WEBVTT - Today We Leave for Mexico

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and eron Manky listener discretion is advised. On June nineteenth,

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty seven, Maximilian, the first Emperor of Mexico, was

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<v Speaker 1>executed by firing squad on a grassy hill outside of

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<v Speaker 1>the city of Coretta. The emperor and his few remaining

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<v Speaker 1>conservative loyalists had barricaded themselves in the city while Benito

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<v Speaker 1>Juarez and the Liberal Mexican forces attacked. Maximilian had prepared

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<v Speaker 1>to make an escape across the enemy lines, but a

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<v Speaker 1>spy tipped off his opponents. Maximilian was captured, and after

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<v Speaker 1>a quick trial, he and his top two generals were

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<v Speaker 1>sentenced to death. Before taking his position on the hill

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<v Speaker 1>where he would be killed, Maximilian approached the firing squad.

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking in Spanish. He told each of the men that

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<v Speaker 1>he forgave them and that he understood that they were

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<v Speaker 1>only doing their duty. He also gave each man a

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<v Speaker 1>gold coin and asked them not to shoot him in

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<v Speaker 1>the face, so that Maximilian's mother would be able to

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<v Speaker 1>identify his body when it was finally returned to her

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<v Speaker 1>in Austria, where he belonged Maximilian's final words echoed across

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<v Speaker 1>the hilltop, his voice free from any tremors of fear.

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<v Speaker 1>I forgave everyone, and I ask everyone to forgive me.

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<v Speaker 1>May my blood which is about to be shed before

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<v Speaker 1>the good of the country. Viva Mexico, Viva la independencia.

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<v Speaker 1>The shots fired. Only three years earlier, the Habsburg Archduke

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<v Speaker 1>had been hand selected by Napoleon the Third to take

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<v Speaker 1>the position of Emperor over in the New World to

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<v Speaker 1>solidify France's imperial holdings in Mexico, while the United States

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<v Speaker 1>of America was this directed with its civil war. Maximilian

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<v Speaker 1>and his wife Carlotta sailed across an ocean to a

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<v Speaker 1>land where they had been promised they would be greeted

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<v Speaker 1>like returning heroes. The pair were noble minded liberal imperialists,

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<v Speaker 1>but imperialists nonetheless naive and self assured, but all too

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<v Speaker 1>quickly hit with reality. Maximilian died on Mexican soil, but

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<v Speaker 1>his wife, the Empress of Mexico Carlotta, had returned to

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<v Speaker 1>Europe earlier to beg the European royal leaders for military

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<v Speaker 1>and financial support for her doomed husband. Maximilian was thirty

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<v Speaker 1>four when the firing squad came for him. Carlotta lived

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<v Speaker 1>to eighties six, gradually and then quickly going mad, shut

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<v Speaker 1>out from the world in a palace of her delusion,

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<v Speaker 1>trapped in her own mind, a world where her husband

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<v Speaker 1>was still alive, where they were still the Emperor and Empress,

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<v Speaker 1>and where they were beloved by the people. Thought they

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<v Speaker 1>had come to save. I'm Dani Schwartz, and this is

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<v Speaker 1>noble blood. Before she was Carlotta of Mexico, she was

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<v Speaker 1>originally a Princess of Belgium, the daughter of Leopold of

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<v Speaker 1>Saxe Coburg Salfeld. When Leopold was a young man, he

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<v Speaker 1>caught the eye of England only Princess Princess Charlotte of Wales,

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<v Speaker 1>the only daughter of George the Fourth and at the

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<v Speaker 1>time the only legitimate grandchild of King George the third.

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<v Speaker 1>Unlike her German Hanover family, whom the English people had

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<v Speaker 1>already grown to detest with their frivolity and George the

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<v Speaker 1>Third's burgeoning madness, Charlotte was a shining light. She represented

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<v Speaker 1>the future of the monarchy. Princess Charlotte of Wales was

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful and quick witted, and although her father had been

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<v Speaker 1>desperate for her to marry the Prince of Orange. Charlotte

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<v Speaker 1>had her heart and mind set on Leopold, the young

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<v Speaker 1>and handsome Belgian prince. When Leopold came to meet her

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<v Speaker 1>father for the first time, Charlotte wrote in her diary,

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<v Speaker 1>I find him charming and go to bed happier than

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<v Speaker 1>I have ever done yet in my life. Princess, never

