Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte
| Jérôme I | |||||
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| French Prince; Prince of Montfort | |||||
Portrait by François Gérard
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| King of Westphalia | |||||
| Reign | 8 July 1807 – 26 October 1813 | ||||
| Born | 15 November 1784 Ajaccio, Corsica |
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| Died | 24 June 1860 (aged 75) Vilgénis, Seine-et-Oise |
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| Burial | Les Invalides, Paris | ||||
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| House | Bonaparte | ||||
| Father | Carlo Buonaparte | ||||
| Mother | Letizia Ramolino | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
| Signature |  |
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| Full name | |
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| Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte |
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Monarchical styles of Jérôme I of Westphalia |
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| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Sire |
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1813. From 1816 onward, he bore the title of Prince of Montfort. 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.
Jérôme was born in Ajaccio, Corsica the eighth and last surviving child, fifth surviving son, of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. He was a younger brother of his siblings: Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lucien Bonaparte, Elisa Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte, Pauline Bonaparte and Caroline Bonaparte.
He studied at the Catholic College of Juilly, and then served with the French Navy before going to the United States. On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1803, nineteen-year-old Jérôme married Elizabeth ("Betsy") Patterson (1785–1879), eighteen-year-old daughter of prosperous ship-owner and merchant William Patterson, (1752–1835) in Baltimore, (then the third-largest city in America). Napoleon was unable to convince Pope Pius VII in Rome to annul their marriage, and so annulled the marriage himself (by a French imperial decree, 11 March 1805), as a matter of state. Elizabeth was pregnant with a son at the time, (Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (1805–1870)), and was on her way to Europe with the elder Jérôme. When they landed in neutral Portugal, Jérôme set off overland to Italy to attempt to convince his brother to recognize the marriage. Elizabeth then attempted to land in Amsterdam, hoping to travel to within the borders of France in order for her and Jerome's baby son to be born on French soil, but Emperor Napoleon I issued orders barring the ship from entering the harbour. Being with child, Elizabeth went on to England where Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte, (later nicknamed in childhood as "Bo"), was born at 95 Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London, England. Emperor Napoleon instituted Roman Catholic and later French state divorce proceedings only after the birth of the baby, Jerome II. After considerable delay and internal struggle, Elizabeth was later declared divorced from Jerome by a special decree and act of the state legislature of the General Assembly of Maryland in 1815.
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