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Antonio Banderas

José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and filmmaker. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Goya Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.

Banderas made his acting debut at a small theater in Málaga, where he caught the attention of director Pedro Almodóvar, who gave the actor his film debut in the screwball comedy Labyrinth of Passion (1982). They have since collaborated on many films, including Matador (1986), Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), The Skin I Live In (2011), and Pain and Glory (2019), the latter of which earned him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In 1992, Banderas made his American film debut with the musical drama The Mambo Kings (1992), followed by roles in Philadelphia (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Assassins (1995), and Evita (1996). He portrayed Zorro in The Mask of Zorro (1998) and The Legend of Zorro (2005). He made his directorial debut with the comedy film Crazy in Alabama (1999). He is a frequent collaborator with director Robert Rodriguez, having starred as El Mariachi in the Mexico Trilogy films Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). He has starred in franchise films, including as the patriarch in the Spy Kids series (2001–2003) and as the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek films (2004–present).

On stage, Banderas made his Broadway debut as Guido Contini in Nine (2003), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his roles as Pancho Villa in the HBO television film And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2004) and Pablo Picasso in the anthology series Genius: Picasso (2018).

Early life
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera was born on August 10, 1960, in Málaga to Civil Guard gendarme officer José Domínguez Prieto (1920–2008) and schoolteacher Ana Bandera Gallego (1933–2017). He has a younger brother named Francisco. As a little boy, Banderas wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of 15. He showed a strong interest in the performing arts and formed part of the ARA Theatre School run by Ángeles Rubio-Argüelles y Alessandri (wife of diplomat and filmmaker Edgar Neville) and the College of Dramatic Art, both in Málaga. His work in the theater and his performances on the streets eventually landed him a spot with the Spanish National Theatre.

1982–1989: Early collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar
Banderas began his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Art in Málaga and made his acting debut at a small theater in Málaga. He began working in small shops during Spain's post-dictatorial cultural movement known as La Movida Madrileña.

While performing with the theater, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who gave the young actor his film debut in the screwball sex comedy Labyrinth of Passion (1982). Five years later, he went on to appear in the director's comedic thriller Law of Desire (1987), making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's surrealist sex comedy Matador, with Vincent Canby of The New York Times writing, "The movie looks terrific and is acted with absolute, straight-faced conviction by the excellent cast... Matador is of most interest as another work in the career of a film maker who, possibly, is in the process of refining a singular talent."

The director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Rita Kemply of The Washington Post described Banderas' performance as "warm" and described the film as a "glossy delight." The film went on to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased years later, when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) as a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love. The breakthrough role helped spur him on to Hollywood. Almodóvar is credited with helping launch Banderas's international career, as he became a regular feature in his films throughout the 1980s.

1990–1999: Hollywood stardom
In 1991, Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood. (He was an object of her desires in her pseudodocumentary film of one of her concert tours, Madonna: Truth or Dare.) The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film, The Mambo Kings (1992). Film critic Roger Ebert praised the film, describing it as being "filled with energy, passion and heedless vitality."

Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the 1993 Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia as the life partner of lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), who is suffering from AIDS. Also in 1993, he acted in the Bille August-directed The House of the Spirits, an adaptation of the Isabel Allende novel of the same name. Banderas acted alongside Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, and Winona Ryder. The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year, he was given a role in Neil Jordan's high-profile adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire (1994), sharing the screen with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Kirsten Dunst. He starred in several major Hollywood films, including the Robert Rodriguez-directed neo-Western action film Desperado (1995), alongside Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, and Quentin Tarantino. The film was a financial success. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The movie’s greatest visual coup... is Banderas himself. The camera loves this velvet stud as much as it did the young Clint Eastwood."