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<v Speaker 1>I believe sets out in life or marriage with such

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<v Speaker 1>prospects of happiness, real domestic ones like other people. But

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<v Speaker 1>Charlotte had found real prospects of happiness, and on their

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<v Speaker 1>wedding day, massive crowds flooded the London streets, desperate to

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<v Speaker 1>catch a glimpse of the handsome Leopold dressed in his

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<v Speaker 1>British military uniform and Princess Charlotte in a wedding dress

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<v Speaker 1>that had cost over ten thousand pounds. They had achieved happiness,

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<v Speaker 1>and their country was overjoyed, and more joy followed when Charlotte,

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<v Speaker 1>just twenty one years old, announced she was pregnant. The

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<v Speaker 1>future of the nation was bright and secure, at least

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<v Speaker 1>it was until Charlotte died in childbirth after delivering a

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<v Speaker 1>boy stillborn. A nation fell into despair, a wailing, weeks

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<v Speaker 1>long mourning that left linen drapers running out of black cloth.

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<v Speaker 1>It really was, Henry Broom wrote, as though every household

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<v Speaker 1>throughout Great Britain had lost a favorite child. Charlotte's father,

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<v Speaker 1>the Prince Regent George the fourth, was so bereft that

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<v Speaker 1>he found himself unable to attend Charlotte, his only child's funeral.

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<v Speaker 1>Even the Prince of Orange, Charlotte's one time rejected suitor,

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<v Speaker 1>burst into tears when he heard of her death, and

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<v Speaker 1>his new wife ordered all of the ladies of their

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<v Speaker 1>court into formal mourning. When Lord Byron heard that Charlotte

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<v Speaker 1>had died, he opened his window and screamed out into

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<v Speaker 1>the street. He wrote a poem mourning her, in which

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote, a long, low, distant murmur of dread sound

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<v Speaker 1>such as arises when a nation bleeds with some deep

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<v Speaker 1>and immedicable wound. But no one was more miserable, more

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<v Speaker 1>grief stricken than Charlotte's husband, Prince Leopold. That rare chance

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<v Speaker 1>for a royal to have a happy, merry life had

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<v Speaker 1>been torn to shreds his heart along with it. Fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>years later, the middle aged Leopold remarried to a young

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<v Speaker 1>French princess. They named their first daughter, Princess Charlotte of Belgium,

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<v Speaker 1>after Leopold's first wife. When that Charlotte went on to

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<v Speaker 1>become the Empress of Mexico, she changed her name to

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<v Speaker 1>the more Latin Carlotta. That was Carlotta's legacy before she

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<v Speaker 1>was even born. Her namesake was heartbreak and wasted potential,

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<v Speaker 1>a tragedy of all that could have been and all

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<v Speaker 1>that almost was. Carlotta was raised largely by her grandmother,

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<v Speaker 1>the Queen of France, and though her father would have

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<v Speaker 1>preferred that she marry a Portuguese prince, when Carlotta was sixteen,

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<v Speaker 1>she became besotted with the dashing naval officer Archduke Maximilian,

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<v Speaker 1>eight years or senior and the younger brother of the

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<v Speaker 1>Austrian Emperor. The newlywed sped off to the Kingdom of

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<v Speaker 1>Lombardy Venetia now in Italy, where Maximilian was Viceroy and

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<v Speaker 1>where they built castle in Treast. But being young and

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<v Speaker 1>being in love doesn't always guarantee that the future will

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<v Speaker 1>unfold like the fairy tale you no doubt imagine when

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<v Speaker 1>you're a princess who just married a dashing archduke. Maximilian's

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<v Speaker 1>faithfulness to his wife lasted only past their honeymoon, and

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<v Speaker 1>soon the Archduke was cavorting around the world, attending wild

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<v Speaker 1>parties and visiting brothels, while Carlotta stayed in priest waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for her beloved husband to come home to her. She

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<v Speaker 1>was a loyal wife, raised to believe that loyalty and

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<v Speaker 1>obedient were a princess's primary duty, and so Carlotta never

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<v Speaker 1>wept and never fought her husband. Only when Maximilian returned

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<v Speaker 1>from a trip to Brazil carrying a venereal disease that

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<v Speaker 1>left them unable to bear children. Only then did Carlotta cry.

