Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples
, Sicily
, and the Two Sicilies
from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain
(also King of Naples and Sicily) by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony
. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI
, as King Charles III of Spain. Treaty provisions made Charles unable to hold all three crowns. On 6 October 1759, he abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand (Charles's eldest son Philip was mentally retarded and the second son, Charles
, was destined to inherit the Spanish throne).
On 23 January 1799, the Kingdom of Naples
was declared to be abolished and replaced by the Parthenopaean Republic
which only lasted until 13 June 1799. Ferdinand was restored to the throne for a while. On 26 December 1805, Napoleon I of France
declared Ferdinand deposed again and replaced him with his own brother Joseph Bonaparte
on 30 March 1806.
Ferdinand was restored for a third time by right of the Austrian victory at the Battle of Tolentino
(3 March 1815) over rival monarch
King Joachim I
. On 8 March 1816 he merged the thrones of Sicily and Naples to the throne of the Two Sicilies. He continued to rule until his death on 4 January 1825.
. Ferdinand grew up seeing the expansion and cultivation of his father's domains. His parents left many of the monuments in Naples which can be seen today; the Palaces of Portici
, Caserta
and Capodimonte
.
Ferdinand was his parents' third son. As a result, he was not groomed to be the ruler of Naples and Sicily; that position was to be filled by Prince Charles
. Ferdinand's older sister was Princess Maria Luisa
; she was the future wife of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
.
When his father ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, Ferdinand, in accordance with the treaties forbidding the union of the two crowns, succeeded him as king of Naples following his abdication, under a regency
presided over by the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci
. The latter, an able, ambitious man, wishing to keep the government as much as possible in his own hands, purposely neglected the young king's education, and encouraged him in his love of pleasure, his idleness and his excessive devotion to outdoor sports.
Ferdinand grew up athletic, but ignorant and ill-bred. He delighted in the company of the lazzaroni
, the common citizens of the city, whose dialect and habits he affected. An avid sportsman, he often hunted and fished, even selling his catch in the market place, after haggling over the price, though then giving his profits to the poor. How much of Ferdinand's behavior was calculated is hard to determine.
Although poorly educated, he was apparently intelligent and often displayed considerable insight, once remarking that, like children, Naples was best ruled by "sticks and sweets."
Ferdinand's minority ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of the Jesuits
. The following year he married Archduchess Maria Carolina
, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. By the marriage contract the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, and she was not slow to avail herself of this means of political influence.
Beautiful, clever and proud, like her mother, her ambition was to raise the kingdom of Naples to the position of a great power; she soon came to exercise complete sway over her husband, who much preferred to leave the government in her hands.
Tanucci, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777, and the Englishman Sir John Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, succeeded in so completely winning the favour of Maria Carolina, by supporting her in her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence and securing a rapprochement with Austria and Great Britain, that he became practically and afterward actually prime minister. Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was largely responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system of espionage, corruption and cruelty.
On the outbreak of the French Revolution
in 1789 the Neapolitan court was not hostile to the movement, and the Queen even sympathised with the revolutionary ideas of the day. However, when King Louis XVI
and Maria Carolina's sister Queen Marie Antoinette were executed following the abolishment of the monarchy, Ferdinand and Maria Carolina were seized with a feeling of fear and horror and joined the first coalition
against France in 1793.
, whose troops occupied Rome, alarmed the king once more, and at his wife's instigation he took advantage of Napoleon's absence in Egypt
and of Nelson's victories to go to war. He marched with his army against the French and entered Rome (29 November), but on the defeat of some of his columns he hurried back to Naples, and on the approach of the French, fled on board Nelson's ship the to Sicily, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy. Sadly, while on the ship Ferdinand lost his son Prince Albert who died on board on 25 December 1798 aged just 6.
The French entered the city in spite of the fierce resistance of the lazzaroni
, and with the aid of the nobles and bourgeois established the Parthenopaean Republic (January 1799). When a few weeks later the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force, under Cardinal Ruffo
, to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church and the pro-Bourbon aristocracy was completely successful, and reached Naples in May 1800, and the Parthenopaean Republic collapsed. After few months King Ferdinand returned to the throne.
The king, and above all the queen, were particularly anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executed Antoinette
) made use of Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress, to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.
{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=100% align="center"
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! style="background:#ccccff;"|Family of Ferdinand I in 1783
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, which continued until the French successes forced him to agree to a treaty which included amnesty for members of the French party. When war broke out between France and Austria in 1805, Ferdinand signed a treaty of neutrality with the former, but a few days later he allied himself with Austria and allowed an Anglo-Russian force to land at Naples (see Third Coalition
).
The French victory at the Battle of Austerlitz
on 2 December enabled Napoleon to despatch an army to southern Italy. Ferdinand with his usual precipitation fled to Palermo
(23 January 1806), followed soon after by his wife and son, and on 14 February 1806 the French again entered Naples. Napoleon declared that the Bourbon
dynasty had forfeited the crown, and proclaimed his brother Joseph
King of Naples and Sicily. But Ferdinand continued to reign over the latter kingdom (becoming the first King of Sicily in centuries to actually reside there) under British protection. Parliamentary institutions of a feudal type had long existed in the island, and Lord William Bentinck
, the British minister, insisted on a reform of the constitution on English and French lines. The king indeed practically abdicated his power, appointing his son Francis regent, and the queen, at Bentinck's insistence, was exile
d to Austria, where she died in 1814.
