Bonaparte: Joseph Bonaparte

Joseph, 1768–1844, was the eldest of the children of Carlo and Letizia to survive infancy. Having gained some note as French minister to Parma and Rome, he became (1797) a member of the Council of Five Hundred for Corsica. Joseph later negotiated a treaty (1800) with the United States and represented France in the peace negotiations at Lunéville (1801) and Amiens (1802).

When Napoleon became emperor, Joseph bitterly protested being left out of the line of succession. In 1806 Napoleon made him king of Naples, which Joseph administered very inefficiently, and in 1808 he was made king of Spain instead. Thoroughly unsuccessful in defending his throne during the Peninsular War, he reluctantly abdicated in 1813. From 1815 to 1841 he lived mainly in the United States—at Bordentown, N.J. He died in Italy. Napoleon I was born a year after Joseph, in 1769.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Later Generations
• Jérôme Bonaparte
• Caroline Bonaparte
• Pauline Bonaparte
• Louis Bonaparte
• Elisa Bonaparte
• Lucien Bonaparte
• Joseph Bonaparte
• Parentage
• Bibliography

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