That same year, Banderas portrayed the antagonist in the Richard Donner-directed action film Assassins, co-starring opposite Sylvester Stallone and Julianne Moore. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in the musical film Evita, an adaptation of the stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that "Banderas... does an unexpectedly splendid job as the film's conspiratorial singing narrator." For his performance, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. He also had success with his role as the masked swordsman Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, starring Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Roger Ebert praised the onscreen chemistry between the two leads, writing, "The best scenes in the movie are between Banderas and Zeta-Jones, who share chemistry and, it turns out, a sense of justice." His performance earned him another Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1999, he starred in the historical action film The 13th Warrior, a movie about a Muslim caught up in a war between the Northman and human-eating beasts.

2000–2009: Broadway debut and franchise films
In 2001, Banderas collaborated with Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in the first three movies of the Spy Kids franchise (2001-2003). He portrayed Gregorio Cortez, a retired OSS agent, alongside Carla Gugino, who played his wife, Ingrid Cortez. Roger Ebert praised the first film, describing it as "giddy with the joy of its invention. It's an exuberant, colorful extravaganza, wall-to-wall with wildly original sets and visual gimmicks, and smart enough to escape the kids film category and play in the mainstream." He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year.

In 2002, he portrayed social realist painter David Alfaro Siqueiros in Julie Taymor's biographical drama Frida, with Salma Hayek playing Frida Kahlo. That same year, he starred in Brian De Palma's erotic thriller Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn, and in 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his then wife Melanie Griffith. He starred in the Christopher Hampton-directed historical drama Imagining Argentina (2003) alongside Emma Thompson.

Banderas made his Broadway debut playing Guido Contini in the 2003 revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by Raul Julia. Ben Brantley, the chief theater critic of The New York Times, wrote that Banderas was "a bona fide matinee idol for the 21st century -- a pocket Adonis who suggests a more sensitive, less menacing variation on the Latin lovers of yore," adding that "he has an appealingly easy stage presence and an agreeable singing voice that shifts, a bit abruptly, between pop whisperiness and Broadway belting." He won both the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Musical and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics. Later that year, he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.

Also in 2003, he starred as Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in the HBO television film And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. Banderas acted alongside Alan Arkin, Jim Broadbent, and Michael McKean. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Larry Gelbart. Phil Gallo of Variety wrote, "Villa was larger than life, and Banderas vibrantly captures his bravado. Everything in the telepic, though, is designed to make Villa a likable force, which pushes and pulls Banderas in a number of directions, only some of which play well. Eventually, 'Villa' exposes a dark side in the man, and Banderas forsakes crafting the image of a hero to allow the man’s ambiguity to shine." Banderas was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his performance.

The following year, Banderas portrayed Puss in Boots in the DreamWorks animated film Shrek 2 (2004). Todd McCarthy of Variety praised his performance, writing that he is "deliciously sending up his Zorro persona." The film was an immense box office and critical hit. It went on to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Banderas reprised his role in Shrek the Third (2007) and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After (2010), which helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film, El camino de los ingleses, based on the novel by Antonio Soler, and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on October 14. Banderas received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005, the 2,294th person to do so; his star is located on the north side of the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

2010–present: Reunion with Almodóvar
Banderas acted in the Woody Allen-directed comedy-drama You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), starring Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin, and Naomi Watts. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and received mixed reviews. The following year, he starred in the horror thriller The Skin I Live In (2011), which marked the return of Banderas to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since 1990 (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). In The Skin I Live In, he breaks out of the "Latin Lover" mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the Associated Press, Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory. That same year, he reprised his voice role as Puss in Boots, this time as the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off prequel, Puss in Boots. This film reunited Banderas with Salma Hayek for the sixth time. The film received critical acclaim and was a box-office hit.

Banderas took a small role in Almodóvar's comedy I'm So Excited! (2013) and also acted in Steven Soderbergh's action thriller Haywire (2011), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' romance fantasy Ruby Sparks (2012), and Terrence Malick's experimental drama Knight of Cups (2015). Banderas starred in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water as Burger Beard, the film's main antagonist. In 2018, Banderas starred in the National Geographic limited series Genius: Picasso as the noted sculptor and painter Pablo Picasso. For his performance, he received a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also acted in Life Itself (2018), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2019, Banderas starred in the Spanish film Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria), directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film centers around an aging film director played by Banderas who has a chronic illness and writer's block as he reflects on his life in flashbacks to his childhood. The film has been described as semi-autobiographical, according to Almodóvar. The film premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim. On May 25, 2019, Banderas won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his role in the film. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised his performance, writing that "Banderas’s melancholic presence and subtle, intricate performance add depth and intensities of feeling... because he draws so flawlessly from Almodóvar." He was later nominated for his first ever Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Pain and Glory and lost to Joaquin Phoenix for his role in Joker (2019).

