Joachim I of Naples (Napoleon's World)

Joachim I of Naples (born Joachim Murat; Italian: Gioacchino Murat) (25 March 1767 - December 4, 1824) was the first King of Naples from the House of Murat, and prior to that post served as a Marshal of France under Napoleon. French by birth and a lifelong ally of Napoleon I, who gave him his title, Joachim I spent much of his career acclimating himself to the politics of Italy and shoring up the former British ally as one of the French Empire's staunchest allies. While a proponent of an absorption of Italy into the French Empire, his death prior to the reorganization of Europe in 1824 muddled the Neapolitan political scene and guaranteed Naples formal independence with heavy French influence. He is often known as Joachim the Frenchman (Italian: Gioacchino il Francese) in Naples due to his foreign origin.