- Original Italian:
- Roland Buonaparte
- Born:
- November 15, 1784, Ajaccio, Corsica
- Died:
- June 24, 1860, Villegenis, France (aged 75)
- Title / Office:
- king (1807-1813), Westphalia
- House / Dynasty:
- Bonaparte family
- Notable Family Members:
- spouse Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte
- father Carlo Maria Buonaparte
- mother Letizia Buonaparte
- son Napoléon-Joseph-Charles-Paul Bonaparte
- brother Joseph Bonaparte
- brother Napoleon I
- brother Lucien Bonaparte
- brother Louis Bonaparte
- sister Caroline Bonaparte
- sister Pauline Bonaparte
- sister Élisa Bonaparte
- Role In:
- Napoleonic Wars
Jérôme Bonaparte
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Who was Jérôme Bonaparte?
Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860) was Napoleon I's youngest brother, later king of Westphalia and marshal of France. Napoleon sent him to Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) to suppress a slave revolt in 1801. While in the United States, he married Elizabeth Patterson in 1803; however, Napoleon annulled the marriage in 1807 to arrange a politically advantageous marriage to Princess Catherine of Württemberg.
As king of Westphalia (1807–1813), Jérôme focused on improving his kingdom, including granting rights to Jews, but his spending habits drained the treasury and angered Napoleon. He commanded a division at Waterloo. After Napoleon's second abdication, Jérôme went into exile but returned to France in 1847, later becoming governor of the Invalides, marshal of France, and president of the Senate.
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Why did Jérôme Bonaparte become king of Westphalia?
Jérôme Bonaparte became the king of Westphalia as part of Napoleon's strategy to reorganize Europe and install his relatives on the thrones of satellite kingdoms. After having annexed territories directly into France, Napoleon created the Kingdom of Westphalia mainly from Prussian and Hanoverian lands and gave it to Jérôme. This was part of a broader scheme to establish the Grand Empire and ensure French dominance over the continent.
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Where was the Kingdom of Westphalia located?
The Kingdom of Westphalia, ruled by Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, was created in 1807 from territories assigned by Napoleon. It was largely composed of Prussian and Hanoverian lands situated between the Weser and Elbe rivers, along with the majority of electoral Hesse. Kassel served as its capital.
Today, the area that once comprised the Kingdom of Westphalia is located in the present-day federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
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What changes did Jérôme Bonaparte make in Westphalia as its king?
As king of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813, Jérôme Bonaparte brought changes to the kingdom, but his rule was controversial.
Jérôme Bonaparte's Changes in Westphalia
- Infrastructure Jérôme spent significant funds to improve the streets, parks, and buildings, especially his palace.
- Jewish Rights Granting rights to the Jews of Westphalia was his most noteworthy accomplishment.
- Finances Jérôme's spending habits and the corruption of his appointees quickly drained the country’s treasury and enraged Napoleon.
Despite his efforts, Jérôme's reign was short-lived. He failed in his mission during the Russian campaign of 1812 and was sent back to Kassel. In 1813, with the fall of the Napoleonic regime in Germany, Jérôme returned to France.
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How was Jérôme Bonaparte’s rule different from other European rulers at that time?
Jérôme Bonaparte's rule as king of Westphalia (1807-1813) differed from other European rulers through his then-unusual granting of rights to the Jews of Westphalia. He also focused on modernizing his kingdom by improving streets, parks, and buildings and renovating his palace.
However, his reign was marked by financial mismanagement. Jérôme spent enormous amounts of money and appointed inept or corrupt officials, draining the country’s treasury and drawing the ire of his brother, Napoleon I.
Despite his progressive reforms, his economic policies and appointments distinguished him from other rulers of the time.
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What happened to Jérôme Bonaparte and the Kingdom of Westphalia after Napoleon’s defeat?
After Napoleon's defeat in 1813, Jérôme Bonaparte fled Westphalia and returned to France. The Congress of Vienna in 1814–15 restored most of old Westphalia to Prussia, which then established a province of Westphalia with its capital at Münster.
Jérôme commanded a division on the French left wing at Waterloo. Following Napoleon's second abdication, Jérôme left France, spending his exile years mostly in Italy. He returned to France in 1847 and, after his nephew Louis-Napoléon rose to power as Napoleon III, became governor of the Invalides, marshal of France, and president of the Senate.
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Jérôme Bonaparte (born November 15, 1784, Ajaccio, Corsica—died June 24, 1860, Villegenis, France) was Napoleon I’s youngest brother, who became king of Westphalia and marshal of France. It was through Jérôme that the Bonaparte line extended into the United States; his eldest son, Jerome, grew up in Maryland with his American mother.
The Bonaparte family had endured poverty and hardship in Corsica before Napoleon’s military successes during the French Revolution moved the family up the social and economic ladder. Jérôme was still a child when his increasingly powerful brother sent him to Paris for schooling.
A member of the consular guard from 1800, Jérôme was transferred to the navy soon after he was wounded in a duel. Napoleon sent Jérôme to the French West Indian colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in late 1801 as a member of the expeditionary forces to put down the slave revolt there. He was ordered to return to France in the summer of 1803. Fearing British capture if he sailed for France from the Caribbean, Jérôme sailed instead for the United States. There, while visiting Baltimore, Maryland, he met and soon married (December 24, 1803) Elizabeth Patterson, the 18-year-old daughter of a wealthy merchant. The pair sailed for Europe in 1805. Because Napoleon intended to expand his power in Europe by making politically advantageous marriages for his siblings, he ordered Jérôme’s pregnant wife to be excluded from his realm. As a result, Jérôme’s son was born in England. Jérôme soon saw the advantage in complying with the emperor’s wishes and rejected his wife and child in order to partake of the advantages of empire.
He took command of a small squadron in the Mediterranean and took part in the campaign of 1806. An imperial decree annulled his first marriage in 1807. The emperor then arranged Jérôme’s marriage to Princess Catherine of Württemberg (by whom Jérôme would have three children) and made him king of Westphalia. During his short reign (1807–13), Jérôme spent enormous amounts of money on improving the streets, parks, and buildings in his kingdom and especially on renovating his palace. In addition to this, the men he appointed to high office were either inept or corrupt. He soon drained his country’s treasury and enraged Napoleon. His most noteworthy accomplishment was the then-unusual granting of rights to the Jews of Westphalia. In the Russian campaign of 1812, Jérôme failed in his assigned mission and was returned to Kassel, the kingdom’s capital city.
In 1813, on the fall of the Napoleonic regime in Germany, Jérôme returned to France. He commanded a division on the French left wing at Waterloo and attacked with great pertinacity. With Napoleon’s second abdication, Jérôme left France, spending most of the years of his exile in Italy. He returned to France in 1847, and, after the rise of his nephew Louis-Napoléon (as Napoleon III), he became, successively, governor of the Invalides, marshal of France, and president of the Senate.