#laure junot

[meneeddeadmenyaoi]

Am still alivvveeeeee

[maxwelllhammer]

OFFICE/MODERN AU!!

I finally finished that so here's the deal. The events take place exactly 200 years later and folks here work as economists, other than that everything's (almost) the same. Also everyone who died in battle or executed because of war now alive and well, maybe just fired/quit their job.

Also many of these designs were made with help of my awesome gf (@avorizh14)!!

[miffy-junot]

Mathilda Malling and her historically accurate Junot romance novel

Mathilda Malling was a Swedish author known for her controversially bold depictions of women’s sensuality, and she wrote several romance books set during the Napoleonic era, including “The Governor’s Wife” - a novel about the marriage of Jean-Andoche and Laure Junot, and the strains put upon their marriage by the Bonaparte family.

However, this book is far more than regular historical fiction - at the time that she wrote the book, Malling was living in Copenhagen and made the acquaintance of Junot’s granddaughter, Valentine de Moüy (presumably because Valentine’s daughter, Marie-Madeleine had married into the Danish Castenschiold family - thank you @apurpledust for finding this connection!). Valentine allowed Mathilda to read the full correspondence of Junot and Laure as research for her book, and Mathilda got a very romantic impression of their relationship:

“These letters, which are now faded and yellow with age, were written almost daily during fatiguing marches from country to country, in barracks, in the midst of siege, from many a battle-field. They are some of the most original and poetical documents of the times; for Junot possessed a chivalrous and poetical nature, which gave itself free and unconscious literary expression in these unrestrained letters to his wife. No one could fail to appreciate the strength and sincerity of the deep, true love which these two richly endowed people felt for each other, in spite of the difficulties inseparable from their position.”

[ic-napology]

Most likely it's a very trivial question, but given that I know so little about Joséphine , I was wondering about that.

It is known that's Napoléon who started calling her like that. Was it imposed on her, meaning "I prefer the name Joséphine, so I'll call you like that from now on" similar to what Laure d'Abrantes did to Junot or did it start just like a cute nickname, like those that people in love sometimes address each other with? Did she like it or silently accepted this sort of "new baptism"?

Ciao Aurora,

First of all never worry about questions especially if you feel new to a topic:) and I love talking about these cute details, it's my(/our?) favourite ship after all ☺️

I personally don't know how Josephine took it, but it's probably impossible to determine per se. Her perspective on things in general is particularly hard to get, because she left little to no letters and no memoirs. That is also a huge factor behind her image as uncaring, frivolous and somewhat passive woman: only secondary voices held the narrative about her too for those who came after.

My personal guess is that she may have genuinely liked it; it derived from one of the components of her entire name anyway, Marie-Joseph Rose. Curiously, "Joseph" it's the only one of the three she had never used before Napoleon, probably because it's the least flattering, but "Joséphine" is a much more graceful version of it. (Io però detesto quando glielo traducono in Giuseppina, non suona altrettanto bene. Un po' come Geneviève che diventa Genoveffa😅)

And no matter how strange and demanding he may have seemed, she might have recognized the lovely intention behind Napoleon's choice, as a way to say "I want you to understand that I see you like no one else sees you".

I get Napoleon could be an invasive person to deal with, but to me "Josephine" rather looks like it started as name to give her in private. He had done the same thing with Desirée Clary after all, whom he called "Eugénie" in his letters; but from the moment he broke up with her he resumed calling her Desirée. It's not like he demanded women changed their names forever for him.

Another guess of mine is that "Josephine" became her public name as well because people kept catching Napoleon calling her like that - he was notoriously more publicly affectionate and informal than the average gentleman, especially in his younger years - so they started to do the same as he became more and more popular, as a subtle way to signal their allegiance to him.

I don't know what you meant about Laure and Andoche Junot instead so I'll gladly ask you, did she give him a nickname too? I didn't know about that :)

Thanks for asking, it's always nice to talk✨️

[oystercherie]

some crappy photos I took from this Napoleonic magazine I bought (only because it had Junot as its cover 😭) . it was published like 13 years ago but holds up pretty well I think

There's a few pages dedicated to Junot too🥺

[jel-randombooth]

I would sell both my kidneys for her and then steal someone else's just to sell that one too

[joachimnapoleon]

What are your thoughts on Caroline Murat’s (alleged) affair with Junot?