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<v Speaker 1>From that point on, Carlotta and Maximilian slept in separate bedrooms,

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<v Speaker 1>but still she woke with bright, dry eyes and her

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<v Speaker 1>usual affable countinents. Her husband had just been offered a

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<v Speaker 1>new job opportunity, and Carlotta was finally ready to help

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<v Speaker 1>him seize the destiny that they were meant for. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>they were young, attractive, intelligent, liberal, and royal. They were

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<v Speaker 1>meant for great things. In the early eighteen sixties, France

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<v Speaker 1>was attempting to solidify its empire in North America. With

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<v Speaker 1>the United States preoccupied with the Civil War, Napoleon the

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<v Speaker 1>Third sent troops to Mexico in order to create a kingdom,

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<v Speaker 1>a new monarchy that would be allied with France. Although

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<v Speaker 1>the French troops suffered a defeat on May fifth, still

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<v Speaker 1>celebrated in Mexico is Sinco de Mayo. Eventually, the French

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<v Speaker 1>troops took the capital and sent the Liberal forces led

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<v Speaker 1>by Benito Juarez on their run. That was when French

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<v Speaker 1>ministers came to Maximilian and offered a second son his

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<v Speaker 1>own chance to become an emperor. Although Maximilian was hesitant,

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<v Speaker 1>it was a risky proposition. Mexico was distant and he

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<v Speaker 1>would have to forfeit his claim to the Australian throne.

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<v Speaker 1>Eventually Maximilian agreed, especially once the French ambassadors assured him

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<v Speaker 1>there had been a referendum and the Mexican people wanted

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<v Speaker 1>him to come. Of course, they didn't men, and that

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<v Speaker 1>the referendum was staged and organized entirely by the French.

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<v Speaker 1>In Maximilian's mind and in Carlotta's, Mexico was a shining

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<v Speaker 1>new opportunity. They would arrive as heroes to deliver liberal

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<v Speaker 1>reforms to the Mexican people and to live out their

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<v Speaker 1>lives beloved and powerful. And so Maximilian and Carlotta boarded

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<v Speaker 1>the SMS Novara and made their way to Mexico with

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<v Speaker 1>blessings from both Pope Pious the Ninth and Queen Victoria,

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<v Speaker 1>who ordered the Gibraltar Garrison to fire a salute as

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<v Speaker 1>their ship passed. When they finally landed in the port

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<v Speaker 1>of air Cruz, the Emperor and Empress were, there's no

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<v Speaker 1>other way to say it, a little underwhelmed. They had

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<v Speaker 1>expected ecstatic crowds of revelers, bodies falling to their knees,

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<v Speaker 1>women weeping with joy. Instead. As the Navara approached the shoreline,

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<v Speaker 1>the couple glimpsed a polite but anemic crowd, though a

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<v Speaker 1>small band played most of its sound, dissolved into the

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<v Speaker 1>sea air. It was an inauspicious start for an inauspicious trip.

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<v Speaker 1>Imperialism usually is. There were some Mexicans who supported the monarchy,

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<v Speaker 1>conservative royalists who expected rigor and order from Maximilian and Carlotta,

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<v Speaker 1>but by imperial standards, the royal couple was fairly liberal.

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<v Speaker 1>They funded charities and social programs. They finally isolated themselves

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<v Speaker 1>from their key supporters by declaring freedom of religion in Mexico.

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<v Speaker 1>The conservative monarchists murmured to each other and clenched their jaws.

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<v Speaker 1>Maximilian was not the conservative emperor that they had hoped for,

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<v Speaker 1>and all the while, Bonito Juarez and his army hadn't

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<v Speaker 1>given up. Bonito Juarez had not relinquished the title of

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<v Speaker 1>President of Mexico, and wary of France moving in on

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<v Speaker 1>their sphere of influence, the United States still recognized him

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<v Speaker 1>as a legitimate leader, and then the American Civil War ended,

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<v Speaker 1>and America once again had troops available for a showing

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<v Speaker 1>of strength at the southern border. At this point, Napoleon

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<v Speaker 1>the Third decided to cut his losses. He withdrew his troops. Suddenly,

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<v Speaker 1>Maximilian and Carlotta were less monarchs and more prisoners, trapped

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<v Speaker 1>in an exalted position with no protection, surrounded by a

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<v Speaker 1>Mexican population that largely rejected foreign rule, and Benito Juarez

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<v Speaker 1>as forces moving in closer every day. Out of duty

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<v Speaker 1>to his supporters and the oath of office he took,

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<v Speaker 1>Maximilian refused to step down as emperor. Too many soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>had already died in his name. So while Maximilian fought

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<v Speaker 1>to defend his fragile empire, his wife Carlotta sailed back

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<v Speaker 1>to Europe to beg for military support. She would never

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<v Speaker 1>return to Mexico or see her husband again. When Carlotta

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<v Speaker 1>arrived in Paris for a meeting with Napoleon the Third,

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<v Speaker 1>prepared to beg for military support for her husband, she

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<v Speaker 1>was greeted not by the president but with half hearted apologies.

