Two Sicilies, kingdom of the. The name Two Sicilies was used in the Middle Ages to mean the kingdoms of Sicily and of Naples (see Sicily Sicily (sĭs`ĭlē), Ital. Sicilia, region (1991 pop.
..... Click the link for more information. and Naples, kingdom of Naples, kingdom of, former state, occupying the Italian peninsula south of the former Papal States. It comprised roughly the present regions of Campania , Abruzzi , Molise , Basilicata , Apulia , and Calabria . Naples was the capital.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Alfonso V Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and Sicily.
..... Click the link for more information. of Aragón, who in 1442 reunited the two kingdoms under his rule, styled himself king of the Two Sicilies. Under his successors the kingdoms were again separate, but the title was revived during Spanish domination (1504–1713) of both kingdoms and after the accession (1759) of a cadet branch of the Spanish line of Bourbon Bourbon (b
..... Click the link for more information. to Naples and Sicily. Ferdinand IV of Naples (Ferdinand III of Sicily) officially merged the two kingdoms in 1816 and called himself Ferdinand I Ferdinand I, 1751–1825, king of the Two Sicilies (1816–25). He had previously been king of Naples (1759–99, 1799–1805, 1815–16) as Ferdinand IV and king of Sicily (1759–1816) as Ferdinand III.
..... Click the link for more information. of the Two Sicilies. Both the Sicilians, who thus lost their autonomy, and the pope, who saw his theoretical suzerainty over the two kingdoms ignored, protested the change. A popular uprising (1820) instigated by the Carbonari Carbonari (kärbōnä`rē) [Ital.
..... Click the link for more information. forced Ferdinand to concede a constitution, but Austrian intervention (1821) after the Congress of Laibach Laibach, Congress of (lī`bäkh), conference of European powers in 1821, held in what is now Ljubljana, Slovenia.
..... Click the link for more information. restored his absolute power. The reactionary regimes of his successors Francis I Francis I, 1777–1830, king of the Two Sicilies (1825–30), son and successor of Ferdinand I. He continued the ruthless and reactionary policy of his father, and his court was notorious for waste and corruption. He was succeeded by his son Ferdinand II.
..... Click the link for more information. , Ferdinand II Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the repressive policies of his predecessors and became an
..... Click the link for more information. , and Francis II Francis II, 1836–94, last king of the Two Sicilies (1859–61), son and successor of Ferdinand II. A weak ruler, he let his ministers follow his father's reactionary policy.
..... Click the link for more information. finally ended when Sicily and Naples fell to the forces of Garibaldi Garibaldi, Giuseppe (gărĭbôl`dē, Ital. j
..... Click the link for more information. in 1860. In 1861, Gaeta, Francis's last fortress, surrendered to Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia, and the Two Sicilies became part of the kingdom of Italy.

Bibliography

See studies by H. M. M. Acton (1956 and 1962); B. Croce, History of the Kingdom of Naples (tr. 1970).

Two Sicilies, Kingdom of the

Former kingdom, Italy. It united the southern part of the Italian peninsula with the island of Sicily. The region was conquered by the Normans in the 11th century; the two areas were divided in 1282 between the Angevin (French) dynasty on the mainland and the Aragonese (Spanish) dynasty on the island, both of which claimed the title of King of Sicily. In 1442 Alfonso V of Aragon reunited the two areas and took the title of King of the Two Sicilies. This title was sometimes used during the Spanish and Bourbon rule of the region in the 16th–19th centuries; it became official in 1816, when the administration of both areas was combined and Sicily lost its autonomy. Conquered by Giuseppe de Garibaldi in 1860, the Two Sicilies became part of the Kingdom of Italy.