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Joseph I
King of Spain and the Indies King of Naples Count of Survilliers
Joseph Bonaparte, by Jean-Baptiste Wicar (1803)
King of Spain and the Indies
Reign	6 June 1808 – 11 December 1813
Predecessor	Ferdinand VII
Successor	Ferdinand VII
King of Naples
Reign	30 March 1806 – 6 June 1808
Predecessor	Ferdinand IV
Successor	Joachim I
Spouse	Julie Clary
Issue
Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (1801–1854) Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (1802–1839)
Full name
French: Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte Italian: Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte Spanish: José-Napoleón Bonaparte
House	House of Bonaparte
Father	Carlo Buonaparte
Mother	Letizia Ramolino
Born	7 January 1768 Corte, Corsica, Republic of Genoa
Died	28 July 1844(1844-07-28) (aged 76) Florence, Tuscany
Religion	Roman Catholicism

French Monarchy -
Bonaparte Dynasty

Napoleon I Children    Napoleon II Siblings    Joseph, King of Spain    Lucien, Prince of Canino    Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany    Louis, King of Holland    Pauline, Princess of Guastalla    Caroline, Queen of Naples    Jérôme, King of Westphalia Nephews and nieces    Princess Zénaïde    Princess Charlotte    Prince Charles    Prince Louis    Prince Pierre    Prince Napoleon Charles    Prince Napoleon Louis    Napoleon III    Prince Jérôme    Prince Napoleon Joseph    Princess Mathilde Grandnephews and -nieces    Prince Joseph    Prince Lucien-Louis    Prince Roland    Princess Jeanne    Prince Charles    Prince Jerome    Napoleon (V) Victor    Maria Letizia, Duchess of Aosta Great Grandnephews and -nieces    Princess Marie    Princess Marie Clotilde    Napoleon (VI) Louis Great Great Grandnephews and -nieces    Napoleon (VII) Charles    Princess Catherine    Princess Laure    Prince Jerome Great Great Great Grandnephews and -nieces    Princess Caroline    Prince Jean-Christophe Napoleon II Napoleon III Children    Napoleon (IV), Prince Imperial

Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte (7 January 1768 – 28 July 1844) was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily (1806–1808), and later King of Spain (1808–1813, as José I). After the fall of Napoleon, Joseph styled himself Comte de Survilliers.

Early years and personal life[link]

Joseph was born Giuseppe Buonaparte in 1768 to Carlo Buonaparte and Maria Letizia Ramolino at Corte, the capital of the Corsican Republic. In the year of his birth, Corsica was invaded by France and conquered the following year. His father was originally a follower of the Corsican Patriot leader, Pasquale Paoli, but later became a supporter of French rule. As a lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Joseph served in the Cinq-Cents and was the French ambassador to Rome. He married Marie Julie Clary (26 December 1771, Marseille, France – 7 April 1845, Florence, Italy) on 1 August 1794 in Cuges-les-Pins, France. They had three daughters:

• Julie Joséphine Bonaparte (1796–1796).
• Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte (8 July 1801 – 1854); married, in 1822, Charles Lucien Bonaparte.
• Charlotte Napoléone Bonaparte (31 October 1802 – 2 March 1839); married, in 1826, Napoleon Louis Bonaparte.

He claimed the surviving two daughters as his heirs. He also sired two children with Maria Giulia, the Countess of Atri:

• Giulio (1806–)
• Teresa (1808–).

Joseph had two American daughters born at Point Breeze, his estate in New Jersey, by his mistress, Annette Savage ("Madame de la Folie"):

• Pauline Anne; died young.
• Catherine Charlotte (1822–1890); married Col. Zebulon Howell Benton of Jefferson County, New York, and had issue^{[citation needed]}.

In 1795 Joseph was a member of the Council of Ancients, where he used his position to help his brother overthrow the Directory.

