An archive of primary source material relating to Joachim Murat, Marshal of France and King of Naples
Murat's relationship with Napoleon was tempestuous, and at some point in the near future I'm planning to attempt a thorough, multi-part write-up on it. I've covered a lot of the events/correspondence between them in 1813 leading up to Murat's defection, but it should be understood that their relationship had been in a fairly steady decline …
Continue reading “I am for you now only the man who is tolerated with difficulty”
I translated a couple amusing little letters exchanged between Murat & Eugène de Beauharnais recently as part of a longer write-up on their relationship in response to a query from a Tumblr friend of mine, so I figured I'd post them here as well. In June of 1805, Napoleon made his stepson Eugène the Viceroy …
Continue reading “You have deigned to notice that I was a bit late…”
In the aftermath of Murat's treaty with Austria, Naples was soon swarming with eager travelers from all over Europe--particularly English aristocrats, who, prior to the Napoleonic wars, had been regular visitors to the area. Perhaps the most famous visitor received by King Joachim and Queen Caroline during this brief, idyllic period, was the controversial Caroline …
We have come, at long last, to the final letter Murat wrote to Napoleon before signing his treaty with Austria. In the final of days of 1813, General Adam Albert, the Count of Neipperg, arrived in Naples carrying an ultimatum from Metternich; either Murat was to finally commit himself, after months of vacillating, to the …
Continue reading “I could not help being struck by the contrast…”
As his negotiations with Austria and England continued, an indecisive Murat wrote his New Year's greeting to Napoleon on 21 December 1813. Murat used this as an opportunity to once again urge Napoleon to make peace, as he had in his letter from five days earlier. "Sire, a new year is about to commence. May …
Continue reading “You will lose yourself, you will lose us all!”
Continuing on, after a long pause, with my translations of Murat's final letters to Napoleon in 1813 leading up to his defection at the beginning of 1814. I'm including two letters in this post because the first one is too short to merit its own; but the second more than makes up for it, at …
Continue reading “I have fully acquitted my debt towards the Empire and towards Your Majesty”
A letter from Caroline Murat to Joseph Fouché. Fouché had tried to save Murat’s life in 1815 by working behind the scenes to get him passports from Metternich to provide him safe passage to join his family in Trieste, after Murat had fled to Corsica from France (where he was being hunted during the “White Terror” …
I came upon a gem today--a book of published correspondence from the 1812 campaign, specifically a compilation of letters intercepted by the Russians, both from and to soldiers in the Grande Armée. You can find the book on HathiTrust here (it might not be viewable outside the US, but it's probably elsewhere online as well). …
Continue reading “A long absence is very painful for one with a sensitive soul”
The final part of my translation of the introductory manuscript on Murat by his lifelong friend & former finance minister, Jean-Michel Agar, the Count of Mosbourg. In this last portion of what was to be the beginning of Mosbourg's planned biography of Murat, Mosbourg explains his desire to dispel the myths surrounding Murat and to …
Continue reading “The sole object of my efforts is to obtain justice”
Part 3 of my translation of the introductory manuscript on Murat by his friend & former finance minister, Jean-Michel Agar, the Count of Mosbourg. In this part, Mosbourg refutes past slanders against Murat, defending both his character and his accomplishments as a ruler. Translated from Murat: Lieutenant de l’Empereur en Espagne, 1808, published by Murat’s grandnephew, …
Continue reading “The softest and most compassionate of men”
Project Murat 