of age.)
Really, I want a really good biography of her, but apparently the only biography in English does a lot of 'Laure felt' which isn't based on evidence.
Extract from volume three of her memoirs, regarding her box at the theatre: "I had the opportunity of being generous seven or eight times a day. I gave, in the belief that so doing I should secure, if not real friends, at least a sort of amicable relation with my numerous acquaintances which might survive the obligation."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2024-10-15 03:13 pm (UTC)Laure's memoirs, described by one historian as 'bitchy' are considered a key source of the Napoleonic period: she had known Napoleon since the age of five, and married his close friend and former room mate. She and Napoleon did not get on, he referred to her as 'petite peste'. On her side, the dislike may have something to do with how he used to come into her bedroom in the early morning and watch her when she was sixteen and visiting Malmaison after her marriage to Junot. When she 'seduced' her husband into staying the night, and the door was locked, Napoleon found this very unreasonable.
Junot had probably had a TBI at one point, and his mental health began declining rapidly during their marriage. In 1807, he had an affair with Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon. In 1809, Laure had an affair with Metternich, and in 1810, he found out.
Metternich had left the country. Eleonore Metternich, however, was still in Paris with her children, and wrote to her husband that she had received a letter from Laure asking her to come over at once. When she arrived, the door was locked behind her. Laure was sat on the sofa, with her face in her hands, and Junot was there with a love letter from Metternich to Laure. What ensured was a tirade lasting hours, attempting to get Eleonore to admit that the letter was from Metternich (Eleonore's response was "Not his handwriting!"), and generally ranting.
According to Laure's 'Intimate Journal', written ~20 years after, before Eleonore had arrived, Junot had attempted to rape her, but she had forced him off. He had then stabbed her with a pair of scissors, and begun to strangle her, stopping only when she lost consciousness and he saw her literal blood on his hands. Eleonore, in her letter to Metternich, refers to him as 'Bluebeard', suggesting she thought he was capable of killing Laure.
(Junot also attempted a psychological game with her, but 'unfortunately' that mail bag was captured by the Russians. He wrote to one mistress saying that if she took another lover, he would kill her.)
Junot was financially spendthrift, for which Laure was also blamed. He committed suicide in 1813, having thoroughly fucked up a number of military campaigns. Napoleon banished Laure from Paris, for reasons of her infidelity and financial affairs (Junot had left no money). She did not support Napoleon during the Hundred Days (quelle surprise!), and following the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy, became an authoress and salon holder. In the early 1830s, she was the lover of Balzac, and together they wrote and published her eighteen volume memoirs. These laud Junot-- it seems likely that a) her opinion of him could be contradictory: they had been married thirteen years, with four children, and b) writing about how shitty your dead husband was in the 1830s didn't look good. She died in poverty in 1838.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-16 04:11 pm (UTC)On her side, the dislike may have something to do with how he used to come into her bedroom in the early morning and watch her when she was sixteen and visiting Malmaison after her marriage to Junot. When she 'seduced' her husband into staying the night, and the door was locked, Napoleon found this very unreasonable.
...OMG. Wow, chalk another one up to the phenomenon of "woman objects rightly to terrible behavior and is therefore thought extremely unreasonable!" I mean, and then the stuff that happened after that!!
What ensured was a tirade lasting hours, attempting to get Eleonore to admit that the letter was from Metternich (Eleonore's response was "Not his handwriting!"), and generally ranting.
This is absolutely horrible, and also I must confess I snorted at the "Not his handwriting!" bit.
The tension between her Intimate Journal and memoirs is also fascinating.
Thank you for telling me about Laure, whom I didn't know anything about before!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-16 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-10-17 04:53 pm (UTC)For additional awfulness a) Napoleon had at one point courted her widowed mother b) according to a biography informed by her grandson, until Junot proposed, Laure thought he was also courting her mother. (I saw someone say "her mother couldn't complain about Junot, her proposed husband for Laure was older" but I think that you actually can, just not on grounds of age.)
Really, I want a really good biography of her, but apparently the only biography in English does a lot of 'Laure felt' which isn't based on evidence.
Extract from volume three of her memoirs, regarding her box at the theatre: "I had the opportunity of being generous seven or eight times a day. I gave, in the belief that so doing I should secure, if not real friends, at least a sort of amicable relation with my numerous acquaintances which might survive the obligation."