Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort (15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia (1807-1813). After 1848, when his nephew Louis Napoleon became President of the French Republic, he served in several official roles.
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Jérôme was born Girolamo Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica as the eighth and last surviving child, fifth surviving son, of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. He was a younger brother of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lucien Bonaparte, Elisa Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte, Pauline Bonaparte and Caroline Bonaparte.
He studied at the Catholic college of Juilly, and then served with the French navy before going to the United States. On 24 December 1803, Jérôme married Elizabeth Patterson (1785-1879), daughter of Baltimore merchant William Patterson and his wife Dorcas Spear. Napoleon was unable to convince Pope Pius VII to annul their marriage, so he annulled their marriage himself. Elizabeth was pregnant at the time with a son, and on her way to Europe with Jérôme. When they landed in neutral Portugal, Jerome set off overland to Italy to attempt to convince his brother to recognize the marriage. Elizabeth then attempted to land in Amsterdam, but Napoleon had issued orders barring the ship from entering the harbour. Being with child Elizabeth went on to England where Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London, England. Jérôme never saw Elizabeth again.
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Made king of Westphalia, the short-lived realm created by Napoleon from the states of northwestern Germany (1807-1813), with its capital in Kassel (then: Cassel), Jérôme married Catharina of Württemberg, the daughter of the King of Württemberg in a marriage arranged by Napoleon. The connection to a German princess was intended to strengthen the reputation of the young French king. In order to emphasize his rank as a ruler, Jérôme commissioned grandiose state portraits of himself and his spouse. Other paintings celebrated his military exploits. France's most prominent painters were in his service.
When Jérôme and Katharina arrived in Kassel, they found the palaces in a plundered state. As such, they placed orders for an array of stately furniture and expensive silverware with leading Parisian manufactures. The local artisans oriented themselves with these French models. The king also intended to refurnish his capital architecturally. The court theatre ranks among the small number of projects realised. Jérôme had it designed by Leo von Klenze and constructed next to the summer residence previously known as Wilhelmshöhe, but subsequently changed to Napoleonshöhe.
As a model state, the Kingdom of Westphalia was to serve as an example for the other German states. For this reason, it received the first constitution and parliament to be found on German soil. Jérôme imported the empire style from Paris, thereby bestowing the new state with a modern, representative appearance. Thanks to these efforts, Kassel celebrated an enormous cultural upturn.
In 1812 Jérôme commanded a corps of soldiers marching towards the Russian front. Because he insisted in traveling in state Napoleon reprimanded him and ordered him to leave his court behind. Angered by Napoleon's order, Jérôme returned with his court to Westphalia. After the defeat in Russia he petitioned Napoleon to allow his wife to come to Paris due to her fear of the advancing allied army. After two attempts Napoleon granted permission.
Jérôme briefly re-entered the army in 1813 when his kingdom was being threatened by the allied Prussian and Russian armies. He led a small force to challenge their invasion. After a clash with a detachment he camped his army while hoping for reinforcements from the French army. However, before the reinforcements arrived the main allied force captured Kassel and declared the Kingdom of Westphalia dissolved. This ended Jérôme's kingship. He then fled to France where his wife was already waiting.
Although Katharina was aware of Jérôme's constant affairs, she remained true to her husband even after the loss of dignity. They had a son, Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte (1822-1891), also known as "Prince Napoleon" or "Plon-Plon". Their second child, a daughter, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, was prominent during and after the Second French Empire as a hostess. After his own kingdom was dissolved, he was given the title of Prince of Montfort by the king of Württemberg, his father in-law. But by 1814 the king forced him and his wife to leave the country. He returned to France and rallied to Napoloeon during the Hundred Days rule.
Later, Jérôme moved to Italy where he married Giustina Pecori-Suárez, the widow of an Italian nobleman.
When his nephew, Prince Louis Napoleon, became President of the French Republic in 1848, Jérôme was made governor of Les Invalides, Paris, the burial place of his famous brother. When Napoleon III became emperor, Jérôme was recognized as the heir presumptive to the throne until the birth of the crown prince Napoléon Eugène. He later became Marshal of France and president of the Senate, and received the title Prince Français.
Jérôme Bonaparte died on 24 June 1860 at Villegenis, France (today Massy in Essonne). He is buried in Les Invalides, Paris.
His grandson Charles Joseph Bonaparte served as United States Secretary of the Navy and United States Attorney General. He founded the precursor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908.
Baroness Jenny von Sustedt, one of Jérôme Bonaparte's illegitimate children, was the grandmother of the German Socialist and Feminist writer Lily Braun.
- Jérôme Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Montfort, Prince Français (1814-1847)
- Charles Joseph Bonaparte
- Mathilde Bonaparte (1820-1904) married Anatole Demidoff, 1st Prince de San Donato
- Napoléon Joseph Bonaparte (1822-1891) married Princess Clotilde of Savoy
- Napoléon Victor Bonaparte (1862-1926) married Princess Clementine of Belgium
- Clotilde Bonaparte (1912-1996) married Serge de Witt
- Louis Bonaparte (1914-1997) married Alix de Foresta
- Charles Bonaparte (1950-) married Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Jeanne Françoise Valliccionni
- Caroline Napoléon Bonaparte (1980-)
- Jean-Christophe Napoléon Bonaparte (1986-)
- Sophie Cathérine Bonaparte (1992-)
- Catherine Bonaparte (1950-) married Marquis Nicholas of S Germane, John Duale
- Laura Bonaparte (1952-) married John Claude Leconte
- Jerome Xavier Bonaparte (1957-)
- Charles Bonaparte (1950-) married Princess Beatrice of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Jeanne Françoise Valliccionni
- Napoléon Louise Bonaparte (1864-1932)
- Maria Laetitia Bonaparte (1866-1926) married Amedeo, 1st Duke of Aosta
- Napoléon Victor Bonaparte (1862-1926) married Princess Clementine of Belgium
- Online Biography of Jérôme Bonaparte (in French)
- Online Biography of Jérôme Bonaparte (in German)
- The Royalist: The Prince, the Princess and her un-noble lover
- König Lustik!? Jérôme Bonaparte and the Model State Kingdom of Westphalia. State Exhibition of Hesse 2008. Museum Fridericianum Kassel / Germany
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| Kingdom of Westphalia proclaimed |
King of Westphalia 1807-1813 |
Kingdom of Westphalia annexed by the Kingdom of Hanover and Electorate of Hesse-Kassel |
