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Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria-Este, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Giuseppe Garibaldi, King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, King Francis II of the Two Sicilies, Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies, Pope Francis, Pope Pius IX, Sisi
Francis II (January 16, 1836 – December 27, 1894) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861.
Early life
The only son and heir of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies by his first wife, Princess Maria Christina of Savoy, the youngest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia-Piedmont and Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este.

King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Princess Maria Christina of Savoy’s maternal grandparents were Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d’Este. Archduke Ferdinand was the fourteenth child and third son born to Franz I Stefan, Holy Roman Emperor, and Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia and Archduchess of Austria. Maria Beatrice was the eldest daughter of Ercole III d’Este and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara.

Princess Maria Christina of Savoy
King Francis II was the last of the Bourbon kings of Naples and Sicily (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), where he was born in 1836. His education had been much neglected and he proved a man of weak character, greatly influenced by his stepmother Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, whom he feared, and also by the priests, and by the camarilla, or reactionary court set.
On February 3, 1859 in Bari, Francis married Duchess Maria Sophie of Bavaria, of the royal Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. Duchess Maria Sophie was one of the ten children of Maximilian Joseph, Duke in Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. She was a younger sister of Empress Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria).

King Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Maria Sophie, along with Elisabeth, was a great beauty. However, their marriage was unhappy. Their only daughter, Maria Cristina, was born ten years after her parents married, and lived only three months (December 24, 1869 – March 28, 1870).
The Two Sicilies
The kingdom was formed when the Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples. The Kingdom of Naples was officially also known as the Kingdom of Sicily. Since both kingdoms were named Sicily, they were collectively known as the “Two Sicilies” (Utraque Sicilia, literally “both Sicilies”), and the unified kingdom adopted this name.
Reign
Francis II took the throne on May 22, 1859, after the death of his father. For the post of prime minister he at once appointed Carlo Filangieri, who, realizing the importance of the Franco-Piedmontese victories in Lombardy, advised Francis II to accept the alliance with the Kingdom of Sardinia proposed by Cavour.

Duchess Maria Sophie in Bavaria
Cavour proposed an alliance to divide the Papal States between Piedmont and Naples (the province of Rome excepted), but Francis rejected an idea which to him seemed like heresy. Filangieri strongly advocated a Constitution as the only measure which might save the dynasty, but on the king’s refusal he resigned.
Garibaldi’s invasion
Meanwhile, the revolutionary parties were conspiring for the overthrow of the Bourbons in Calabria and Sicily, and Giuseppe Garibaldi was preparing for a raid in the south of Italy. A conspiracy in Sicily was discovered and the plotters punished with brutal severity, but Rosalino Pilo and Francesco Crispi, who had organized the movement, escaped execution. When Garibaldi landed at Marsala (May 1860) with his Expedition of the Thousand, he conquered the Sicilian island with astonishing ease.
These events at last coaxed Francis II into granting a constitution, but its promulgation was followed by disorders in Naples and the resignation of several ministers; Liborio Romano became head of the government.
The disintegration of the army and navy proceeded apace, and Cavour sent a Piedmontese squadron carrying troops on board to watch over these events. Garibaldi, who had crossed the strait of Messina, was advancing northwards and was everywhere received by the people as a liberator.
After long hesitations and even an appeal to Garibaldi himself, and on the advice of Romano, Francis II left Naples on September 6 with his wife Maria Sophia, the court and the diplomatic corps (except the French and British ministers), and went by sea to Gaeta, where a large part of the army was concentrated.
The next day Garibaldi entered Naples, was enthusiastically welcomed, and formed a provisional government.
Piedmontese invasion
King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont had decided on the invasion of the Papal States, and after occupying Umbria and the Marche entered the Neapolitan kingdom. Garibaldi’s troops defeated the Neapolitan royalists at the Battle of Volturno (which took place on October 1, 1860), while the Piedmontese captured Capua.
By late 1860, only Gaeta, Messina, and Civitella del Tronto still held out. The Siege of Gaeta by the Piedmontese began on November 6, 1860. Both Francis II and his wife behaved with great coolness and courage.

Giuseppe Garibaldi
Even when the French fleet, whose presence had hitherto prevented an attack by sea, was withdrawn, they still resisted. It was not until February 13, 1861 that the fortress capitulated and Francis II was deposed.
Overthrow
Thus, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist. After the overthrow he people voted in a plebiscite to join the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia. The annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies completed the first phase of Italian unification, and the new Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861.
King Francis II and Queen Maria Sophia first lived in Rome as guests of the Pope Pius IX, where they maintained a government in exile recognized by some Catholic powers including France, Spain, Austria and Bavaria.

Pope Pius IX
After the Prussian victory against Austria in 1866 and subsequent expansion of Italian territory, they disbanded this government and left Rome before it was occupied by the Italians in 1870. They led a wandering life from then on, living in Austria, France, and Bavaria.
In 1894, Francis died at Arco in Trentino (now north-eastern Italy, but at the time in Austria-Hungary). His widow survived him by 31 years and died in Munich. Upon the death of Francis II, his half-brother, Prince Alfonso, became the pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Cause of beatification and canonization
On December 11, 2020, the cause of the beatification of King Francis II of the Two Sicilies was introduced by the Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples. Pope Francis declared the king a Servant of God.