Lucien Murat | |
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Reign | 5 December 1812 - 25 May 1815) ( 2 years, 171 days) |
Predecessor | Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte |
Successor | Principality abolished |
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Tenure | 15 April 1847 - 10 April 1878 ( 30 years, 360 days) |
Predecessor | Prince Achille |
Successor | Prince Joachim |
Spouse | Caroline Georgina Fraser |
Issue | |
Caroline, Baroness de Chassiron Joachim, Prince Murat Anne, Duchess of Mouchy Prince Achille Murat Prince Louis Murat |
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Father | Joachim Murat |
Mother | Caroline Bonaparte |
Born | 16 May 1803 |
Died | 10 April 1878 | (aged 74)
Lucien Charles Joseph Napoléon, Prince Français, Prince of Naples, 2nd Prince de Pontecorvo, 3rd Prince Murat (16 May 1803, Milan – 10 April 1878, Paris) was a French politician, and the sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo between 1812 and May 1815.[1][2]
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He was the second son of Joachim Murat, King of Naples (1808–1815), and his Queen consort Caroline Bonaparte.
His maternal uncles included Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon I of France, Lucien Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte and Jérôme Bonaparte. His maternal aunts included Elisa Bonaparte and Pauline Bonaparte.
Murat had to flee the Italian Peninsula after his father's execution, which had been ordered by Ferdinand IV of Naples. Between 1815 and 1822 he and his older brother Prince Achille Murat received a solid education at Castle Frohsdorf in the Austrian Empire. He later went to Venice, where he was pursued by the Austrian authorities, necessitating his departure to the United States.
His ship however shipwrecked in Spain and captured by the Spanish, compelling him to remain there for many months, until his brother secured assistance from President of the United States James Monroe for his release. He finally arrived in the United States in April 1825. He traveled to Philadelphia to meet his maternal uncle Joseph Bonaparte and from there traveled extensively in the western part of the country, as well as Texas and California.
On August 18, 1831 Murat married a protestant, Caroline Georgina Fraser (Charleston, South Carolina, April 13, 1810 - Paris, February 10, 1879), daughter of Thomas Fraser and wife Anne Lauton, at Bordentown, New Jersey and lived several years in Bordentown, New Jersey. On his many travels to France, Murat sought in 1838 and 1844 the possibility to reclaim his family's right to the throne, which his elder brother had abandoned. In France he was always only allowed to stay 5 weeks at a time.
He continued to live in the United States, staying in daily correspondence with his backers, until the fall of Louis-Philippe of France in 1848 new possibilities arose. He returned to France with his wife, and was elected a member of the constituent assembly, and in 1849 appointed as Minister for Turin. In 1852 received the status of a senator and the title of a prince.
In 1861 he tried one more time to regain the throne of Naples, and composed a manifesto to support his claim. This was not well received by his maternal first cousin Napoleon III of France and Murat abandoned hopes of regaining the crown.
During the Franco-Prussian War after the French defeat at the Siege of Metz (3 September - 23 October 1870), Murat was imprisoned with Marshal of France François Achille Bazaine. After the fall of the Second French Empire, Murat moved back to United States for a short time where he had still business interests to attend to.
Napoléon Lucien Murat died on the 10 April 1878 in Paris. His wife died shortly after him on 10 February 1879.
He and his wife Caroline Georgina Fraser:
Ancestors of Prince Napoleon Lucien Charles Murat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regnal titles | ||
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Vacant
Title last held by
Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte |
Prince of Pontecorvo 1812–1815 |
Principality abolished |
French nobility of the First French Empire |
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New creation | Prince of Pontecorvo As title of pretence 1815–1847 |
Succeeded by Joachim Murat |
Preceded by Achille Murat |
Prince Murat 1847–1878 |