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<v Speaker 1>The French president was ill and would not be able

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<v Speaker 1>to meet with Carlotta. Carlotta refused to accept his brush off.

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<v Speaker 1>She insisted on meeting personally with Napoleon the third, But

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<v Speaker 1>when the meeting finally came, his position was unwavering. France

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<v Speaker 1>would no longer provide any troops to support the Mexican Empire.

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<v Speaker 1>Maximilian was on his own. Undeterred, Carlotta insisted on seeing

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<v Speaker 1>Napoleon the Third for a second time. This time, Carlotta

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<v Speaker 1>was a little less of the poise empress she had

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<v Speaker 1>been before. As she began to explain to the French

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<v Speaker 1>president the seriousness of the threat in Mexico, Carlotta began

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<v Speaker 1>weeping uncontrollably tear streaming down her face. Her voice stuttered

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<v Speaker 1>and then disappeared entirely until it was replaced by choking gasps.

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<v Speaker 1>But just as quickly as she descended into tears, Carlotta

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<v Speaker 1>began to laugh. Her heaving sobs transformed into heaves of laughter.

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<v Speaker 1>The Empress doubled over, tears still streaming down her face,

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<v Speaker 1>while she erupted and staccato yelps of laughter that made

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<v Speaker 1>the guards in the room send for help. Carlotta still

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<v Speaker 1>returned to the French president one more time on their

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<v Speaker 1>third meeting. Before Carlotta even spoke, she began to babble

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<v Speaker 1>and twitch. She fainted on a couch and was taken away.

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<v Speaker 1>Maximilian would get no help from France, so next after

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<v Speaker 1>she recovered, and at her husband's request, Carlotta went to

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<v Speaker 1>the Vatican to ask the Pope for support. Since her

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<v Speaker 1>fainting spell in France, Carlotta had become increasingly isolated, it

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<v Speaker 1>and paranoid. She was convinced that she was going to

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<v Speaker 1>be poisoned, and so she stopped eating altogether. With the

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<v Speaker 1>poisoner's plans thwarted, Carlotta assumed that her assassins would resort

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<v Speaker 1>to physical attempts. When Carlotta arrived at the Vatican, she

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't granted a visit, but weeping and frantic, Carlotta pushed

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<v Speaker 1>through the doors until she entered the Pope's private chamber.

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<v Speaker 1>Half starved and half mad, Carlotta snatched a cup of

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<v Speaker 1>hot chocolate from the Pope's hands, dipped her fingers in,

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<v Speaker 1>and started licking them. The hot chocolate from her fingers

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<v Speaker 1>was the first thing she had eaten in days. The

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<v Speaker 1>Pope's food, she assumed, at least, would be free of poison. Please,

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<v Speaker 1>Carlotta begged, chocolate still dripping from her lips. There were

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<v Speaker 1>assassins waiting outside to kill me as soon as I

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<v Speaker 1>leave this building. Please protect me. The stunned Pope wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>sure how to react to the desperate woman, and so

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<v Speaker 1>a bed was set up for Carlotta in the Vatican library.

0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:08.320
<v Speaker 1>Carlotta of Mexico became the first and only woman ever

0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:19.040
<v Speaker 1>to spend a night at the Vatican. For her remaining

0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.720
<v Speaker 1>time in the Vatican City, Carlotta did not leave her

0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.480
<v Speaker 1>hotel room. Occasionally, she would escape from her room, running

0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.200
<v Speaker 1>full speed and outstripping her attendants to get to a

0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.040
<v Speaker 1>fountain in the middle of the city, where she drank

0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.720
<v Speaker 1>the water using a goblet she had stolen from the

0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:40.120
<v Speaker 1>pope's private chambers. Around this time, Maximilian's stronghold of power

0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.400
<v Speaker 1>finally fell, and the Emperor of Mexico was sentenced to death.

