Joséphine de Beauharnais

About Joséphine de Beauharnais

Joséphine de Beauharnais (1763–1814) holds a significant place in European history, primarily as the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of the French from 1804 to 1809. Her early life was marked by the turmoil of the French Revolution, during which she was imprisoned. Her marriage to Napoleon was a crucial political alliance, and through her, she cemented his position as a figure of the new French elite. While her influence waned following her inability to produce an heir for Napoleon's succession plans, her role as an imperial consort and her later political maneuvering ensure her consistent, though not top-tier, ranking at #417 in global historical importance by the Pantheon project.

In the modern digital landscape of 2025, Joséphine experiences a notable overattention relative to her historical standing, with an Attention Gap score of +2x. She commanded 911K Wikipedia pageviews this year, placing her view count significantly higher than figures ranked much more importantly, such as Musa I of Mali (#244, only 18K views) or Kim Jong-il (#221, only 59K views). This suggests that her association with Napoleon and the enduring popular fascination with French imperial romance continues to drive significant, perhaps disproportionate, modern internet traffic compared to her objective historical rank.

However, this level of attention is clearly waning; her pageviews have dropped by a sharp -62.3% year-over-year, and her momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025 fell by -15%, indicating a declining trend in contemporary digital interest.