Leopold I was a German prince who became the first King of the Belgians following
Belgian independence in 1830. He reigned between July 1831 and December 1865. He
established the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to which all subsequent Belgian
kings have belonged. Born into the ruling family of the small
German duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Leopold took a commission in the
Imperial Russian Army and fought against Napoleon after French troops overran
Saxe-Coburg during the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's defeat, Leopold moved
to the United Kingdom where he married Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only
child of the Prince Regent, thus situating himself as a possible future
prince consort of Great Britain. Charlotte died in 1817, although Leopold
continued to enjoy considerable status in England.
After the Greek War of Independence, LeopoId was offered the position of King
of Greece but turned it down, believing it to be too precarious. Instead,
Leopold accepted the kingship of the newly-established Kingdom of Belgium in
1831. The Belgian government offered the position to Leopold because of his
diplomatic connections with royal houses across Europe. In addition, because he
was seen as a British-backed candidate, he was not affiliated to other powers,
such as France, which were believed to have territorial ambitions in Belgium
which might threaten the European balance of power created by the 1815
Congress of Vienna. Leopold was crowned in Belgium on 21
July 1831, an event commemorated annually as Belgian National Day. His
reign was marked by attempts by the Dutch to recapture Belgium and, later,
by internal political division between liberals and Catholics. As a Protestant,
Leopold was considered liberal and encouraged economic modernisation,
playing an important role in encouraging the creation of Belgium's first railway
and in 1835 and subsequent industrialisation. As a result of the
ambiguities in the Belgian Constitution, Leopold was able to slightly expand the
monarch's powers during his reign. He also played an important role in
stopping the spread of the Revolutions of 1848 into Belgium. He died in 1865
and was succeeded by his son, Leopold II.
Early life Leopold was born in Coburg in the tiny
German duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in modern-day Bavaria on 16 December 1790.
He was the youngest son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Countess
Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf. In 1826, Saxe-Coburg acquired the city of Gotha
from the neighboring Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and gave up
Saalfeld to Saxe-Meiningen, becoming Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
= Military career = ln 1795, at just five years old, Leopold
was given an honorary commission of the rank of colonel in the Izmaylovsky
Regiment, part of the Imperial Guard, in the Imperial Russian Army. Seven years
later, he received a promotion to the rank of Major General.
When French troops occupied the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg in 1806 during the
Napoleonic Wars, Leopold went to Paris where he became part of the Imperial
Court of Napoleon. Napoleon offered him the position of adjutant, but Leopold
refused. Instead, he went to Russia to take up a military career in the
Imperial Russian cavalry, which was at war with France at the time. He
campaigned against Napoleon and distinguished himself at the Battle of
Kulm at the head of his cuirassier division. In 1815, by the time of the
final defeat of Napoleon and, aged 25, reached the rank of lieutenant general.
= Marriage to Charlotte = Leopold received British citizenship in
1815. On 2 May 1816, Leopold married Princess Charlotte of Wales at Carlton
House in London. Charlotte was the only legitimate child of the Prince Regent
George and therefore second in line to the British throne. The same year he
received an honorary commission to the rank of Field Marshal and Knight of the
Order of the Garter. On 5 November 1817, Princess Charlotte gave birth to a
stillborn son. She herself died the following day following complications.
Had Charlotte survived, she would have become queen of the United Kingdom on
the death of her father and Leopold presumably would have assumed the role
of prince consort, later taken by his nephew Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha. Despite Charlotte's death, the Prince Regent granted Prince Leopold the
British style of Royal Highness by Order in Council on 6 April 1818.
From 1828 to 1829, Leopold had several-months long affair with the
actress Caroline Bauer, who bore a striking resemblance to Charlotte.
Caroline was a cousin of his advisor Christian Friedrich Freiherr von
Stockmar. She came to England with her mother and took up residence at Longwood
House, a few miles from Claremont House. But, by mid-1829, the liaison was over,
and the actress and her mother returned to Berlin. Many years later, in memoirs
published after her death, she declared that she and Leopold had engaged into a
morganatic marriage and that he had bestowed upon her the title of Countess
Montgomery. He would have broken this marriage when the possibility arose that
he could become King of Greece. The son of Freiherr von Stockmar denied that
these events ever happened, and indeed no records have been found of a civil or
religious marriage with actress. = Refusal of the Greek throne =
Following the Greek rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, Leopold was offered
the throne of Greece. Leopold, however, declined the offer, fearing that Greece
was too politically unstable to remain a viable monarchy. The position was
instead accepted by Otto of Wittelsbach in May 1832.
