Carlotta


Carlotta,

Span. Carlota (kärlō`tä), 1840–1927, empress of Mexico, daughter of Leopold ILeopold I,
1790–1865, king of the Belgians (1831–65); youngest son of Francis Frederick, duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After serving as a page at the court of Napoleon I and as a general of the Russian army, he married (1816) Princess Charlotte, daughter of the
..... Click the link for more information.
 of Belgium, christened Marie Charlotte Amélie. She married (1857) MaximilianMaximilian,
1832–67, emperor of Mexico (1864–67). As the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, he was denied a share in the imperial government by his reactionary brother, Emperor Francis Joseph.
..... Click the link for more information.
, archduke of Austria and accompanied him when he went to Mexico as emperor (1864). After Napoleon IIINapoleon III
(Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808–73, emperor of the French (1852–70), son of Louis Bonaparte (see under Bonaparte, family), king of Holland. Early Life
..... Click the link for more information.
 decided to withdraw the French troops from Mexico and the fate of the empire became apparent, she went to Europe (1866) and sought the aid of Napoleon III and the pope. Her pleas were in vain, and she broke down under the strain of her failure. The Mexican empire ended with the execution of Maximilian in 1867, but the unhappy empress survived him by 60 years.

Bibliography

See studies by E. Corti (1928, repr. 1976), J. Haslip (1971), and J. Taylor (1976).