Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic) in the context of "House of Bonaparte"

Joachim Murat (/mjʊəˈrɑː/ mure-AH, also /mʊˈrɑːt/ muurr-AHT; French: [ʒɔaʃɛ̃ myʁa]; Italian: Gioacchino Murat; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the Empire and Admiral of France. He was the first Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808, and King of Naples as Joachim-Napoleon (Italian: Gioacchino Napoleone) from 1808 to 1815.

Born in Labastide-Fortunière in southwestern France, Murat briefly pursued a vocation in the clergy before enlisting in a cavalry regiment upon the outbreak of the French Revolution. Murat distinguished himself under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte on 13 Vendémiaire (1795), when he seized a group of large cannons and was instrumental in suppressing the royalist insurrection in Paris. He became Napoleon's aide-de-camp and commanded the cavalry during the French campaigns in Italy and Egypt. Murat played a pivotal role in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (1799), which brought Napoleon to political power. In 1800 he married Caroline Bonaparte, thus becoming a brother-in-law to Napoleon.

The Neapolitan War, also known as the Austro-Neapolitan War, was a conflict between the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples and the Austrian Empire. It started on 15 March 1815, when King Joachim Murat declared war on Austria, and ended on 20 May 1815, with the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza. The war occurred during the Hundred Days between Napoleon's return from exile and before he left Paris to be decisively defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. The war was triggered by a pro-Napoleon uprising in Naples and ended with a decisive Austrian victory at the Battle of Tolentino, after which Bourbon monarch Ferdinand IV was reinstated as King of Naples and Sicily. However, the intervention by Austria caused resentment in Italy, which further spurred on the drive towards Italian unification.

Prince Murat ([pʁɛ̃s myʁa]) is a French princely title that traces its origin back to 1804, when Emperor Napoleon granted the rank of prince français to his brother-in-law Joachim Murat, who subsequently reigned as King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. On 5 December 1812, Joachim Murat's second son Lucien was created sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo (an enclave in the Kingdom of Naples) in succession to Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, by an Imperial Decree.

The Prince of Pontecorvo title is still used to this day for the heir apparent of the head of the family. The Murat family is known collectively as the House of Murat (French: Maison Murat; Neapolitan: Casà ’e Murat).

The invasion of Naples was a military campaign of the War of the Third Coalition in 1806. It began when a French army led by Marshal André Masséna marched from Northern Italy into the Kingdom of Naples, an ally of the Coalition against France ruled by King Ferdinand IV. The Neapolitan army was defeated at Campo Tenese and rapidly disintegrated. The invasion was eventually successful despite some setbacks, including the prolonged Siege of Gaeta, the British victory at Maida, and a stubborn guerrilla war by local peasants against the French. Total success eluded the French because Ferdinand withdrew to his domain in Sicily, where he was protected by the Royal Navy and a British Army garrison. In 1806, Emperor Napoleon appointed his brother Joseph Bonaparte to reign over the newly formed Napoleonic kingdom of Naples in Southern Italy.

The proximate cause of the invasion was Ferdinand's double-crossing of Napoleon. Wanting to keep things quiet in southern Italy, Napoleon and Ferdinand signed a convention that specified that the French would evacuate Apulia. In return, the Kingdom of Naples would stay neutral in the impending War of the Third Coalition. When the French occupying force marched away, Ferdinand admitted British and Russian armies into his kingdom. In December 1805, Napoleon's armies crushed the armies of Austria and Russia. When the Russian force in Naples was recalled, the British expedition withdrew, exposing Ferdinand's kingdom to French retribution.

The Battle of Tolentino was fought from 2–3 May 1815 near Tolentino, Kingdom of Naples in what is now Marche, Italy: it was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War, fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples Joachim Murat to keep the throne after the Congress of Vienna. The battle occurred during the Hundred Days following Napoleon's return from exile and, like the Battle of Waterloo, resulted in a decisive victory for the Seventh Coalition, leading to the restoration of the previous Bourbon king, Ferdinand I.