Editing Napoleon (section)

== Children ==
[[File:François_Pascal_Simon_Gérard_004b.jpg|thumb|Empress [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise]] and her [[Napoleon II|son Napoleon]], by [[François Gérard]], 1813|upright=.85]]
Napoleon married Joséphine in 1796, but the marriage produced no children.{{sfnp|Dwyer|2013|pp=320-21}} In 1806 he adopted his step-son [[Eugène de Beauharnais]] and his second cousin [[Stéphanie de Beauharnais]], and he arranged dynastic marriages for them.{{sfnp|McLynn|1997|p=318-19}}

Napoleon's marriage to Marie Louise produced one child, Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles ([[Napoleon II]]), known from birth as the [[King of the Romans|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.{{sfnp|Palmer|1984|p=203}}<ref name="McLynn 1997, p.6632">{{harvp|McLynn|1997|p=663}}</ref>

Napoleon acknowledged one illegitimate son: [[Charles Léon]] by [[Eléonore Denuelle de La Plaigne]].{{sfnp|Palmer|1984|p=105}}<ref name="m6302">{{harvp|McLynn|1997|p=630}}</ref> [[Alexandre Colonna-Walewski]], the son of his Polish mistress [[Maria Walewska]], was also widely known to be his child,{{sfnp|Dwyer|2013|pp=320-21}} as DNA evidence has confirmed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lucotte |first1=Gérard |last2=Macé |first2=Jacques |last3=Hrechdakian |first3=Peter |name-list-style=amp |date=September 2013 |title=Reconstruction of the Lineage Y Chromosome Haplotype of Napoléon the First |url=http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/pdf/V220130935.pdf |url-status=live |journal=International Journal of Sciences |volume=2 |pages=127–139 |issn=2305-3925 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406223823/http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/pdf/V220130935.pdf |archive-date=6 April 2014 |number=9}}</ref> He may have had further illegitimate offspring.<ref name="McLynn4232">{{harvp|McLynn|1997|p=423}}</ref>