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King Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil: Surprising Facts About a Bonaparte’s Life in America

Khalid Elhassan March 12, 2025 13 min

Bonaparte - Joseph Bonaparte had a run in with the Jersey Devil — Joseph Bonaparte had a run in with the Jersey Devil. Fine Art America

7. King Joseph Bonaparte of Naples and Sicily

Bonaparte - Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples — Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples. Bridgeman Art

Napoleon sent Joseph, along with a French army commanded by Marshall Massena, to conquer Naples. Ferdinand fled his kingdom, and on March 30^th, 1806, Napoleon issued a decree that installed Joseph as King of Naples and Sicily. The Kingdom of Naples and Sicily – of which Joseph Bonaparte controlled only the Naples part on the Italian mainland – was a backwards realm. It had suffered greatly from generations of misgovernment by corrupt and inept Bourbons. Joseph launched an ambitious reform program, and sought to transform Naples into a modern and well administered state, along the lines of Napoleonic France. Feudal privileges and taxes were abolished; military tribunals were established to suppress rampant banditry; monastic orders were suppressed and their properties nationalized; public works programs were instituted to employ the poor and improve the kingdom; and public schools to educate young girls, and a college to educate young women, were established.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.