That same year, Banderas starred in Steven Soderbergh's Netflix film The Laundromat alongside Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman. During this time, he starred in Spanish-language adaptations of the musicals A Chorus Line (2019) and Company (2021) at the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank in Spain. In 2020, he co-starred with Robert Downey Jr. in the fantasy adventure film Dolittle. The following year, he starred in the black comedy Official Competition alongside Penélope Cruz, which had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. The film is a meta-comedy and satire on the film industry. A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "Banderas... can be marvelously subtle and affecting as well as magnetic. It’s almost indecent for someone so beautiful to possess such skill, and you might have to go back to the old daysto Gary Cooperto find a matinee idol with equivalent gifts."

In 2022, Banderas appeared as Santiago Moncada, the antagonist of the film Uncharted with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. He also returned to work for DreamWorks Animation, reprising his voice as Puss in Boots in the sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with Hayek again and a new cast with Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, and Wagner Moura. In 2023, he appeared in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Toby Jones, and John Rhys-Davies. He also portrayed Herod in the Christmas musical film Journey to Bethlehem.

In June 2023, it was announced that Banderas was set in Paddington in Peru. He is reportedly playing Hunter Cabot, a dashing and intrepid riverboat captain who offers to help the Brown family on their Peruvian adventure. His daughter will be played by Carla Tous. Other co-stars include Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Colman, and Jim Broadbent. He is set to star opposite Nicole Kidman in the A24 erotic thriller Babygirl, directed by Halina Reijn.

New stage as theater producer
Antonio Banderas has always declared that what makes him happiest is theater. On November 15, 2019, his theater project, the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank, opened its doors in Malaga. It is a creation center dedicated to the production, exhibition and distribution of shows, and training in the different areas of the performing arts.

Since spring 2024 he also sponsors a new performing arts school in Malaga, the Sohrlin Andalucía School of Arts. It is located on an old metallurgical factory. Its objective is to become a large stage center in which to design, create and export Andalusian talent to the world.

Filmography
• Laberinto de pasiones (1982)

• El caso Almería (1984)

• Matador (1986)

• Law of Desire (1987)

• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

• Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)

• A Woman in the Rain  (1992)

• The Mambo Kings  (1992)

• The House of the Spirits (1993)

• Philadelphia (1993)

• ¡Dispara! (1993)

• Interview with the Vampire  (1994)

• Of Love and Shadows (1994)

• Assassins  (1995)

• Desperado (1995)

• Four Rooms (1995)

• Evita (1996)

• The Mask of Zorro (1998)

• Play It to the Bone (1999)

• The 13th Warrior (1999)

• Spy Kids (2001)

• Original Sin (2001)

• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)

• Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)

• Femme Fatale (2002)

• Frida (2002)

• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)

• Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

• Shrek 2 (2004)

• The Legend of Zorro (2005)

• Take the Lead (2006)

• Bordertown (2007)

• Shrek the Third (2007)

• Shrek Forever After (2010)

• You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)

• The Skin I Live In (2011)

• Puss in Boots (2011)

• The Expendables 3 (2014)

• Autómata (2014)

• The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)

• The 33 (2015)

• Life Itself (2018)

• Pain and Glory (2019)

• The Laundromat (2019)

• Dolittle (2020)

• Official Competition (2021)

• Uncharted (2022)

• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

• Paddington in Peru (2024)

Personal life
He is a longtime supporter of Málaga CF. In May 2010, Banderas received an honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga. He received an honorary degree from Dickinson College in 2000.

