Moreover, as a Spaniard, she set a particularly high value on praying for the dead. Cardinal Bourne, archbishop of Westminster, celebrated the Mass for the Dead, the monks chanting the Dies Irae, and Abbot Cabrol gave the address. Eugnie was born in Granada and it was presumably she who instructed her architect to take them as his model. Find out more. Tags: Their sale by her descendants in 1927 would have been shattering for her, although it was a boon for French museums, who would over time repatriate these masterpieces for Compigne, Versailles and Fontainebleau. The furniture combined historical pieces around the edges of the room with modern pieces in the centre, perpetuating the informal court etiquette of the Second Empire. In 1880, he was invited to revise his designs for a mausoleum at Chislehurst. Guided tours at 3 p.m. on Saturdays and public holidays. Smith 4 books Ratings Friends Following Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. This absorbing book tells the story of Empress Eugnie (1826-1920), the wife of Napoleon III and the last empress-consort of France. Learning in 1917 that the Allies considered Alsace-Lorraine to be part of Germany, she sent the French government a letter written to her by William I in 1871, in which he admitted that the provinces had been annexed purely for strategic reasons and not because their inhabitants were seen as Germans. Passing through the splendid Renaissance door, with its glazed panels decorated with Napoleonic bees and its door furniture salvaged from the Tuileries, we enter the dining room. Part of her house was . Then, once settled in England, she continued to donate to most of her former public charities with donations from her private purse, commenting that others should not have to suffer just because she had. The French Navy during the First Empire Eugnie extended the space northwards, bringing in much needed light, and she filled it with important pieces of 18th-century furniture that had previously belonged to Hortense de Beauharnais, Napoleon IIIs mother. It was also at this time that Eugnie sold the one major property in France that the imperial family owned personally. Viewed in this context, the medievalism of Eugnies Farnborough is less surprising. The exterior of the Cloister Gallery is in the same late-Gothic style as the Mausoleum. In 2014, to commemorate 125 years since the School first started in Farnborough, this lovely book was published describing the history of the School and including many anecdotes from former pupils and staff. The Mausoleum is cruciform in plan, with a short nave, a spacious crossing, and an elaborate chevet. Our dear mother was deeply attached to you. Queen Alexandra often visited Farnborough, generally without warning. Empress Eugnie lived here from 1880 until her death in 1920. Buy The Empress EugeNie in Farnborough by Anthony Geraghty from Waterstones today! But on 10 July she suddenly felt exhausted and in pain, and had to be put to bed without undressing. The history of the School itself began in 1889 when The Religious of Christian Education established a convent school in Farnborough. A warning that the Germans might bomb Farnborough Hill in error, as it was next to the Royal Aerodrome Factory, exhilarated her. The Empress Eugnie in England: Art, Architecture, Collecting Hardcover - September 23, 2022 by Anthony Geraghty (Author) See all formats and editions Hardcover $50.00 1 New from $50.00 Pre-order Price Guarantee. Empress consort of the French; Tenure: 30 January 1853 - 4 September 1870: Born 5 May 1826 Granada, Kingdom of Spain: Died: 11 July 1920 (aged 94) Nevertheless, more than a few contemporaries thought of her as a character out of a play by Corneille, whose women are embodiments of stoicism and endurance, driven by love, honour and duty, and Admiral Jurien de La Gravire often compared her with Chimne in Le Cid. Then, once settled in England, she continued to donate to most of her former public charities with donations from her private purse, commenting that others should not have to suffer just because she had. She also became interested in the use of radium as a medicine and was fascinated by aviation, reading everything available on the subject in 1908 she went to a flying display at Aldershot by Colonel Cody, being photographed with him. The religious architecture of the period was damned for clinging too closely to Gothic France or for capitulating too fully to Renaissance Italy. Even so, Gutary reminded his readers that those most eager for war in 1870 had been the deputies and journalists of the left: Eugnie certainly possessed at least some French admirers among those still faithful to the dynasty. Aprs vous, ma soeur. Eugnies manner towards Victoria was not unlike that of an unembarrassed but attentive child talking to its grandmother, said Ethel Smyth, who saw them curtsy to each other. She was also an incredibly inspiring, modern woman, paving the way for many of the 21st Centurys social, educational, charitable, and fashionable standards. I see in every article of this peace a little egg, a nucleus of more wars. In 1910 she revisited Compigne, discreetly joining a guided tour. These collections had been brought to Farnborough from properties on the continent, including Arenenberg in Switzerland (the home of Louis-Napolons mother, Hortense), Malmaison (though not the Empire furniture) and Eugnies villa in Biarritz (the source of seven Gobelins tapestries inspired by Don Quixote from 175257). [1] The church has been restored, and monastic vocations are plentiful. The Empress bought the Farnborough Hill estate in 1880, following a decade of personal tragedy: the collapse of the Second Empire (1852-70), the death of Napoleon III, and the loss of her only child. Yachting in the Norwegian fiords in 1907, she encountered a German cruiser carrying the kaiser, who came on board the Thistleand behaved with the utmost courtesy. One hundred years after her death, Eugnies remarkable foundation looks securely to the future. Toys arent just for children, at least if a 250-year-old musical elephant at the grandest house in Buckinghamshire is anything to go by, Over the centuries Notre-Dame de Paris has become much more than a place of worship it is a symbol of a nation, This episode explores an ancient funeral stele, Marie Antoinettes breast bowl, and how digital technologies are helping to preserve Egyptian heritage sites, Grainger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo, What