Acceptance of the Belgian throne = Background =
At the end of August 1830, rebels in the Southern provinces of the United
Netherlands rose up against Dutch rule. The rising, which began in Brussels,
pushed the Dutch army back, and the rebels defended themselves against a
Dutch attack. International powers meeting in London agreed to support the
independence of Belgium, even though the Dutch refused to recognize the new
state. In November 1830, a National Congress
was established in Belgium to create a constitution for the new state. Fears of
"mob rule" associated with republicanism after the French Revolution of 1789, as
well as the example of the recent, liberal July Revolution in France, led
the Congress to decide that Belgium would be a popular, constitutional
monarchy. = Search for a monarch =
The choice of candidates for the position was one of the most
controversial issues faced by the revolutionaries. The Congress refused to
consider any candidate from the Dutch ruling house of Orange-Nassau. Some
Orangists had hoped to offer the position to King William I or his son,
William, Prince of Orange, which would bring Belgium into personal union with
the Netherlands like Luxembourg. The Great Powers also worried that a
candidate from another state could risk destabilizing the international balance
of power and lobbied for a neutral candidate.
Eventually the Congress was able to draw up a shortlist. The three viable
possibilities were felt to be Eugène de Beauharnais, a French nobleman and
stepson of Napoleon; Auguste of Leuchtenberg, son of Eugene; and Louis,
Duke of Nemours who was the son of the French King Louis-Philippe. All the
candidates were French and the choice between them was principally between
choosing the Bonapartism of Beauharnais or Leuchtenberg and supporting the July
Monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Louis-Philippe realized that the choice
of either of the Bonapartists could be first stage of a coup against him, but
that his son would also be unacceptable to other European powers suspicious of
French intentions. Nemours refused the offer. With no definitive choice in
sight, Catholics and Liberals united to elect Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier, a
minor Belgian nobleman, as regent to buy more time for a definitive decision in
February 1831. Leopold of Saxe-Coburg had been proposed
at an early stage, but had been dropped because of French opposition. The
problems caused by the French candidates and the increased international pressure
for a solution led to his reconsideration. On 22 April, he was
finally approached by a Belgian delegation at Marlborough House to
officially offer him the throne. Leopold, however, was reluctant to
accept. = Coronation =
On 17 July 1831, Leopold travelled from Calais to Belgium, entering the country
at De Panne. Travelling to Brussels, he was greeted with patriotic enthusiasm
along his route. The coronation took place on 21 July on the Place Royale in
Brussels. A stand had been erected on the steps of the church of Saint
Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, surrounded by the names of revolutionaries fallen
during the fighting in 1830. After a ceremony of resignation by the regent,
Leopold, dressed in the uniform of a Belgian lieutenant-general, swore
loyalty to the constitution and became king.
The coronation is generally used to mark end of the revolution and the start of
the Kingdom of Belgium and is celebrated each year as the Belgian national
holiday. Reign
= Consolidation of independence = Less than two weeks after Leopold's
coronation, on 2 August, the Netherlands invaded Belgium, starting the Ten Days'
Campaign. The small Belgian army was overwhelmed by the Dutch assault and was
pushed back. Faced with a military crisis, Leopold appealed to the French
for support. The French promised support, and the arrival of their Armée
du Nord in Belgium forced the Dutch to accept a diplomatic mediation and
retreat back to the pre-war border. Skirmishes continued for eight years,
but in 1839, the two countries signed the Treaty of London, establishing
Belgium's independence. Leopold was generally unsatisfied with
the amount of power allocated to the monarch in the Constitution, and sought
to extend it wherever the Constitution was ambiguous or unclear while generally
avoiding involvement in routine politics.
= Subsequent reign = Leopold I's reign was also marked by an
economic crisis which lasted until the late 1850s. In the aftermath of the
revolution, the Dutch had closed the Scheldt to Belgian shipping, meaning
that the port of Antwerp was effectively useless. The Netherlands and the Dutch
colonies in particular, which had been profitable markets for Belgian
manufacturers before 1830, were totally closed to Belgian goods. The period
between 1845 and 1849 was particularly hard in Flanders, where harvests failed
and a third of the population became dependent on poor relief, and have been
described as the "worst years of Flemish history". The economic situation in
Flanders also increased the internal migration to Brussels and the industrial
areas of Wallonia, which continued throughout the period.
