Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Regno delle Due Sicilie (it)
Bandiera del Regno di Sicilia 4.svg
Bandera de Nápoles - Trastámara.svg
1861 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg
Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg Great Royal Coat of Arms of theTwo Sicilies.svg
Flag of the Two Sicilies Coat of arms
Inno al Re
(Hymn to the King)
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (green).
Capital Naples
Languages Italian, Sicilian, Neapolitan
Religion Roman Catholic
Government Absolute monarchy
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
 -  1816–1825 Ferdinand I
 - 1825–1830 Francis I
 - 1830–1859 Ferdinand II
 - 1859–1861 Francis II
Secretary of State
 - 1815-1816 Tommaso di Somma (first)
 - 1860-1861 Antonio Spinelli di Scalea (last)
 -  Established 12 December 1738
 -  Italian unification 12 February 1861
 -  1860 111,900 km² (43,205 sq mi)
 -  1860 est. 8,703,000 
     Density 77.8 /km²  (201.4 /sq mi)
Currency Two Sicilies ducat
Today part of Flag of Italy.svg Italy

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Neapolitan: Regno d"e Ddoje Sicilie, Sicilian: Regnu dî Dui Sicili, Italian: Regno delle Due Sicilie)[1] was the largest of the states of Italy before the Italian unification.[2] It was formed as a union of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples, which collectively had long been called the "Two Sicilies" (Utraque Sicilia, literally "both Sicilies").

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies lasted from 1816 until 1860, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which eventually became the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The capital of the Two Sicilies was in Naples and was commonly referred to in English as the "Kingdom of Naples". The kingdom extended over the Mezzogiorno (the southern part of mainland Italy) and the island of Sicily. Jordan Lancaster notes that the integration of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into the Kingdom of Italy changed the status of Naples forever: "Abject poverty meant that, throughout Naples and Southern Italy, thousands decided to leave in search of a better future." Many went to the United States, Australia and Argentina.[3] The kingdom was heavily agricultural, like the other Italian states;[4] the church owned 50–65% of the land by 1750.[5]


The name "Two Sicilies" originated from the division of the medieval Kingdom of Sicily. Until 1285, the island of Sicily and the Mezzogiorno each formed part of the Kingdom of Sicily. As a result of the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302),[6] the King of Sicily lost the island of Sicily (also called Trinacria) to the Crown of Aragon, but remained ruler over the peninsular part of the realm. Although his territory became known as the Kingdom of Naples, he and his successors never gave up the title of "King of Sicily" and they officially referred to their realm as the "Kingdom of Sicily". At the same time, the Aragonese rulers of the island of Sicily called their realm the "Kingdom of Sicily" as well. Thus, formally, there were two kingdoms calling themselves "Sicily":[6] hence, the Two Sicilies.


Establishment of the Kingdom of the Two SiciliesEdit


In 1501, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, son of John II, conquered Naples and reunified the two kingdoms under the authority of the newly united Spanish throne. The Kings of Spain then bore the title King of Both Sicilies[7] or King of Sicily and of the Two Coasts of the Strait until the War of the Spanish Succession. At the end of that war, the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 granted Sicily to the Duke of Savoy until the Treaty of Rastatt in 1714 left Naples to the Emperor Charles VI. In 1720 the Emperor and Savoy exchanged Sicily for Sardinia, thus reuniting Naples and Sicily.





Origins of the two kingdomsEdit

Chapelle Palatine

Cappella Palatina, church of first unifier Roger II of Sicily.


The state existed in that form from 1130 until 1285. In the reign of the Capetian House of Anjou during king Charles I's rule, the kingdom was split by the War of the Sicilian Vespers.[6] Charles, who was of French origin, lost Sicily properly to the House of Barcelona, who were Aragonese and Catalan, after they were able to gain the support of the natives. Charles remained king over the peninsular part of the realm, thereafter informally known as the Kingdom of Naples. Officially Charles never gave up the title of "The Kingdom of Sicily" thus having two kingdoms calling themselves "Sicily".[6]

Aragonese and Spanish direct ruleEdit

Imperi de la Corona d&#039;Aragó

Crown of Aragon, greatest extent

It was not until the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, sponsored by Pope Boniface VIII, that the two kings of "Sicily" recognized each other's legitimacy; the island kingdom then became the "Kingdom of Trinacria" in an official context, though the populace still called it Sicily.[6] Eventually by 1442 the Angevin line of the Kings of Naples was coming to an end. Alfonso V of Aragon, king of insular Sicily, conquered Naples and became king of both.

Alfonso V described the geographical area in Latin as Utriusque Siciliæ, meaning "of both Sicilies", which is the title he used.[11] After the death of Alfonso, both remained under direct rule from the Crown of Aragon, but Naples had a different Aragonese king from the island of Sicily from 1458 until 1501. For a brief period Naples was controlled by a different power other than Sicily, in the form of French king Louis XII of France who took the mainland kingdom and held it for around three years. After the Battle of Garigliano led by last Aragonese king Ferdinand II of Aragon, the two areas were once again under control of the same power and exactly the same king.

From 1516 when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor became the first King of Spain, both Naples and Sicily were under direct Spanish rule. It was during this era that Charles V granted the islands of Malta and Gozo, which had been part of the Kingdom of Sicily for four centuries, to the Knights Hospitaller (thereafter known as the Order of Malta). The period of direct Spanish rule under the same line of kings lasted until 1713, when Spain and both Sicilies passed to Philip, duke of Anjou, who founded the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon. Briefly interrupted by an eight year spell of Savoy rule in Sicily, the two kingdoms fell under the same king after the Treaty of The Hague, for Austrian king Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor was named ruler.


