Murat - Alexandre Dumas

This meetup is hosted by Wisdom and Woe. For more details and to RSVP, please go to to: Murat - Alexandre Dumas

"Murat" is one of Celebrated Crimes (1839) by the celebrated Alexandre Dumas, a collection of short stories depicting violent episodes from history.

Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was a military commander and statesman serving under his brother-in-law, Napoleon Boneparte. He bore many titles in his lifetime--including Marshal, Grand Admiral, and Grand Duke of Berg--and his daring cavalry charges earned him the nickname "The First Horseman of Europe." But his handsome looks, ostentatious style, and flamboyant uniforms--for which Napoleon compared him to a famous circus rider--also earned him the nickname "The Dandy King."

In the name of the French Revolution, Napoleon had invaded Italy, displacing its feudal order, and establishing new codes of law, with Murat installed as King of Naples. But when Napoleon surrendered at Waterloo on 18 June 1815, Murat desperately tried to cling to power by attempting a futile invasion of Calabria. He was easily captured and sentenced to death by firing squad. As he stood for his executioners, he (in true "Dandy King" fashion) reportedly kissed a portrait of his wife and exclaimed: "Soldiers, do your duty! Aim for the heart but spare the face!"

With Napoleon's defeat, the Austrian Empire largely regained control of Italy. But the French Revolution, with its ideals of national self-determination, continued to inspire political upheavals that eventually manifested in revolution (the Risorgimento). Alexandre Dumas played his own part in this history, joining its heroic leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and publishing a biography that helped to immortalize his reputation.

Wisdom and Woe is a philosophy and literature discussion group dedicated to exploring the world, work, life, and times of Herman Melville and the 19th century Romantic movement. The group is free and open to anybody with an interest in learning and growing by "diving deeper" into "time and eternity, things of this world and of the next, and books, and publishers, and all possible and impossible matters."