VII. JEROME (1784-1860) was born at Ajaccio on the 15th of November
1784; he shared the fortunes of the family in the early years of the
French Revolution, was then educated at Juilly and was called to the
side of his brother, then First Consul of France, in 1800. Many stories
are told illustrating his impetuous but affectionate nature. While in
the Consular Guard he fought a duel with the younger brother of General
Davout and was wounded. Soon afterwards he was transferred to the navy
and cruised in the West Indies, until, when blockaded by a British
cruiser, he left his ship and travelled through the United States. At
Baltimore he fell in love with Miss Elizabeth Patterson, and, though a
minor, married her. This disregard of discipline and of the laws of
France greatly annoyed Napoleon; and when in 1805 Jerome brought his
wife to Europe, the emperor ordered her to be excluded from his states.
Jerome vainly sought to bend his brother's will in an interview at
Alexandria. In May 1805 he received command of a small squadron in the
Mediterranean, while his wife proceeded to Camberwell, where she gave
birth to a son. In November Jerome sailed in a squadron commanded by
Admiral Willaumez, which was to ravage the West Indies; but it was
scattered by a storm. After damaging British commerce in the North
Atlantic, Jerome reached France with his ship in safety in August 1806.
Napoleon made him a prince of France, and gave him command of a division
of South Germans in the campaign of 1806. After Jena, Jerome received
the surrender of several Prussian towns. An imperial decree having
annulled the Patterson marriage, the emperor united Jerome to the
princess Catherine of Wurttemberg; and in pursuance of the terms of the
treaty of Tilsit (July 7, 1807) raised him to the throne of the new
kingdom of Westphalia. There Jerome, though frequently rebuked by the
emperor, displayed his fondness for luxury, indulged in numerous
_amours_ and ran deeply into debt. In some respects his kingdom
benefited by the connexion with France. Feudalism was abolished; the
_Code Napoleon_ was introduced; the Jews were freed from repressive
laws; and education received some impulse in its higher departments. But
the unpopularity of Jerome's rule was shown by the part taken by the
peasants in the abortive rising headed by Baron Wilhelm von Dornberg and
other Westphalian officers in April 1809. Despite heavy taxation, the
state debt increased greatly; and the sending of a contingent to Russia
in 1812 brought the state to the verge of bankruptcy. In the early part
of that campaign Jerome was entrusted with an important movement which
might have brought the southern Russian army into grave danger; on his
failure (which was probably due to his lack of energy) the emperor
promptly subjected him to the control of Marshal Davout, and Jerome
returned to Cassel. In 1813, on the fall of the Napoleonic regime in
Germany, Jerome retired to France, and in 1814 spent some time in
Switzerland and at Trieste. Returning to France in 1815, he commanded a
division on the French left wing at Waterloo and attacked Hougomont with
great pertinacity. On Napoleon's second abdication Jerome proceeded to
Wurttemberg, was threatened with arrest unless he gave up his wife and
child, and was kept under surveillance at Goppingen; finally he was
allowed to proceed to Augsburg, and thereafter resided at Trieste, or in
Italy or Switzerland. His consort died in 1835. He returned to France in
1847, and after the rise of Louis Napoleon to power, became successively
governor of the Invalides, marshal of France and president of the
senate. He died on the 24th of June 1860. His children were Jerome
Napoleon (see XIV.), Mathilde (see XII.) and Napoleon Joseph Charles
Paul (born in 1822); the last was afterwards known as Prince Napoleon
(see XI. below) and finally became the heir to the fortunes of the
Napoleonic dynasty.
The chief works relating to Jerome Bonaparte are: Baron Albert du
Casse, _Memoires et correspondance du roi Jerome et de la reine
Catherine_ (7 vols., Paris, 1861-1866) and _Les Rois freres de
Napoleon_ (1883); M.M. Kaisenberg, _Konig Jerome Napoleon_; W.T.R.
Saffell, _The Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage_; August von Schlossberger,
_Briefwechsel der Konigin Katharina und des Konigs Jerome von
Westfalen mit Konig Friedrich von Wurttemberg_ (Stuttgart, 1886-1887),
supplemented by du Casse in _Corresp. inedite de la reine Catherine de
Westphalie_ (Paris, 1888-1893); A. Martinet, _Jerome Napoleon, roi de
Westfalie_ (Paris, 1902); P.W. Sergeant, _The Burlesque Napoleon_
(1905); F. Masson, _Napoleon et sa famille_ (4 vols., Paris,
1897-1900). (J. Hl. R.)
The fortunes of the Bonaparte family may be further followed under the
later biographies of its leading members, mainly descendants of Lucien
(II. above) and Jerome (VII. above).
Descendants of Lucien: 8. Charles.
VIII. CHARLES LUCIEN JULES LAURENT (1803-1857), prince of Canino, son of
Lucien Bonaparte, was a scientist rather than a politician. He married
his cousin, Zenaide Bonaparte, daughter of Joseph, in 1822. At the age
of twenty-two he began the publication of an _American Ornithology_ (4
vols., Philadelphia, 1825-1833), which established his scientific
reputation. A series of other works in zoology followed: _Iconographia
della fauna Italica_ (3 vols., Rome, 1832-1841), _Catalogo metodico
degli uccelli europei_ (1 vol., Bologna, 1842), _Catalogo metodico dei
pesci europei_ (1 vol., Naples, 1845, 4to), _Catalogo metodico dei
mammiferi europei_ (1 vol., Milan, 1845), _Telachorum tabula analytica_
(Neufchatel, 1838). He was elected honorary member of the academy of
Upsala in 1833, of that of Berlin in 1843, and correspondent of the
Institute of France in 1844. Towards 1847 he took part in the political
agitation in Italy, and presided over scientific congresses, notably at
Venice, where he declared himself in favour of the independence of Italy
and the expulsion of the Austrians. He entered the Junto of Rome in 1848
and was elected deputy by Viterbo to the national assembly. The failure
of the revolution forced him to leave Italy in July 1849. He gained
Holland, then France, where he turned again to science. His principal
works were, _Conspectus systematis ornithologiae, mastozologiae,
erpetologiae et amphibologiae, Ichthyologiae_ (Leiden, 1850), _Tableau
des oiseaux-mouches_ (Paris, 1854), _Ornithologie fossile_ (Paris,
1858). Eight children survived him: Joseph Lucien Charles Napoleon,
prince of Canino (1824-1865), who died without heirs; Lucien Louis
Joseph Napoleon, born in 1828, who took holy orders in 1853 and became a
cardinal in 1868; Julie Charlotte Zenaide Pauline Laetitia Desiree
Bartholomee, who married the marquis of Roccagiovine; Charlotte Honorine
Josephine, who married Count Primoli; Marie Desiree Eugenie Josephine
Philomene, who married the count Campello; Auguste Amelie Maximilienne
Jacqueline, who married Count Gabrielli; Napoleon Charles Gregoire
Jacques Philippe, born in 1839, who married the princess Ruspoli, by
whom he had two daughters; and Bathilde Aloyse Leonie, who married the
comte de Cambaceres. The branch is now extinct.