Line of succession to the French throne (Bonapartist) sons, and it seemed unlikely that he would have any due to the age of his wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. His eventual response was to have his marriage to Josephine annulled and to undertake a second marriage with Roman Catholic rites to Archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Their only child was Napoleon, King of Rome, known in exile as "Napoleon II" and as the Duke of Reichstadt. He died unmarried, thereby extinguishing the legitimate descent of Napoleon I. Meanwhile, Napoleon I's older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, recognized upon establishment of the First Empire as first in
First Cabinet of Napoleon I First Cabinet of Napoleon I The First Cabinet of Napoleon I was appointed by the Emperor Napoleon I upon the establishment of the First French Empire on 18 May 1804, replacing the Cabinet of the Consulate. It was succeeded by the French Provisional Government of 1814 following the downfall of Napoleon and the abolition of the Empire. At the session of the Tribunat on 3 Floréal year XII (23 April 1804) Jean-François Curée proposed that Napoleon, then First Consul, be declared hereditary Emperor of France. The motion was supported by several members of the Tribunat, with only Lazare Carnot speaking