The Château de Villandry had been seized by the French Revolutionary government; and, in the early 19th century, Joseph's brother, Emperor Napoleon, acquired the château for him. In 1806, Joseph was given military command of Naples, and shortly afterward was made king by Napoleon, to be replaced two years later by his sister's husband, Joachim Murat. Joseph was then made King of Spain in August 1808, soon after the French invasion.

Spain[link]

Joseph somewhat reluctantly left Naples and arrived in Spain just in time for the commencement of the Spanish revolt against French rule, and the beginning of the Peninsular War. After a series of early defeats of the French by the remnants of the Spanish regular armies (stiffened by militia and guerrillas), Joseph temporarily retreated with much of the French Army to northern Spain. Feeling himself in an ignominious position, Joseph then proposed his own abdication from the Spanish throne, hoping that Napoleon would sanction his return to the Neapolitan Throne he had formerly occupied. Napoleon dismissed Joseph's misgivings out of hand; and, to back up the raw and ill-trained levies he had initially allocated to Spain—the Emperor sent heavy French reinforcements to assist Joseph in maintaining his position as King of Spain. Despite the easy recapture of Madrid, and nominal control by Joseph's government over many cities and provinces, Joseph's reign over Spain was always tenuous at best, and constantly resisted by pro-Bourbon guerrillas. Joseph and his supporters never established complete control over the country.

King Joseph's Spanish supporters were called josefinos or afrancesados (frenchified). During his reign, he ended the Spanish Inquisition, partly because Napoleon was at odds with Pope Pius VII at the time. Despite such efforts to win popularity, Joseph's foreign birth and support, plus his membership in a Masonic lodge,^[1] virtually guaranteed he would never be accepted as legitimate by the bulk of the Spanish people. During Joseph's rule of Spain, Venezuela declared independence (1810) from Spain, the first nation to do so. The king had virtually no influence over the course of the ongoing Peninsular War: Joseph's nominal command of French forces in Spain was mostly illusory, as the French commanders theoretically subordinate to King Joseph insisted on checking with Napoleon before carrying out Joseph's instructions.

King Joseph abdicated and returned to France after defeat of the main French forces to the British at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. He was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French after the death of Napoleon's own son Napoleon II in 1832, although he did little to advance his claim.

America[link]

Joseph lived primarily in the United States (where he sold the jewels of the Spanish crown he had stolen when he left Spain) in the period 1817–1832,^[2] initially in New York City and Philadelphia, where his house became the centre of activity for French expatriates, but later moved to an estate, formerly owned by Stephen Sayre, called Point Breeze in Bordentown, New Jersey. Joseph's home was located near the confluence of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River. He considerably expanded Sayre's home and created extensive gardens in the picturesque style. When his first home was destroyed by fire in January 1820 he converted his stables into a second grand house. At Point Breeze, Joseph entertained many of the leading intellectuals and politicians of his day.

He was also reputed to have encountered the Jersey Devil while hunting there.^[3]

Reputedly some Mexican revolutionaries offered to crown him Emperor of Mexico in 1820 but he refused.^[2]

Joseph Bonaparte returned to Europe, where he died in Florence, Italy, and was buried in the Les Invalides building complex in Paris.^[4]

Gallery[link]

Titles and styles[link]

• 30 March 1806 – 6 June 1808: His Majesty By the Grace of God and the Constitution of the State, King of Naples.
• 6 June 1808 – 11 December 1813: His Majesty By the Grace of God, King of Spain and the Indies.

Legacy[link]

• Joseph Bonaparte Gulf in the Northern Territory of Australia is named after him.
• Lake Bonaparte, located in the town of Diana, New York, United States, is also named after him.
• The seagull Chroicocephalus philadelphia is commonly known as Bonaparte's Gull; it is a matter of dispute as to whether the bird is named for Joseph Bonaparte or his nephew Charles.
• A main character in Golden Boy by Clifford Odets is named Joe Bonaparte after him.

Ancestry[link]