The Marriage Contract For One of Napoleonic France’s Most Important Weddings, Signed by Napoleon, Josephine, All the Consuls of France, and the Entire First Family

Before Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in 1804, he ruled a three-member consulate, which was composed of the First, Second and Third Consul.  There were a handful of Ministers under him but essentially this system established him as the head of a more authoritarian and centralized republican government in France while not declaring himself technically the sole head of state.

In 1795, Josephine met Napoléon Bonaparte, six years her junior, and became his mistress. In a letter to her in December, he wrote, "I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses." In January 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proposed to her and they married on March 9.  With her came her two children (Napoleon did not have his own children), Eugene, who played a crucial role in Napoleon’s government, and Hortense, who married Napoleon’s brother.  This was the First Family of France for years until Napoleon divorced Josephine.  

From the time of the Sun King, Louis XIV, the great French monarchs on occasion signed as witnesses on marriage contracts for people close to them. This was a great honor and usually symbolic of your importance to the monarch. Napoleon, in keeping with his vision of himself as great ruling autocrat, revived this tradition.  Marguerite Helene de Chabert was Josephine's cousin, and she married a senior military official, making this an important wedding. The most important people in the realm signed as witness.

Document signed, June 29, 1802, 11 pages, a marriage contract between Pierre Francois Henry Rolland, Commissary of War, and Athanase Marguerite Helene de Chabert, daughter the Vice Admiral and Cousin to Josephine.  It is signed by Napoleon (First Consul), Josephine, his wife, Hortense de Beauharnais (Josephine’s daughter, wife of Louis Bonaparte, mother to Napoleon III, and cousin to the bride), Eugene de Beauharnais (Josephine’s son, Viceroy of Italy, cousin of the bride), Jean Jacques de Cambareres (Second Consul and cousin to the groom), Charles Le Brun (Third Consul), Alexandre Berthier (Minister of War), and Citizen Decres (Minister of the Marine), among others.

Our research discloses no other marriage contracts signed by the 3 consuls – France’s most important political figures including Napoleon – and the entire first family, ever to reach the market.

This piece, housed in a gorgeous presentation case, was formerly in the library of the French Institute of New York City. Deaccessioned by them, its provenance is Hinda Rose at Magg’s.