Crowns' UnificationEdit

Ferdinand IV of Naples

Ferdinand I




Joachim Murat.

Eight years later, Napoleon conquered the peninsular portion of the kingdom during the War of the Third Coalition and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the thrown as king.[14]


Back on the mainland, Joachim Murat had become the second Bonapartist king. In the Edict of Bayonne he was named as "King of the Two Sicilies",[8] though de facto he never actually held the island of Sicily where Ferdinand was, and is usually referred to as just the King of Naples.[16] Murat actually switched sides for a while, abandoning the Grand Army after the disastrous Battle of Leipzig in an attempt to save his Neapolitan throne. However, as the Congress of Vienna progressed, tensions arose as there was strong pressure to restore Ferdinand to the Neapolitan kingdom as well as keeping his Sicilian one.[14] Murat returned to Napoleon and together they declared war on the Austrian Empire, leading to the Neapolitan War in March 1815. Ferdinand and his allies Austria, Britain and Tuscany were victorious, restoring him to his Neapolitan throne. To avoid further French attempts, it was agreed at the Congress of Vienna that Ferdinand would reunite his kingdom.

Invasion by SardiniaEdit





Provincie duosiciliane

Map of the provinces and districts of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The peninsula was divided into fifteen departments[17] and Sicily was divided into seven departments.[18] The island itself had a special administrative status, with its base at Palermo. In 1860, when the Two Sicilies were conquered by the Kingdom of Sardinia, the departments became provinces of Italy, according to the Rattazzi law.




According to Francesco Saverio Nitti writing in the 1890s, the kingdom had 443.3 million golden lire (about 65.7% of all the money circulating in the peninsula), more than the other Italian states. However, according to some historians, this was the poorest region of Italy for the inhabitants.[19]



In Calabria were located the Fonderia Ferdinandea was a large foundry where cast iron was produced. The Reali ferriere ed Officine di Mongiana was an iron foundry and weapons factory. Founded in 1770, it employed 1600 workers in 1860 and closed in 1880. In Sicily (near Catania and Agrigento), there sulphur was mined for gunpowder. The Sicilian mines were able to satisfy most of the sulphur world demand. Silk cloth production was focused in San Leucio (near Caserta). The region of Basilicata also had several mills in Potenza and San Chirico Raparo, where cotton, wool and silk were processed. Food processing was widespread especially near Naples (Torre Annunziata and Gragnano); much pasta was exported.


Italia ferrovie 1861.03.17

Rail lines in Italy in 1861

Italia ferrovie 1870 09 20

Rail lines in Italy in 1870


Technological and scientific achievementsEdit



Kings of the Two SiciliesEdit

Ferdinand i twosicilies
Ferdinand I

Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Francis I

Fernando II de las Dos Sicilias 2
Ferdinand II

Francis II


Titles of King of the Two SiciliesEdit


The House of Bourbon in exileEdit

Some Sovereigns continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the exiled Court, including the Emperor of Austria, the Kings of Bavaria, Württemberg and Hanover, the Queen of Spain, the Emperor of Russia, and the Papacy.


Two Sicilies Royal Family
Coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies



The laws of the deposed Sicilian dynasty and Spain's Pragmatic Decree required a renunciation to prevent a union of the Crown of the Two Sicilies in the person of the King of Spain or his heir apparent, which could have happened in the event of a restoration, however unlikely. Most theories advanced to suggest that the 1900 renunciation was in some way unnecessary have been formulated long after the fact.

Calabria lineEdit



Castro lineEdit



Current lines of successionEdit

Flags of the Kingdom of the Two SiciliesEdit

Arms of the flag of two sicilies


Orders of knighthoodEdit

Further readingEdit

See alsoEdit


  1. ^ Swinburne, Henry. Travels in the Two Sicilies (1790). British Library. 
  2. ^ De Sangro, Michele (2003) (in it). I Borboni nel Regno delle Due Sicilie. Lecce: Edizioni Caponi. 
  4. ^ Nicola Zitara. "La legge di Archimede: L'accumulazione selvaggia nell'Italia unificata e la nascita del colonialismo interno" (in Italian). Eleaml-Fora!. 
  6. ^ a b c d e "Sicilian History". 7 October 2007. 
  8. ^ a b Colletta, Pietro. History of the Kingdom of Naples (1858). University of Michigan. 
  9. ^ "The Battle of Tolentino > Joachim Murat". 7 October 2007. 
  11. ^ "Alfonso V, or Alfonso el Magnánimo". 7 October 2007. 
  13. ^ "The Parthenopean Republic". 7 October 2007. 
  16. ^ "Joachim Murat,". 7 October 2007. 
  17. ^ Pompilio Petitti (1851) (in Italian). Repertorio amministrativo ossia collezione di leggi, decreti, reali rescritti ecc. sull'amministrazione civile del Regno delle Due Sicilie, vol. 1. Napoli: Stabilimento Migliaccio. p. 1. 
  19. ^ Collier, Martin (2003): Italian Unification, 1820-71, Heinemann Advanced History; ISBN 0435327542, pg. 6
  20. ^ Sainty, Guy Stair. "". The Two Sicilies Succession. Guy Stair Sainty. Archived from the original on 06 February 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2015. 

Further readingEdit


External linksEdit

Template:The Bourbons of Naples and Sicily (1735–1816) Template:Sicily

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

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