Murat, JOACHIM, king of Naples, was the son of an innkeeper at La Bastide-Fortunière, near Cahors, in France, and was born 25th March 1771. He was at first intended for the priesthood, but the outbreak of the Revolution fired his enthusiasm; he entered the army, and soon rose to the rank of colonel. Attaching himself closely to Bonaparte, he served under him in Italy and in Egypt, distinguishing himself in many battles; rose to the rank of a general of division (1799); returned with Bonaparte to France, and rendered him most important assistance on the 18th Brumaire, by dispersing the Council of Five Hundred at St Cloud. Bonaparte now entrusted him with the command of the Consular Guard, and gave him his youngest sister, Caroline, in marriage. Murat held his usual post, the command of the cavalry, at Marengo, where he covered himself with glory, and in 1801 was nominated governor of the Cisalpine Republic. On the establishment of the French empire he was loaded with honours. He continued to command the cavalry in the armies led by the emperor, and contributed not a little to the victory at Austerlitz (1805), at Jena, at Eylau, and to many other victories. In 1806 the newly-erected grand-duchy of Berg (q.v.) was bestowed upon him, and on 1st August 1808 he was proclaimed king of the Two Sicilies by the style of Joachim I. Napoleon. He took possession of Naples, but the Bourbons, supported by the fleet of Britain, retained Sicily. By the moderation of his government he won the hearts of his subjects. In the expedition against Russia he commanded the cavalry, and indeed the army after Napoleon left it. After crushing the Austrians at Dresden (1813), and helping to fight the disastrous battle of Leipzig, he concluded a treaty with Austria, and a truce with the British admiral, and promised the allies an auxiliary corps; but, as soon as he learned of Napoleon's escape from Elba and return to France, he commenced a hasty war against Austria. He was, however, defeated at Ferrara (12th April 1815), and again at Tolentino (2d May). With a few horsemen he fled to Naples, where all was insurrection and commotion; thence he found his way to France. After Napoleon's final overthrow, he took refuge in Corsica, from which he proceeded with a few followers to the coast of Calabria, and proclaimed himself king and liberator, but, being presently taken prisoner, was tried by court-martial, and shot at Pizzo, on 13th October 1815. See biographical accounts by Gallois (Paris, 1828), Coletta (Paris, 1821), and Helfert (Vienna, 1878).—His widow (1782-1839) assumed the title of Countess of Lipona, and resided in the neighbourhood of Trieste till her death. His two sons went to the United States, where the elder, NAPOLÉON ACHILLE (1801-47), settled in Florida, married a niece of Washington, and published Exposition des Principes du Gouvernement Républicain en Amérique (1833). The younger,
NAPOLÉON LUCIEN CHARLES (1803-78), suffered reverses in fortune; but, returning to France after the revolution of 1848, he attached himself closely to Louis Napoleon, who in 1849 sent him as ambassador extra-ordinary to Turin, and in 1852 made him a senator.