In August 2015, Banderas enrolled in a fashion-design course at Central Saint Martins. As of 2016, Banderas resides in the United Kingdom in Cobham, Surrey.

Religious beliefs
Banderas is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in his hometown of Málaga and travels during Holy Week to take part in the processions. although he once described himself as an agnostic in an interview with People magazine in 2006: "I have to recognize that I am agnostic. I don’t believe in any kind of fundamentalism. I prefer to take life in a different way, with a sense of humor. I try to teach my kids to be open. Whatever they believe is fine with me."

About his involvement with Holy Week, he revealed he had rekindled his relationship with Catholicism in 1994 after a period of spiritual search.

""There was a moment in my life in which I separated a bit from the Church. I was searching for a spiritual connection in other places, until in 1994, after my brother had a surgery we were very afraid of, in which we could lose him, I realized I should have not searched for so much, that I had had always that connection with the trascendental in front of my face. It also happened in a way which followed our own traditions, which we shouldn't look for in the Buddha, as these characters were right there. In my own neighborhood was that way to connect myself to the trascendental through the Passion of the Christ, until concluding in Resurrection.""

In 2021, he described his religious beliefs and Holy Week to El País:

""I live comfortably in the mystery, I'm very doubting, I don't know if agnostic is exactly the word. But I think yes, there is something, although we don't know what is it. The Big Bang, yes, and before the Big Bang, what? Holy Week has many colors, it's a very strange poliedrum. It is related to faith, popular religion and Andalusian idiosyncrasy. It's just the Roman Ides of March: winter dies and spring is born. The Andalusian version is so colourful and merry because everybody knows the guy will resurrect on Sunday. And there is a happy ending.""

Relationships

Banderas married Ana Leza in 1987 and divorced her in 1996. He met and began a relationship with American actress Melanie Griffith in 1995 while shooting Two Much. They married on May 14, 1996, in London. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas (born September 24, 1996), who appeared onscreen with Griffith in Banderas' directorial debut Crazy in Alabama (1999). In 2002, the couple received the Stella Adler Angel Award for their extensive philanthropy. Griffith had a tattoo of Banderas' name on her right arm that has since been removed.

In June 2014, Banderas and Griffith released a statement announcing their intention to divorce "in a loving and friendly manner." According to the petition filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the couple had "irreconcilable differences" that led to their separation. The divorce became official in December 2015. Despite being divorced, Banderas and Griffith remain close friends. His former stepdaughter Dakota Johnson has stated she considers Banderas part of the family, calling him a "bonus dad." As of November 2015, Banderas is dating Nicole Kimpel, a Dutch investment banker.

Health
In 2009, Banderas underwent surgery for a benign tumor in his back. Speaking at the Málaga Film Festival in March 2017, Banderas revealed he had suffered a heart attack on January 26, 2017, but said it "wasn't serious and hasn't caused any damages." Following that incident, he underwent heart surgery to insert three stents into his arteries. In a Fresh Air interview in September 2019, he recalled it as being life-changing. He said, "It just gave me a perspective of who I was, and it just made the important things [go to] the surface. When I say this, people may just think that I'm crazy, but it's one of the best things that ever happened in my life."

Business activities

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US. He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.

He performed a voice-over for an animated bee, which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex, an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.

He is a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years, becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far: Diavolo, Diavolo for Women, Mediterraneo, Spirit, and Spirit for Women. After the success of Antonio for Men and Blue Seduction for Men in 2007, he launched his latest, Blue Seduction for Women, the following year.

Awards and honors
Banderas has received many award nominations throughout his career, including an Academy Award nomination for Pain and Glory. He also received five Golden Globe Award nominations for his work ranging from films to television. He has also received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work, on the television projects And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2004) and Genius: Picasso (2018). He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his performance as Pablo Picasso in Genius: Picasso. In 2003, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway musical production of Nine. That year, however, he did win the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for his performance in Nine. In 2019, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the European Film Award for Best Actor, the Goya Award for Best Actor, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance in Almodovar's Pain and Glory.

title: Antonio Banderas


text:
Kingdom of Holland

The Kingdom of Holland (Holland (contemporary), Koninkrijk Holland (modern); Royaume de Hollande) was the successor state of the Batavian Republic. It was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in March 1806 in order to strengthen control over the Netherlands by replacing the republican government with a monarchy. Since becoming emperor in 1804, Napoleon sought to extirpate republican tendencies in territories France controlled, and placed his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, on the throne of the puppet kingdom. The name of the leading province, Holland, now designated the whole country. In 1807, East Frisia and Jever were added to the kingdom.

