(1808) Once he had taken control of the country, Joseph Bonaparte began organizing its institutions. On 30 March 1806, Napoleon signed an act at the Tuileries in which he named his brother Joseph "King of Naples and Sicily". Joseph thus became the first of Napoleon's siblings to be made ruler of a European state. He took the
regnal name Joseph Napoleon (
Giuseppe Napoleone). Control of Naples was of key importance for the French Empire because it allowed it to complete its conquest of the
Italian peninsula, except for the
Papal States and the
Republic of San Marino, while ensuring control of the maritime routes of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas. Having barely been named king, Joseph Bonaparte was thus charged with taking his place in the war against the United Kingdom. This was announced to him by a delegation from the
Sénat conservateur, sent to Naples by Napoleon and composed of
Pierre-Louis Roederer,
Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon and
Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, who were received by Joseph on 11 May. In his correspondence with his brother, Napoleon indicated to him that his sovereignty would only assured after the arrival of the senators, a way of showing that his kingdom was directly integrated into the French system. He became personally involved, not only to please his brother, but because he thought it necessary. He therefore presided over the councils, summoned or wrote to his generals and administrators in a manner similar to that of the emperor, and annotated dossiers and reports. But he had to maintain a repressive apparatus in the face of plots and revolts, and act in a context constrained by the international situation.
Reforms In the modernising spirit of the
French Revolution, King Joseph Napoleon implemented a programme of sweeping reforms to the organisation and structure of the ancient feudal kingdom. The Neapolitan nobility in its majority welcomed the change of regime with benevolence, while expecting guarantees and the consolidation of the new authority, as the local elites were tired of the authoritarianism of former queen Marie Caroline of Austria. Under Joseph, the monarchical and authoritarian framework was preserved, but in the context of an active policy of administrative, judicial, military, financial, social, educational and cultural reforms. The new sovereign appointed Pierre-Louis Roederer as Minister of Finance,
Antoine Christophe Saliceti as Minister of Police and General
Mathieu Dumas as Minister of War.
Administration Upon becoming King of Naples, Joseph Bonaparte launched a series of reforms designed to ensure the shift of state structures towards rationality, order and efficiency, notably with the creation of: For daily transactions and investments, in addition to structural savings and a reduction in the number of agents, the modernization of taxation and administration was undertaken from 1806, with the establishment of new contributions, the grouping of taxes, an increase in customs tariffs, the operation of the
lottery and
stamp duty, the improvement of the
land registry, the abolition of leases granted to barons, and the creation of the Public Debt Ledger. Joseph, who personally chaired the Council of Finances, encouraged the merger of the establishments, leaving it to Joachim Murat to create in 1809 the Bank of the Two Sicilies, designed according to the model of the
Bank of France. On 26 August 1806, Joseph created a Royal Guard composed of two infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, two artillery companies and a company of elite gendarmes. The regular army was supplied by
conscription, which provided under Joseph's reign a little over 60,000 men. Joseph effectively commanded the
Neapolitan Army as well as the French,
Italian, and
Polish contingents stationed in his kingdom. By a decree of 2 August 1806, feudalism was abolished, and all the rights and privileges of the nobility suppressed. The practice of
tax farming was also ended. Additional legislation gradually completed the decree with the liberation of the use of waterways, the abolition of several taxes, the possibility of buying back lands and the rights to exploit them, the division of collective domains, the abolition of
fideicommissa which had kept certain properties and rights out of commerce and inheritance. Joseph also founded charitable organizations and hospitals to further support his reforms.
Education Under Joseph's reign, public instruction and intellectual life were advanced. Public education was rethought: to give provincial public colleges time to set up, he tolerated the maintenance of religious schools. He ordered the establishment of educational institutions for girls—eleven of which were set up in the capital alone—and instructed professional groups to establish conservatories for
apprenticeships. Joseph directed the communes to develop primary education, and opened institutions to care for the kingdom's 5,600
foundlings. Most monastic orders were also suppressed and their funds transferred to the royal treasury; the
Benedictines and
Jesuits were dissolved, but Joseph preserved the
Franciscans.
Collaboration with local elites Joseph called upon the local elites to consolidate his power and drafted acts to bring the French members of his entourage and the administration closer to the Neapolitan elites. Numerous French citizens had settled in the kingdom and acquired
biens nationaux. Joseph did not take into account the negative image that the French had of the local nobility, despised due its plethora of 163 princes and 279 dukes, who often had no means to maintain their rank.
Conspiracies Numerous plots and attacks, directly threatening the life of the king and his ministers, were foiled between 1806 and 1808. Many were fomented by the supporters of Maria Carolina of Austria and
Fra Diavolo. This situation worried Napoleon, who advised his brother, in a letter dated 31 May 1806, to create a Royal Guard: "Compose your guard with 4 regiments of
chasseurs and
hussars. Form as well 2 battalions of
grenadiers." He also recommended the greatest caution: "Appoint a single commander of the guard and regard with suspicion all Neapolitans. The valets, cooks, guards must be French."
Constitution The constitution of the Kingdom of Naples, officially the Constitutional Statute of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily (
Statuto costituzionale del Regno di Napoli e di Sicilia), was signed by King Joseph Napoleon on 20 June 1808, shortly before he was succeeded by Marshal
Joachim Murat. ==Joachim Murat's reign==