Carlotta

Carlotta,Span.Carlota kärlō´tä [key], 1840–1927, empress of Mexico, daughter ofLeopold Iof Belgium, christened Marie Charlotte Amélie. She married (1857)Maximilian, archduke of Austria and accompanied him when he went to Mexico as emperor (1864). AfterNapoleon IIIdecided to withdraw the French troops from Mexico and the fate of the empire became apparent, she went to Europe (1866) and sought the aid of Napoleon III and the pope. Her pleas were in vain, and she broke down under the strain of her failure. The Mexican empire ended with the execution of Maximilian in 1867, but the unhappy empress survived him by 60 years.

See studies by E. Corti (1928, repr. 1976), J. Haslip (1971), and J. Taylor (1976).

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