In 1809, after the Walcheren Campaign, Holland had to surrender all territories south of the River Rhine to France. Also in 1809, Dutch forces fighting on the French side participated in defeating the anti-Bonapartist German rebellion led by Ferdinand von Schill, at the Battle of Stralsund.

King Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations – he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's – and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810, after which the Netherlands were annexed by France until 1813. Holland covered the area of the present-day Netherlands, with the exception of Limburg, and parts of Zeeland, which were French territory, and with the addition of East Frisia. It was the first formal monarchy in the Netherlands since 1581.

The long-term result of the country having been a monarchy was to facilitate the House of Orange in assuming the status of full-fledged Monarchs, ending their centuries-long ambiguous status as Stadholders, which had been the source of unending instability and conflict throughout the history of the Dutch Republic.

Coat of arms
Napoléon's brother Louis Bonaparte was installed as King of Holland on 5 June 1806. Originally the arms of the new kingdom were to be like those of the Kingdom of Italy: an eagle bearing a shield, with the arms of the United Netherlands, the lion, now royally crowned. In December 1806, in Paris, A. Renodi designed arms quartering the Napoléonic eagle with the lion of the United Netherlands. Around the shield was the French Order of the Grand Eagle. Behind the shield are crossed sceptres, typical for Napoleonic heraldry, and above the shield, Napoleon's star.

A few months later, on 20 May 1807, King Louis – now called "Lodewijk" – altered these arms, adding a helmet, leaving out his brother's star, and replacing the Grand Eagle with his own Dutch Order of the Union and the old Dutch devise "Unity makes strength" around the shield. Exemplary for the innovation in Napoleon's heraldry are the two hands coming out of clouds from behind the shield holding swords, designating King Louis as Connétable de France.

Preface
The Batavian Republic adopted in 1801 a new constitution which was more moderate than its predecessor and the Republic was renamed to the Batavian Commonwealth, to make it less revolutionary. In the Commonwealth, the old provinces received more autonomy at the expense of the central government in The Hague and a Staatsbewind of twelve persons was installed to govern the country. At that time Napoleon Bonaparte was already criticizing the lack of executive authority in the Dutch state. A new constitution was drafted by Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck in 1805 which reinstated the unity state. Schimmelpenninck was installed as raadpensionaris (Grand Pensionary). With these changes, the republic became more centralised than before and maintained its republican character.

Napoleon remained troubled by the instability of the Batavian regime. He attributed this to its political organization and the weak position of the Grand Pensionary. In his eyes, only a monarchy could prevent either the country from succumbing to British pressure, or the Dutch continuing to long for a return to the old federal regime. Besides this, the Dutch did not live up to their military duties and Schimmelpennick was not a very docile ally.

In February 1806 it became clear Schimmelpenninck's days were numbered. In the years before 1806, Napoleon had transformed the former Sister Republics of the French Republic into kingdoms for his family. The Italian Republic was transformed into the Kingdom of Italy with Napoleon as its king. Joachim Murat became Grand Duke of Berg and Joseph Bonaparte received the established Kingdom of Naples. In early 1806 the Swiss Confederation and the Batavian Republic were the last remaining Sister Republics.

Schimmelpenninck objected to the idea of a regime change. According to him a hereditary head of state was incompatible with the Dutch national character. Napoleon presented on 28 April 1806 an ultimatum to the Dutch diplomats: they had eight days to accept Louis Bonaparte as their king. The majority of the members of the government ratified the treaty without popular consultation. With this Napoleon created a facade of legitimacy. The transition of a republic to a monarchy had actually already been prepared by the one-man rule of Schimmelpenninck.

