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Lot Essay
Murat
Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was Maréchal d'Empire under the reign of Napoleon; Prince de l’Empire in 1805; Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808; and King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. He received his titles through personal merit and by being one of Napoleon's closest comrades in arms. He married Caroline Bonaparte, the youngest sister of Napoleon, in 1800.
He is remembered by his contemporaries as an exceptionally daring, brave and charismatic cavalry officer and for being a flamboyant dresser. Napoleon granted him the title of ‘first horseman of Europe’.
Tilsit, July 1807
‘… On July 27th (July 9th) [1807] the treaty of Tilsit was ratified. The same day, the Emperor Alexander I asked Prince Kurakin to deliver to Napoleon on his behalf five insignia of the order of St Andrew the First Called, which he awarded to Napoleon, Jerome, Prince of Wesphalia, Murat, Talleyrand and Field Marshal Berthier.
At the same time Duroc delivered to Emperor Alexander I five insignia of the Legion d’Honneur awarded to the Suzerain, the Tsesarevich Konstantin Pavlovich, Baron Budberg and his two Russian representatives, Prince Kurakin and Prince Lobanov Rostovski’ (N. Schilder, The Emperor Alexander I, St Petersburg, 1904, vol. II, p. 200).
The treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 , following his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on July 7th, between Emperor Alexander I and Napoleon, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman river. The second was signed with Prussia on July 9th.
The treaties were made at the expense of the Prussian king: in Tilsit, he ceded almost half of his pre-war territories.
With the treaties, Napoleon not only cemented his control of central Europe, but also united Russia and his truncated Prussia ally with him. This alliance against his two remaining enemies, Great Britain and Sweden, triggered the Anglo-Russian and Finnish war.
Central Europe became a battlefield again in 1809, when Austria and Great Britain engaged France in the war of the Fifth coalition.
The Order of St Andrew the First-Called
Emperor Peter I was the founder of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called.
It remained the highest Imperial Russian order until the revolution in 1917. During his lengthy visit to Europe from spring 1697 until his return to Moscow in September 1698, Emperor Peter I experienced the pomp and splendour of the European courts and saw sovereigns and courters wearing gleaming decorations and medals in gold and silver.
It was not until 1797 that Tsar Pavel I issued the first official decree defining the statute of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called. Over time, several changes were made concerning awarding regulations. In 1804, under the reign of Emperor Alexander I, knights who received the order of St Andrew, but had not yet received the orders of St Alexander Nevski and St Anne also became de facto knights of the other two orders. Nonetheless foreign knights, such as Field marshal Murat in 1807, were not presented the collar of the order.
Joachim Murat (1767-1815) was Maréchal d'Empire under the reign of Napoleon; Prince de l’Empire in 1805; Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808; and King of Naples from 1808 to 1815. He received his titles through personal merit and by being one of Napoleon's closest comrades in arms. He married Caroline Bonaparte, the youngest sister of Napoleon, in 1800.
He is remembered by his contemporaries as an exceptionally daring, brave and charismatic cavalry officer and for being a flamboyant dresser. Napoleon granted him the title of ‘first horseman of Europe’.
Tilsit, July 1807
‘… On July 27th (July 9th) [1807] the treaty of Tilsit was ratified. The same day, the Emperor Alexander I asked Prince Kurakin to deliver to Napoleon on his behalf five insignia of the order of St Andrew the First Called, which he awarded to Napoleon, Jerome, Prince of Wesphalia, Murat, Talleyrand and Field Marshal Berthier.
At the same time Duroc delivered to Emperor Alexander I five insignia of the Legion d’Honneur awarded to the Suzerain, the Tsesarevich Konstantin Pavlovich, Baron Budberg and his two Russian representatives, Prince Kurakin and Prince Lobanov Rostovski’ (N. Schilder, The Emperor Alexander I, St Petersburg, 1904, vol. II, p. 200).
The treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 , following his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on July 7th, between Emperor Alexander I and Napoleon, when they met on a raft in the middle of the Neman river. The second was signed with Prussia on July 9th.
The treaties were made at the expense of the Prussian king: in Tilsit, he ceded almost half of his pre-war territories.
With the treaties, Napoleon not only cemented his control of central Europe, but also united Russia and his truncated Prussia ally with him. This alliance against his two remaining enemies, Great Britain and Sweden, triggered the Anglo-Russian and Finnish war.
Central Europe became a battlefield again in 1809, when Austria and Great Britain engaged France in the war of the Fifth coalition.
The Order of St Andrew the First-Called
Emperor Peter I was the founder of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called.
It remained the highest Imperial Russian order until the revolution in 1917. During his lengthy visit to Europe from spring 1697 until his return to Moscow in September 1698, Emperor Peter I experienced the pomp and splendour of the European courts and saw sovereigns and courters wearing gleaming decorations and medals in gold and silver.
It was not until 1797 that Tsar Pavel I issued the first official decree defining the statute of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called. Over time, several changes were made concerning awarding regulations. In 1804, under the reign of Emperor Alexander I, knights who received the order of St Andrew, but had not yet received the orders of St Alexander Nevski and St Anne also became de facto knights of the other two orders. Nonetheless foreign knights, such as Field marshal Murat in 1807, were not presented the collar of the order.