Part 3 of my translation of Albert Vandal’s Le Roi et la Reine de Naples. We have the beginning of what will be, for Caroline, a very long period away from Naples--first to be present for the proceedings of Napoleon's divorce from Josephine (an event which Caroline was arguably instrumental in helping bring about), and …
Continue reading “Discreet complaints and… caressing reproaches”
Part 2 of my translation of Albert Vandal's Le Roi et la Reine de Naples. In this part, Vandal describes the rifts which began developing between Joachim and Caroline Murat soon after taking the throne of Naples. These largely stemmed from Murat's insecurities about being potentially overshadowed--or dominated--by his wife, especially due to Napoleon's wording …
This is Part 1 of what is probably going to be a very long translation project. If there is one part of Murat's life which is less well understood than any other, it is his reign as King of Naples. Military historians naturally place more of an emphasis on Murat as a cavalry commander, his …
Continue reading “For your subjects, be king; for the Emperor, be viceroy.”
Murat entered Warsaw on the 28th of November, 1806, enthusiastically welcomed by the Poles, who believed the French would bring them independence. Even the Duchess d'Abrantes, who was no great admirer of Murat, wrote of that his "splendid type of chivalrous valour... pleased that brave and most impressionable people, which was ready to follow with …
Continue reading “It once served… one of our most valiant sovereigns”
My good friend JosefaVomJaaga has graciously allowed me to share her translation of an excerpt on Murat from Friedrich von Müller’s Erinnerungen aus den Kriegszeiten von (Memoirs of the Wartime of) 1806-1813. Müller (1779-1849) was a Bavarian statesman, and a friend of Goethe; he would eventually manage to persuade Napoleon to permit Weimar to retain …
Murat was sent to Spain in February of 1808, to act as Napoleon’s lieutenant and take command of all French forces in the country. Spain was in political turmoil, its citizens on the brink of revolt against the unpopular minister Godoy. Napoleon, having not yet determined on what course of action he wished to pursue, …
Continue reading “The public tranquility was troubled this morning…”
To commemorate Joachim & Caroline Murat's shared birthday (25 March of 1767 and 1782, respectively) this year, I've compiled some accounts recorded by three visitors to Naples--two English and one Irish--between the fall of Napoleon in 1814 and his return from Elba in 1815. The first account is from the English poet Samuel Rogers; the …
Continuing with excerpts from the memoirs of General Griois pertaining to Murat during the 1812 campaign, we have a description from Griois of a confrontation between Murat and an unnamed Russian general over the position of Russian outposts during a truce. Murat is also outraged that a Cossack recently took a shot at him (as General Caulaincourt …
Apologies for my long absence; it's been an extremely busy last three months for me, both at work and home. I did promise in the comments of one of my last posts that I'd try to post some things relating to Murat's military campaigns, so here is the first of what I'm intending to be …
Months ago I posted my translations of a handful of letters written by Murat during his stay in Plaisance just prior to Waterloo, including his final letter to Napoleon. Today I have the privilege of sharing some entries from the period encompassing the writing of those letters, translated from the diaries of General Rossetti, courtesy …
Project Murat 