the art world gets wrong about craft, Every generation rewrites the past in its own image, Crowd-pleasing art in 17th-century Amsterdam. She was also an incredibly inspiring, modern woman, paving the way for many of the 21, As a foreign Empress, Eugnie was not initially very popular with the French following her marriage to Napoleon III in 1853. Realising who it was, the guide informed the conservateurand they let her stay in the room by herself for ten minutes. Eugnie, therefore, introduced a wide opening from the gallery, with magnificent glazed doors that slide into the walls. When Victoria died in 1901, it was an immense loss to Eugnie, and she grieved for the friend with whom she could speak freely about their life experiences. Before death takes me, I should like to see my Castilian sky for a last time.. Her straight back and upright shoulders do not touch the back of the armchair. Among the books she was reading he saw one of the volumes of Sorels massive LEurope et la Rvolution Franaise. She transformed his study into her day room, where she worked at a large desk that was covered with photos and decorated with French porcelain. Despite the French crown jewels being put up for public auction in 1887, a large number of priceless possessions were restored to her. The Empress bought the Farnborough Hill estate in 1880, following a decade of personal tragedy: the collapse of the Second Empire (1852-70), the death of Napoleon III, and the loss of her only child. A whole sea of blue water looked into you. He also noticed her deep Spanish laugh, which conjured up the bull-ring. Was the French Second Empire as morally and artistically bankrupt as its critics made it out to be? None of this bothered Eugnie. Crushed by the loss of her husband Napoleon III in 1873 and the death in 1879 of her 23 year old son in the Zulu War, she built St Michael's Abbey as a monastery and the Imperial Mausoleum. Smith 0.00 0 ratings0 reviews 20 pages, Hardcover First published December 31, 2001 Book details & editions About the author W.H.C. This was likewise conceived around the Gobelins tapestries, the largest of which were displayed here. Qty: Add to bag Description Farnborough Hill became an imperial palace in more than just a nostalgic sense. Find out more. Today, only the Mausoleum functions as Eugnie originally envisaged. Many are under the impression that certain of her qualities were only acquired in old age, wrote Ethel. Nonetheless, she was elated by the Allies victory, believing that God had let her live so long in order to see Alsace-Lorraine restored to France. Within a decade, Empress Eugnie had lost her Empire, her home, her husband, and her only son, Prince Imperial Louis-Napolon. By her death in 1920, British newspapers were almost unrelenting in their admiration for the ex-Empress Eugnie, praising her ability to face revolution and significant change, almost alone. Viollet-le-Duc illustrated this in his celebrated Dictionnaire raisonn de larchitecture franaise, which had been published in instalments during the Second Empire. She became a fervent Dreyfusard, convinced that Captain Dreyfus had been wrongly convicted of spying for Germany, and if she did not speak out publicly she quarrelled bitterly with Anna Murat for saying he was guilty. echnological development. She later wrote, as recorded by Edward Legge, who wrote several biographies on Eugnie, I am left alone, the sole remnant of a shipwreck I cannot even die (The Empress Eugnie 1870-1910, E. Legge). , including electric lightbulbs and the telephone. Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. She took this in her stride and adapted commendably: her refurbishing of her Farnborough Home, Farnborough Hill, included all the latest gadgets, including electric lightbulbs and the telephone. Only 5 left in stock (more . Although she failed to keep her shrine to the patrimony of the so-called fourth dynasty, the Bonapartes, intact, Eugnie did manage to alleviate the morbidity and solitude of her final years with foreign travel, constant entertaining, active support for the war effort and the pleasure of seeing Alsace-Lorraine, annexed by the Germans in 1871, returned to France in 1918. Inside, Destailleur extended the main gallery by constructing a cloister in the Renaissance style that was paved with a marble terrazzo, and added a large, glass-roofed courtyard. She would enjoy the ludicrousness of dear Sir Evelyn Wood falling on his knees before her on the gravel path, and kissing her hand in the costume he adopted.. Date : 1920 Technique : photograph (from Glass plate negative) Place held : Bibliothque Nationale de France January 2011; Napoleonica La Revue 11(2):183 Her judgement did not fail her Bigge ended as private secretary to King George V, who created him Lord Stamfordham. (The general had accepted the new rgime and eventually became the Third Republics minister for war.). The Empress Eugnie of France died in July 1920 after spending 40 years in a house in Hampshire: Farnborough Hill, now owned by the Farnborough Hill Property Trust. She particularly loved the style of 18th century France and took Marie-Antoinette as her role model. Eugnie bought the house in 1880 and immediately set about transforming it. There is a story that she showed him just what she wanted by tracing the churchs outline on the turf with her walking-stick. The Mausoleum stands to the south of the house, on the brow of a hill close by. Though she never quite recovered from their deaths, Eugnie went on to live for another 40 years, continuing charity work and supporting others in their memory, an inspiring achievement. A Talk by Anthony Geraghty In 1880, following the death of her husband, Napoleon III, in exile in England, Empress Eugnie bought an estate at Farnborough, Hampshire, where she commissioned the architect Gabriel Hippolyte Destailleur to remodel and extend the existing house, which became the setting . Over the years there has been further expansion, all of it in keeping with this Grade One listed building. Among them, a little surprisingly, was the colourful Ethel Smyth, whom she first got to know in 1891 and who spoke excellent French. They argued that few women had suffered as, she had. The name is formed from Ferneberga which means "fern hill". Their friendship when far beyond what protocol demanded, with Victoria charmed by her courage, charm, and cheerfulness. 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