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LEOPOLD H

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 461 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LEOPOLD H . [LEOPOLD See also:LOUIS PHILIPPE See also:MARIE See also:VICTOR] (1835-1909), See also:king of the Belgians, son.of the preceding, was See also:born at See also:Brussels on the 9th of See also:April 1835. In 1846 he was created See also:duke of See also:Brabant and appointed a sub-See also:lieutenant in the See also:army, in which he served until his See also:accession, by which See also:time he had reached the See also:rank ' of lieutenant-See also:general. On attaining his See also:majority he was made a member of the See also:senate, in whose proceedings he took a lively See also:interest, especially in matters concerning the development of See also:Belgium and its See also:trade. On the 22nd of See also:August 1853 Leopold married Marie Henriette (1836-'1902), daughter of the See also:archduke See also:Joseph of See also:Austria, See also:palatine of See also:Hungary, by his wife Marie Dorothea, duchess of See also:Wurttemberg. This princess, who was a See also:great-granddaughter of the empress Maria See also:Theresa, and a great-niece of Marie Antoinette, endeared herself to the See also:people by her elevated See also:character and indefatigable. benevolence, while her beauty gained for her the See also:sobriquet of " The See also:Rose of Brabant "; she was also an accomplished artist and musician, and a See also:fine horsewoman. Between the years 18J4 and 1865 Leopold travelled much abroad, visiting See also:India and See also:China as well as See also:Egypt and the countries on the Mediterranean See also:coast of See also:Africa. On the loth of See also:December 1865 he succeeded his See also:father. On the 28th of See also:January 1869 he lost his only son, Leopold (b. 1859), duke of See also:Hainaut. The king's See also:brother See also:Philip, See also:count of See also:Flanders (1837-1905), then became See also:heir to the See also:throne; and on his See also:death his son See also:Albert (b. 1875) became heir-presumptive.

During the Franco-Prussian See also:

War (187o-1871) the king of the Belgians preserved See also:neutrality in a See also:period of unusual difficulty and danger. But the most notable event in Leopold's career was the See also:foundation of the See also:Congo See also:Free See also:State (q.v.). While still duke of Brabant he had been the first to See also:call the See also:attention of the Belgians to the need of enlarging their See also:horizon beyond See also:sea, and after his accession to the throne he gave the first impulse towards the development of this See also:idea by See also:founding in 1876 the Association Internationale Africaine. He enlisted the services of H. M. See also:Stanley, who visited Brussels in 1878 after exploring the Congo See also:river, and returned in 1879 to the Congo as See also:agent of the Cosnite d'Etudes du Haut Congo, soon afterwards reorganized as the " See also:International Association of the Congo." This association was, in 1884-1885, recognized by the See also:powers as a See also:sovereign state under the name of the Etal Independant du Congo. Leopold's exploitation of this vast territory, which he administered autocratically, and in which he associated himself personally with various See also:financial schemes, was understood to bring him an enormous See also:fortune; it was the subject of acutely hostile See also:criticism, to a large extent substantiated by the See also:report of a See also:commission of inquiry instituted by the king himself in 1904, and followed in 1908 by the annexa- 46 ' tion of the state to Belgium (see CoNGo FREE STATE: See also:History). In 188o Leopold sought an interview with General C. G. See also:Gordon and obtained his promise, subject to the approval of the See also:British See also: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 See also:Sudan. On the 15th of See also:November 1902 King Leopold's See also:life was attempted in Brussels by an See also:Italian anarchist named Rubino.

See also:

Queen Marie Henriette died at See also:Spa on the 19th of See also:September of the same See also:year. Besides the son already mentioned she had See also:borne to Leopold three daughters—See also:Louise Marie Amelie (b. 1858), who in 1875 married Philip of See also:Saxe-See also:Coburg and See also:Gotha, and was divorced in 1906; Stephanie (b. 1864), who married See also:Rudolph, See also:crown See also: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 See also:present at her See also: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 See also:law the queen's See also:estate was entitled to See also:half of her See also:husband's See also: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 See also:month his See also:nephew took the See also:oath to observe the constitution, assuming the See also:title of Albert I. King Leopold was personally a See also:man of considerable attainments and much strength of character, but he was a notoriously dissolute monarch, who even to the last offended decent See also:opinion by his indulgences at See also:Paris and on the See also:Riviera. The See also: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 See also:heart towards the natives of his distant See also:possession.

End of Article: LEOPOLD H

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