Biography

Joachim Murat was King of Naples and one of Napoleon's most celebrated French cavalry leaders. As a child, he studied briefly for a career in the church, but enlisted in a cavalry regiment in 1787 and was quickly promoted after the war broke out in 1792. Murat happened to be in Paris in October 1795 when Napoleon Bonaparte was on a mission to suppress a royalist insurrection and Murat's part in ensuring the mission as a success won him place as aide-de-camp to Bonaparte for the Italian campaign of 1796-97. Murat helped Napoleon win many battles, and he was rewarded with the position of King of Naples. In Naples, he had a lavish court display that spoke to his vanity, as well as carrying out important reforms such as breaking up the vast landed estates and introducing the Napoleonic Code.