Louis Bonaparte assumes office
In May 1806 the Treaty of Paris was written and it stipulated that it became time to strengthen the weak Dutch nation. For this, the country gained a hereditary prince who had the primary task of promoting national reconciliation and flourishing national prosperity. In the treaty, Napoleon also confirmed the country's independence. On 23 June 1806 Louis Napoleon made his entrance in The Hague. Louis Napoleon was never crowned as king of Holland and problems with his sovereignty would haunt him during his entire reign. Shortly after his arrival, Louis Napoleon appointed three members of the Council of State to draft a new constitution for the new monarchy.

With Louis Napoleon on the Dutch throne the Kingdom of Holland the country participated in the War of the Fourth Coalition. After the victory of the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt Louis hoped he could enlarge his kingdom with parts of Westphalia and the Grand Duchy of Berg. The kingdom only gained the territories of East Frisia and Jever in North Germany.

Louis the Good
During his reign Louis Bonaparte introduced the Napoleonic politics of centralisation and standardisation in the Netherlands. In the new centralised state of the Kingdom of Napoleon the king was able to appoint the mayors of the larger Dutch cities. In 1806 a new country-wide tax system was implemented that ended the widespread corruption. Louis also introduced the Civil Registry, Land Registry, and a Guarantee Act. In 1809 the king introduced a revised Penal Code and Civil Code which was based on the French Code pénal, but which respected the Dutch customs and law. Louis Napoleon also replaced the provincial mints with a national one. During his reign he also promoted the equality of Jews, Catholics, and dissenters in the Netherlands. The centralism Louis Bonaparte promoted also led to the foundation or reorganisation of several cultural institutions. The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Museum (precursor of Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) were founded during his reign.

Aside from the politics of centralisation Louis Bonaparte showed himself as a king who was a concerned father of his country. In 1807 he was present at the site of the Leiden gunpowder disaster. To help the affected people in Leiden he started a national collection, donated 30.000 guilders and opened Huis ten Bosch as a hospital. He showed the same affection to his people at the floodings in Zeeland (1808) and the Betuwe (1809). Because of these actions, the Dutch started to see their king as a good and a rightful king.

Downfall
Despite Louis Napoleon's success in the Netherlands he got into conflict with the emperor. The conflicts between Napoleon and the king of Holland centered on three topics. The first was the tiering of the national debt which Louis Napoleon refused to do because the Dutch administration believed it would lead to damage to financial confidence and would be a blow to Dutch investors. Louis Napoleon should also contribute to the French war effort by the introduction of conscription. The king refused to do this but to help his brother at least he ordered that the Dutch orphans enlist for the army. This was also not a popular measure. On 14 July 1809, a riot broke out in Rotterdam when the army came to pick up the orphan boys.

Louis Napoleon also did not have a strict policy on maintaining the Continental System. Smuggling continued to exist and only after great pressure from Paris did he take measures to combat this. However, he did not want to pursue a harsh coercive policy because this would be disastrous for Dutch maritime trade. Napoleon saw his brother as a slacker and after the Walcheren Campaign he called Louis back to Paris. Napoleon incorporated the Dutch territories between the Meuse and the Scheldt. Louis Napoleon accepted the decisions of his older brother, but the treaty of March 1810 was only the beginning of the end. On the 4th of July French troops captured Amsterdam. Louis Napoleon abdicated on July 1 in favour of his son. By Imperial Decree the Kingdom of Holland was abolished and incorporated in the French Empire.

Administrative division
In 1807 the Kingdom of Holland was divided into eleven departments. Each of them where divided into quarters, districts and cities. With this division the Dutch government followed the French centralization politics.
 * Department Amstelland
 * Department Brabant
 * Department Drenthe
 * Department East-Friesland
 * Department Friesland
 * Department Gelderland
 * Department Groningen
 * Department Maasland
 * Department Overijssel
 * Department Utrecht
 * Department Zeeland

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kingdom of Holland