February 13, 1861: King Francis II of the Two Sicilies is Deposed

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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.

Ferdinand I of the Two-Sicilies: Creation of the Kingdom

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Ferdinand IV-III of Naples and Sicily, Italy, King of Sardinia-Piedmont, Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies, War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302)

The Kingdom of the Two-Sicilies was formed when the Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples, which 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.

The Kingdom of Naples also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), when the island of Sicily revolted and was conquered by the Crown of Aragon, becoming a separate kingdom also called the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1816, it reunified with the island of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The territory of the Kingdom of Naples, corresponded to the current Italian regions of Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise and also included some areas of today’s southern and eastern Lazio.

Nomenclature
The term “Kingdom of Naples” is in near universal use among historians, but it was not used officially by the government. Since the Angevins remained in power on the Italian peninsula, they kept the original name of the Kingdom of Sicily (regnum Siciliae). At the end of the War of the Vespers, the Peace of Caltabellotta (1302) provided that the name of the island kingdom would be Trinacria (regnum Trinacriae). However, this usage did not become established, and the island kingdom became known as the Kingdom of Sicily.

In the late Middle Ages, it was common to distinguish the two Sicilies by noting its location relative to the rest of Italy and the Punta del Faro, i.e., the Strait of Messina. The peninsular kingdom was known as Sicily citra Farum or al di qua del Faro (on this side of Faro), and the island kingdom was known as Sicily ultra Farum or di la del Faro (on the other side of Faro). When both kingdoms came under the rule of Alfonso the Magnanimous in 1442, this usage became official, although Ferdinand I (1458–94) preferred the simple title King of Sicily (rex Sicilie).

By the late Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Sicily citra Farum had become known colloquially as the Kingdom of Naples (regnum Neapolitanum or regno di Napoli). It was sometimes even called the regno di Puglia, the kingdom of Apulia. In the 18th century, the Neapolitan intellectual Giuseppe Maria Galanti argued that Apulia was the true “national” name of the kingdom. By the time of Alfonso the Magnanimous, the two kingdoms were sufficiently distinct that they were no longer seen as divisions of a single kingdom. Despite being repeatedly in personal union, they remained administratively separate. In 1816, the two kingdoms finally merged to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Anne of Brittany: Part III

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Anne of Brittany, Charles V of France, Charles VI of France, Duchy of Brittany, King Charles VIII of France, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Naples, Louis of Orleans, Louis XI of France, Pope Innocent VIII

Continuing our examination of Anne of Brittany, here is more information on her marriage to King Charles VIII of France.

At sunrise on December 6, 1491 the 14 year old Anne, Duchess of Brittany, married the 21 year old King Charles VIII of France. The marriage was solemnized in the Great Hall of the Château de Langeais. The wedding was concluded discreetly and in a near clandestine fashion because technically the marriage was illegal because the proxy marriage between Anne and Maximilian of Austria was still valid.

To resolves this dilemma Pope Innocent VIII annulled the by-proxy marriage between Anne and Maximilian in February 1492. A dispensation for the marriage with Charles VIII was also obtained because Charles VIII and Anne were related within the fourth degree of consanguinity and this was forbidden under Church law.

Anne and Charles VIII were paternal third cousins both direct descendants of Charles V of France. Charles VIII was a direct male line descendant of Charles V via the eldest son of son of Charles V, Charles VI. Anne was a direct descendant of Louis, Duke of Orleans, younger brother of Charles VI. The Duke of Orleans daughter, Margaret, was the mother of Francis II, Duke of Brittany, the father of Anne of Brittany.

The marriage between Anne and Charles stipulated in a contract that if one of them died, the surviving spouse would retain possession of Brittany. The contract further stated that if Charles VIII died without male heirs, Anne would marry his successor. These conditions were proposed to insure the French kings would eventually, and permanently, annex Brittany.

Anne’s marriage contract, which heavily favored France, mentioned that these lopsided provisions were to ensure peace between the Duchy of Brittany and the Kingdom of France. Anne granted Charles VIII the right to be her her representative. Anne was crowned Queen of France at St. Denis Basilica on February 8, 1492 and she was the first Queen crowned and consecrated there. One slight to her dignity was that Charles VIII forbade her to use her title of Duchess of Brittany. This issue became a bone of contention between the two.

Anne of Brittany had a limited role in both France and Brittany. However, her role did mean she was frequently separated from her children in infancy. Her primary residences were in the royal castles of Amboise, Loches and Plessis or in the towns of Lyon. In 1494 She became Queen Consort of Naples and Jerusalem during the conquest of Naples by Charles VIII when he became king of Naples Italy. As Queen of Naples, Anne lived in the palaces of Grenoble or Moulins when the king was in Italy. At Amboise, when Charles VIII had work, she mainly resided in the nearby Clos Lucé, the future home of Leonardo da Vinci.

Charles VIII died as the result of a unfortunate accident on April 4, 1498. While on his way to watch a game of jeu de paume (real tennis) in Amboise he struck his head on the lintel of a door. At around 2pm, while returning from the game, he fell into a sudden coma, and died nine hours later, perhaps of a subdural hematoma. Charles VIII had reigned for 15 years and was only 27 years old. He left no heir and the throne was passed to Louis of Orleans who became King Louis XII of France. Louis XII was the son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, and a great-grandson of King Charles V of France.

Queen Anne was 21 years old and without surviving children. She now reassumed her position as reigning Duchess of Brittany and personally took charge of the administration of the Duchy. She restored the faithful Philippe de Montauban to the chancellery of Brittany, named Jean de Châlon, the Prince of Orange, as Hereditary Lieutenant General of Brittany. Anne convened the Estates of Brittany, and ordered production of a new gold coin bearing her name and likeness.

Issue

Her marriage with Charles VIII of France produced seven pregnancies:

Tomb of Charles Orland and Charles, two sons of Anne and Charles VIII at Tours Cathedral.

* Charles Orland, Dauphin of France (11 October 1492 – 16 December 1495). Her only healthy son, he died of the measles when three years old. Buried at Tours Cathedral.

* Francis (August 1493). Anne had become pregnant in late 1492/early 1493, but travelled with her husband from castle to castle; she went into labour during a drive in the forest of Courcelles, and the child was premature and stillborn. Buried at Notre-Dame de Cléry.

* Stillborn daughter (March 1494). In her third pregnancy, Anne avoided travel (instead residing in Amboise near the Dauphin). However, in February 1494 she accompanied the king to Lyon, where he was preparing to depart for the Italian Wars. After arriving on 15 March, she attended all of the ceremonies; the stress of the occasion caused her to go into premature labour, and the child was stillborn.

* Stillborn daughter (March 1495). She had become pregnant again in late 1494, but lost the child soon after.

* Charles, Dauphin of France (8 September 1496 – 2 October 1496). His death prompted Anne to withdraw temporarily to Moulins in despair. Buried at Tours Cathedral.

* Francis, Dauphin of France (July 1497). He died several hours after his birth. Buried at Tours Cathedral.

* Anne of France (20 March 1498). She died on the day of her birth at Château de Plessis-lez-Tours. Buried at Tours Cathedral.