0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:50.400
<v Speaker 1>But Carlotta's family, hearing reports of her madness, carefully made

0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.920
<v Speaker 1>the decision not to let her know just yet that

0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:57.040
<v Speaker 1>her husband was dead. Using a fake telegram they said

0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:01.080
<v Speaker 1>was from Maximilian, Carlotta's family at her to the family

0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.080
<v Speaker 1>castles in Belgium, where she could be confined, watched over,

0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:11.120
<v Speaker 1>and safe. For the next sixty years, Carlotta lived as

0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:15.119
<v Speaker 1>a recluse in a palace, dipping in and out of sanity.

0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.240
<v Speaker 1>Her sister in law sealed the windows of Carlotta's private

0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.920
<v Speaker 1>room and added padding to the walls. Sometimes Carlotta would

0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:28.040
<v Speaker 1>walk the halls completely nude, whipping herself with a riding crop.

0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.480
<v Speaker 1>If any guard tried to stop her, she would start

0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.479
<v Speaker 1>calling him the name of her long dead husband and

0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.159
<v Speaker 1>try to take him to bed with her. Eventually, of course,

0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Carlotta was told that her husband was executed, but it's

0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.520
<v Speaker 1>impossible to know whether or not she fully absorbed the information.

0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.840
<v Speaker 1>Carlotta finally died at age eighty six of pneumonia, having

0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:56.440
<v Speaker 1>lived to see the invention of cars, Einstein's theory of relativity,

0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.000
<v Speaker 1>and the first flame flight. She remained one of the rich,

0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:05.240
<v Speaker 1>just women in the world, living in complete obscurity. Once

0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:09.040
<v Speaker 1>a year, every spring, the former Empress would walk down

0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:12.880
<v Speaker 1>the grassy hills of the palace garden towards a tiny lake,

0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:17.200
<v Speaker 1>where she would extend a delicately slippered shoe to step

0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.640
<v Speaker 1>into a boat. Today, the former Empress would say, Today,

0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.560
<v Speaker 1>my husband and I are off on our great adventure.

0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:38.919
<v Speaker 1>Today we leave for Mexico. That's the tragic story of

0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.680
<v Speaker 1>Carlotta of Mexico. But keep listening after a brief sponsor

0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:55.320
<v Speaker 1>break to hear more about her madness. Historians today argue

0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:58.720
<v Speaker 1>about the nature of Carlotta's madness, whether she actually was

0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:02.280
<v Speaker 1>mad or for mad as could be identified as schizophrenia

0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.919
<v Speaker 1>or bipolar disorder. Historical record actually proves that some of

0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:11.040
<v Speaker 1>her paranoia was based in truth. Carlotta was under a

0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.639
<v Speaker 1>tremendous amount of stress, as you can imagine, assigned a

0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.520
<v Speaker 1>task that was in effect life or death for her

0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:21.119
<v Speaker 1>beloved husband, and she was so anxious that her doctor

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.080
<v Speaker 1>was dosing her coffee with a sedative to calm her

0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.800
<v Speaker 1>down without her knowledge. It wasn't poison but there was

0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:31.639
<v Speaker 1>something someone was putting in her drinks, and some people

0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.720
<v Speaker 1>even believe that the Empress's madness actually was poisoning. According

0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:41.280
<v Speaker 1>to rumors, when Carlotta was in Mexico despondent over not

0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.679
<v Speaker 1>being able to bear a child, a Mexican woman, a

0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:50.400
<v Speaker 1>supporter of Benito Juarez who hated the imperialist's royals, vindictively

0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:54.600
<v Speaker 1>gave her doses of the mushroom teo Na Nacato, saying

0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.879
<v Speaker 1>that it would help her conceive a baby. In reality,

0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:09.119
<v Speaker 1>it's a plant that's been shown to induce psychosis. Noble

0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.640
<v Speaker 1>Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Mankey.

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.320
<v Speaker 1>The show is written and hosted by Dana Schwartz and

0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:20.120
<v Speaker 1>produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young.

0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.760
<v Speaker 1>Noble Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales,

0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.000
<v Speaker 1>and you can learn more about the show over at

0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:29.000
<v Speaker 1>Noble blood Tales dot com. For more podcasts from I

0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.840
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.520
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. M