Napoleon and Marie-Louise's wedding
In 1809, Napoleon was at war with the Fifth Coalition, led by the United Kingdom and Austria. On 14 October 1809, following his defeat at the Battle of Wagram, Emperor Francis I of Austria signed a humiliating peace treaty in Vienna. Meanwhile, Napoleon dreamt of linking his future to a great European dynasty and separated from Josephine who had failed to provide him with an heir. He asked Francis I for the hand in marriage of his daughter, Marie Louise, Archduchess and great niece of Queen Marie-Antoinette. The marriage took place by proxy on 11 March, and Marie Louise left Vienna immediately. Napoleon went to meet her on a road in Aisne and welcomed her in Compiegne in the evening of 27 March. The civil wedding took place in Saint-Cloud on 1st April and the religious ceremony was celebrated the following day in the Louvre. A son, nicknamed "The Eaglet" would be born from this union.
