Living in exile in Trieste during the years immediately after her husband's execution, Caroline Murat was frequently hounded to repay debts owed (or claimed to be owed) by Joachim. Not wanting his name to be tarnished any further, Caroline did her best to pay those whose claims she considered credible, while simultaneously scraping to pay …
Tag: Louise Murat
“Vast conspiracies had been hatched against our family…”
Like his brother-in-law Napoleon, Murat maintained a life-long abhorrence of both corporal and capital punishment. He sought every possible means of avoiding them, and resorted to them only when he felt he had no other choice (such as his response to the Madrid uprising in 1808, or the unleashing of General Manhès to sort out …
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“A very exact physical portrait”
A continuation of my translation of excerpts from Louise Murat's Souvenirs d'enfance d'une fille de Joachim Murat, the first installment of which can be found here. In this excerpt, from pages 18-21, Louise gives her children (to whom the Souvenirs are written as a series of letters) a detailed description of Joachim and Caroline Murat. …
“He was our friend, I would almost say our playmate…”
I was lucky enough to be able to find a copy of this available from a seller on Amazon. Murat's youngest daughter, Louise, wrote it for her children, not only to describe her childhood memories of her beloved father, but also to justify and explain his actions in 1814-1815, and defend his reputation. One of …
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Project Murat 