Jérôme Bonaparte
Prince of Montfort
Portrait by François Gérard, 1811
King of Westphalia
Reign	7 July 1807 – 26 October 1813
First Minister	Joseph Jérôme Siméon
President of the French Senate
In office 28 January 1852 – 30 November 1852
Predecessor	Étienne-Denis Pasquier (Chamber of Peers)
Successor	Raymond-Theodore Troplong
Born	15 November 1784 Ajaccio, Corsica, Kingdom of France
Died	24 June 1860 (aged 75) Vilgénis, Seine-et-Oise, France
Burial	Les Invalides, Paris
Spouse	Elizabeth Patterson     (m. 1803; annulled 1805) Catharina of Württemberg     (m. 1807; died 1835) Giustina Pecori-Suárez     (m. 1840)
Issue	Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte Jérôme Napoléon Charles Bonaparte Mathilde, Princess of San Donato Napoléon-Jérôme, Prince Napoléon
Names Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte
House	Bonaparte
Father	Carlo Buonaparte
Mother	Letizia Ramolino
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1813.

From 1816 onward, he bore the title of Prince of Montfort.^[1] After 1848, when his nephew, Louis Napoleon, became President of the French Second Republic, he served in several official roles, including Marshal of France from 1850 onward, and President of the Senate in 1852. He was the only one of Napoleon's siblings who lived long enough to see the Bonaparte restoration.

Historian Owen Connelly points to his financial, military, and administrative successes and concludes he was a loyal, useful, and soldierly asset to Napoleon. Others, including historian Helen Jean Burn, have demonstrated his military failures, including a dismal career in the French navy that nearly escalated into war with Britain over an incident in the West Indies and his selfish concerns that led to the deaths of tens of thousands during the Russian invasion when he failed to provide military support as Napoleon had counted upon for his campaign; further, his addiction to spending led to both personal and national financial disasters, with his large personal debts repeatedly paid by family members including Napoleon, his mother, and both of his first two fathers-in-law, and the treasury of Westphalia emptied.^[4] In general, most historians agree that he was the most unsuccessful of Napoleon's brothers.^[5]

Early life[edit]

Jérôme was born in Ajaccio, Corsica, the eighth and last surviving child (and fifth surviving son) of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife, Letizia Ramolino. His elder siblings were: Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lucien Bonaparte, Elisa Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte, Pauline Bonaparte, and Caroline Bonaparte.

 

Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, triple portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1804

He studied at the Catholic College of Juilly and Lay College at the Irish College in Paris,^[6] and then joined the French Navy in January 1800. Napoleon put him in charge of a French frigate in the West Indies. Fleeing from an incident in which he accidentally shot a British ship and thus could have escalated conflict between the two countries, and fearing his brother's wrath, he fled north under the assumed name of "Mr. Albert" to the United States, where he planned to remain until his brother's temper cooled. While there, he amassed considerable debts and was nearly in a duel due to ruining at least one lady's honor.^[7] Upon the boast by an old naval friend that Baltimore had the most beautiful women in the U.S., he made his way to that city (July 1803), where he met Elizabeth Patterson, daughter of the second-wealthiest man in the U.S. (according to Thomas Jefferson) and reportedly the most beautiful woman in Baltimore. On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1803, nineteen-year-old Jérôme married Elizabeth Patterson (1785–1879), who herself was only eighteen. The wedding took place against the bride's father's wishes; William Patterson had received an anonymous letter beforehand which detailed Jérôme's womanizing, his massive debts, and his plans to use the marriage only as a way to stay in style in the U.S. until he could return to his family in France.

Jérôme's elder brother Napoleon was furious about the match - he wanted to marry his siblings into royal families across Europe and to expand the Bonaparte dynasty through marriage. He was unable to convince Pope Pius VII in Rome to annul the marriage, and so after becoming Emperor in 1804 he annulled the marriage himself (by a French imperial decree, on 11 March 1805), as a matter of state. At the time, Jérôme was on his way to Europe with Elizabeth, who was then pregnant. They landed in neutral Portugal, and Jérôme set off to Italy to persuade his brother to recognize the marriage. Elizabeth tried to land in Amsterdam, hoping to enter France so her baby would be born on French soil, but the Emperor barred the ship from entering the harbor. Elizabeth sailed to England instead, and gave birth to her child, Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (1805–1870), in London. Jérôme would not attempt to see his son for two decades.

The Emperor followed up his decree of divorce with Roman Catholic and (later) French state divorce proceedings. Jérôme submitted to the Emperor's demands and ended his marriage; in return, he was made an admiral in the French navy (commanding the Genoa squadron from May 1805), a general in the army, King of Westphalia (r. 1807–1813), and an imperial prince, and Napoleon arranged marriage for him to a princess. Elizabeth returned alone to America with her son; she never spoke to Jérôme again. Fearing losing control of her son and her finances to Jérôme, Elizabeth was later declared divorced from Jérôme by a special decree and act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1815. She received not one penny from Jérôme to help her support their son; her ex-husband excluded her and their son from his will.