It’s been a long time since I’ve browsed Laure Junot’s memoirs, but I recall her saying that Caroline had told her nothing had happened between them and Laure claiming to believe her, but her non-stop vitriol and overt hatred of Caroline throughout her memoirs makes me believe otherwise. I’ve seen it argued that Caroline’s affairs were motivated more by politics than by romance, and there may be something to this. Junot at the time of the alleged affair was the military governor of Paris and one theory is that Caroline wanted to wrap him around her little finger to use his political influence if necessary. Her affair with Metternich later on has been brought up as another instance of her cultivating a politically useful alliance (and realistically, it probably did have some impact on the Murat couple’s negotiations with Austria in 1813; she also continued corresponding with Metternich during her exile). The alleged affair with Junot also occurs during a period in Murat and Caroline’s relationship where Caroline was growing disenchanted because of Murat’s affairs (I’ve written a lot more about their complicated relationship here), and Hortense says in her memoirs that Caroline was during this period “now attracted to the charms of a pure liaison.” Lastly, during this period Caroline seems to have derived a certain satisfaction from charming the men of her rivals, probably just to prove she could do it; aside from Junot, Caroline also tried to lure away Charles de Flahaut from Hortense, out of what seems to have been nothing more than sheer jealousy over the fact that Hortense could get more attention than Caroline from one of Murat’s aide-de-camps. So, if the affair with Junot did happen, I think it was a combination of a revenge fling, political maneuvering, and Caroline just enjoying the thrill of being able to seduce a rival’s husband. Whatever happened between them apparently doesn’t seem to have lasted very long and there’s no indication at all that Caroline was ever really in love with Junot.

[josefavomjaaga]

The Metternichs about Junot

Metternich to Mme Metternich, 14 February 1810 It is with true sorrow that I take up my quill today. Your letter of 26 January contains one of the scenes that show us the people of 1792 and 1793 exposed and naked. Place a being like J[unot] in a very high position, he will drink blood without letting any misgivings stop him.

That’s Metternich reacting to the news of the scandal Junot had caused after having discovered the correspondence between his wife Laure and Metternich, proving they had had an affair. Metternich himself was not in Paris at the time but had left some time after the war of 1809 between France and Austria had begun, and in the meantime had taken over the ministry of foreign affairs in Austria. However, Lorel Metternich with the kids had stayed in Paris, and Junot had dragged her right in the middle of a scene of severe domestic violence that she immediately informed her husband of, with the help of a secret agent Metternich had in Paris, Benoit des Androuins.

Interestingly, Lorel Metternich at first does not mention any involvement of Caroline Murat in this event, she only lists her as one of the people gossipping about it.

Other than that, Lorel apparently behaved as prudently as she could once she had entered Junot’s house. According to the letter by Androuins, Junot had forced Laure to write a message to Lorel, urgently inviting her over. On entering, Lorel found Laure Junot crying on the sofa, hiding her face in both hands. - According to Laure’s own journal intime, the last hours had been a nightmare for her, including attempted rape and attempted murder. - Once Lorel Metternich was in the room, Junot locked the door behind both women and started to rage against Metternich, demanding Lorel take revenge upon him etc. The only thing Lorel answered was: "But you are mistaken, Monsieur le Duc. This is not my husband’s handwriting." - Despite the fact she had obviously recognized it. Again, according to Laure’s journal intime, she at some point managed to silently ask Laure if she could do something for her.

Despite Lorel’s calm reaction, the scene must have scared her a lot. At least she seems rather relieved to learn that the Junots were to leave the capital, when she writes to her husband:

Bluebeard has finally left with his amazon and, as I am assured, probably never to return.

"Bluebeard" obviously referring to Junot.

Edit: Forgot to add the source for the two letters: Conti, "Metternich und die Frauen", Vol. 1 - The description of what may (or not) have happened during the night when Laure was alone with Junot are a brief summary of the excerpts from Laure's "journal intime" quoted in Toussaint du Wast, "Laure Junot". It is to be noted that this "journal intime" may have been written years after the event for Balzac, and that it is per se unverifiable.

However, Lorel Metternich calling Junot "Bluebeard" at least strongly hints at her, too, being convinced that Junot had physically abused and possibly tried to murder Laure.

Edit II: On second reading, I added an "attempted" to the accusation of rape. Of course, by the reasoning of the law at the time, rape in the judicial sense would not even have been possible between spouses. Obeying to the husband's needs was the wife's job. - As to Laure's "journal intime", she describes that Junot tried to force himself on her, but claims that she managed to make him stop. (I am not sure I fully believe her.) Junot then at some point attacked her with a pair of scissors, wounding her, before trying to strangle her. He only stopped when Laure was close to loosing consciousness and when he literally saw her blood on his hands. That's how Madame Metternich found Laure on entering.