section_path: Children
section_name: Children
paragraph_text: Children
  
  Napoleon married Joséphine in 1796, but the marriage produced no children. In 1806, he adopted his step-son, Eugène de Beauharnais (1781–1824), and his second cousin, Stéphanie de Beauharnais (1789–1860), and arranged dynastic marriages for them.
  
  Napoleon's marriage to Marie Louise produced one child, Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles (Napoleon II) (1811–1832), known from birth as the King of Rome. When Napoleon abdicated in 1815 he named his son his successor as "Napoleon II", but the allies refused to recognize him. He was awarded the title of the Duke of Reichstadt in 1818 and died of tuberculosis aged 21, with no children.
  
  Napoleon acknowledged one illegitimate son: Charles Léon (1806–1881) by Eléonore Denuelle de La Plaigne. Alexandre Colonna-Walewski (1810–1868), the son of his Polish mistress Maria Walewska, was also widely known to be his child, as DNA evidence has confirmed. He may have had further illegitimate offspring.