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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: LAP-LEO |
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LEOPOLD H . [ LEOPOLD LOUIS PHILIPPE MARIE VICTOR ](1835-1909), king of the Belgians, son.of the preceding, was born at Brussels on the 9th of April 1835. In 1846 he was created duke of Brabant and appointed a sub-lieutenant in the army, in which he served until his accession, by which time he had reached the rank ' of lieutenant-general. On attaining his majority he was made a member of the senate, in whose proceedings he took a lively interest
Leopold married Marie Henriette (1836-'1902), daughter of the archduke Joseph of Austria, palatine of Hungary, by his wife Marie Dorothea, duchess of Wurttemberg. This princess, who was a great
great
heir to the throne; and on his death his son Albert (b. 1875) became heir -presumptive. During the Franco-Prussian War (187o-1871) the king of the Belgians preserved neutrality in a period of unusual difficulty and danger. But the most notable event in Leopold's career was the foundation of the Congo Free State (q.v.). While still duke of Brabant he had been the first to call
financial
46 ' tion of the state to Belgium (see CoNGo FREE STATE: History). In 188o Leopold sought an interview with General C. G. Gordon and obtained his promise, subject to the approval of the British government, to enter the Belgian service on the Congo. Three years later Leopold claimed fulfilment of the promise, and Gordon was about to proceed to the Congo when the British government required his services for the Sudan. On the 15th of November 1902 King Leopold's life was attempted in Brussels by an Italian anarchist named Rubino. Queen Marie Henriette died at Spa on the 19th of September of the same year. Besides the son already mentioned she had borne to Leopold three daughtersLouise Marie Amelie (b. 1858), who in 1875 married Philip of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was divorced in 1906; Stephanie (b. 1864), who married Rudolph, crown prince of Austria, in 1881, and after his death in 1889 married, against her father's wishes, Elemer, Count Lonyay, in 1900; and Clementine (b. 1872). At the time of the queen's death an unseemly incident was occasioned by Leopold's refusal to see his daughter Stephanie, who in consequence was not present at her mother's funeral. The disagreeable impression on the public mind thus created was deepened by an unfortunate litigation, lasting for two years (1904-1906), over the deceased queen's will, in which the creditors of the princess Louise, together with princess Stephanie (Cc-Intess Lonyay), claimed that under the Belgian law the queen's estate was entitled to half of her husband's property. This claim was disallowed by the Belgian courts. The king died at Laeken, near Brussels, on the 17th of December 1909. On the 23rd of that month his nephew took the oath to observe the constitution, assuming the title of Albert I. King Leopold was personally a man of considerable attainments and much strength of character, but he was a notoriously dissolute monarch, who even to the last offended decent opinion by his indulgences at Paris and on the Riviera. The wealth he amassed from the Congo he spent, no doubt, royally not only in this way but also on public improvements in Belgium; but he had a hard heart towards the natives of his distant possession.End of Article: LEOPOLD H If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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