Politics in Belgium under Leopold I were polarized between liberal and Catholic
political factions, though before 1847 they collaborated in "Unionist"
governments. The liberals were opposed to the Church's influence in politics
and society, while supporting free trade, personal liberties and
secularization. The Catholics wanted religious teachings to be a fundamental
basis for the state and society and opposed all attempts by the liberals to
attack the Church's official privileges. Initially, these factions existed only
as informal groups with which prominent politicians were generally identified.
The liberals held power through much of Leopold I's reign. An official Liberal
Party was formed in 1846, although a formal Catholic Party was only
established in 1869. Leopold, who was himself a Protestant, tended to favor
liberals and shared their desire for reform, even though he was not partisan.
On his own initiative, in 1842, Leopold proposed a law which would have stopped
women and children from working in some industries, but the bill was defeated.
Leopold was an early supporter of railways, and Belgium's first stretch of
this railway, between northern Brussels and Mechelen, was completed in 1835.
When completed, it was one of the first passenger railways in continental
Europe. = Revolution of 1848 =
The success of economic reforms partially mitigated the effects of the
economic downturn and meant that Belgium was not as badly affected as its
neighbors by the Revolutions of 1848. Nevertheless, in early 1848, a large
number of radical publications appeared. The most serious threat of the 1848
revolutions in Belgium was posed by Belgian émigré groups. Shortly after the
revolution in France, Belgian migrant workers living in Paris were encouraged
to return to Belgium to overthrow the monarchy and establish a republic.
Around 6,000 armed émigrés of the "Belgian Legion" attempted to cross the
Belgian frontier. The first group, travelling by train, was stopped and
quickly disarmed at Quiévrain on 26 March 1848. The second group crossed the
border on 29 March and headed for Brussels. They were confronted by
Belgian troops at the hamlet of Risquons-Tout and, during fighting,
seven émigrés were killed and most of the rest were captured. To defuse
tension, Leopold theatrically offered his resignation if this was the wish of
the majority of his people. The defeat at Risquons-Tout effectively
ended the revolutionary threat to Belgium, as the situation in Belgium
began to recover that summer after a good harvest, and fresh elections
returned a strong Liberal majority. = Role in international relations =
Because of his family connections and position at the head of a neutral and
unthreatening power, Leopold was able to act as an important intermediary in
European politics during his reign. As a result of this, he earned the nickname
the "Nestor of Europe", after the wise mediator in Homer's Iliad. Leopold
played a particularly important role in moderating relations between the hostil
Great Powers. In the latter part of his reign, his role in managing relations
between Great Britain and the French Empire of Napoleon III was particularly
important. Leopold was particularly known as a
political marriage broker. In 1840, Leopold arranged the marriage of his
niece, Queen Victoria, to his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Even before she succeeded to the throne, Leopold had been advising Victoria by
letter, and continued to influence her after her accession.
In foreign policy, Leopold's principal object was the maintenance of Belgian
neutrality. Despite pressure from the Great Powers, especially over the
Crimean War, Belgium remained neutral throughout the reigns of Leopold I and
II. = Second marriage and family =
In 1832, Leopold married his second wife, Louise-Marie of Orléans.
Louise-Marie was the daughter of Louis Philippe I, the King of the French,
enstated in 1830. Leopold and Louise-Marie had four children. The
eldest, Louis Philippe, died in 1834, and Leopold became crown prince. Their
third son was Philippe, the father of Belgium's third king, Albert I. Their
youngest child was Charlotte, who would later marry Emperor Maximilian I of
Mexico. On 11 October 1850, Queen Louise-Marie
died of tuberculosis, aged 38. Leopold also had two sons, George and Arthur, by
a mistress, Arcadie Meyer. George was born in 1849, and Arthur was born in
1852. At Leopold's request, in 1862 the two sons were created Freiherr von
Eppinghoven by his nephew, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; in 1863
Arcadie was also created Baronin von Eppinghoven.
Death and commemoration Leopold died in Laeken near Brussels on
10 December 1865, aged 74. He is buried in the Royal Vault at the Church of
Notre-Dame de Laeken, next to Louise-Marie. He was succeeded by his
son, Leopold II, aged 30, who would rule until 1909.
A number of Belgian naval vessels have been named in his honour, including
current frigate Leopold I. His monogram features on the flag of the Flemish town
of Leopoldsburg. He has also featured on postage stamps and commemorative coins
issued since his death. In the 2009 film The Young Victoria,
directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, Leopold was played by Thomas Kretschmann.
Notes = References =
= Bibliography = External links
Leopold I: Un Roi Protestant at the Chapelle royale