, who had succeeded Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples in 1808, was dethroned in the Neapolitan War
, and Ferdinand returned to Naples. By a secret treaty he had bound himself not to advance further in a constitutional direction than Austria should at any time approve; but, though on the whole he acted in accordance with Metternich
's policy of preserving the status quo, and maintained with but slight change Murat's laws and administrative system, he took advantage of the situation to abolish the Sicilian constitution, in violation of his oath, and to proclaim the union of the two states into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (12 December 1816).
Ferdinand was now completely subservient to Austria, an Austrian, Count Nugent, being even made commander-in-chief of the army. For the next four years he reigned as an absolute monarch within his domain, granting no constitutional reforms.
, which in time affected a large part of the army. In July 1820 a military revolt broke out under General Guglielmo Pepe
, and Ferdinand was terrorised into signing a constitution on the model of the Spanish Constitution of 1812
. On the other hand, a revolt in Sicily, in favour of the recovery of its independence, was suppressed by Neapolitan troops.
The success of the military revolution at Naples seriously alarmed the powers of the Holy Alliance
, who feared that it might spread to other Italian states and so lead to a general European conflagration, which it was their main preoccupation to avoid. After long diplomatic negotiations, it was decided to hold a congress at Troppau (October 1820). The main results of this congress were the issue of the famous Troppau Protocol, signed by Austria, Prussia
and Russia only, and an invitation to King Ferdinand to attend the adjourned Congress of Laibach
(1821), an invitation of which the United Kingdom approved "as implying negotiation". At Laibach Ferdinand played so sorry a part as to provoke the contempt of those whose policy it was to re-establish him in absolute power.
He had twice sworn, with gratuitous solemnity, to maintain the new constitution; but he was hardly out of Naples before he repudiated his oaths and, in letters addressed to all the sovereigns of Europe, declared his acts to have been null and void. An attitude so indecent threatened to defeat the very objects of the reactionary powers, and Friedrich von Gentz
congratulated the congress that these sorry protests would be buried in the archives, offering at the same time to write for the king a dignified letter in which he should express his reluctance at having to violate his oaths in the face of irresistible force. But, under these circumstances, Metternich had no difficulty in persuading the king to allow an Austrian army to march into Naples "to restore order".
The campaign that followed did little credit either to the Austrians or the Neapolitans. The latter, commanded by General Pepe, who made no attempt to defend the difficult defile
s of the Abruzzi, were defeated, after a half-hearted struggle at Rieti
(7 March 1821), and the Austrians entered Naples. The parliament was now dismissed, and Ferdinand inaugurated an era of savage persecution, supported by spies and informers, against the Liberals and Carbonari, the Austrian commandant in vain protesting against the savagery which his presence alone rendered possible.
Ferdinand died in Naples in January 1825.
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
, and the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
(also King of Naples and Sicily) by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony
Maria Amalia of Saxony
Maria Amalia of Saxony was a German princess from the House of Wettin and was the wife of Charles III of Spain; she was the Queen consort of Naples and Sicily from 1738 till 1759 and then Queen consort of Spain from 1759 until her death in 1760...
. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI
Ferdinand VI of Spain
Ferdinand VI , called the Learnt, was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death. He was the fourth son of the previous monarch Philip V and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy...
, as King Charles III of Spain. Treaty provisions made Charles unable to hold all three crowns. On 6 October 1759, he abdicated in favour of his son Ferdinand (Charles's eldest son Philip was mentally retarded and the second son, Charles
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
, was destined to inherit the Spanish throne).
Styles
Ferdinand was styled both Ferdinand III of Sicily (6 October 1759 – 8 December 1816) and Ferdinand IV of Naples (6 October 1759 – 23 January 1799; 13 June 1799 – 30 March 1806; 3 May 1815 – 8 December 1816).On 23 January 1799, the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
was declared to be abolished and replaced by the Parthenopaean Republic
Parthenopaean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic was a French-supported republic in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, formed during the French Revolutionary Wars after King Ferdinand IV fled before advancing French troops...
which only lasted until 13 June 1799. Ferdinand was restored to the throne for a while. On 26 December 1805, Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
declared Ferdinand deposed again and replaced him with his own brother Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
on 30 March 1806.
Ferdinand was restored for a third time by right of the Austrian victory at the Battle of Tolentino
Battle of Tolentino
The Battle of Tolentino was fought on 2 – 3 May 1815 near Tolentino, in what is now Marche, Italy: it was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War, fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples Joachim Murat to keep the throne after the Congress of Vienna. The battle itself shares many parallels with...
(3 March 1815) over rival monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
King Joachim I
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
. On 8 March 1816 he merged the thrones of Sicily and Naples to the throne of the Two Sicilies. He continued to rule until his death on 4 January 1825.
Childhood
Prince Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily was born in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. Ferdinand grew up seeing the expansion and cultivation of his father's domains. His parents left many of the monuments in Naples which can be seen today; the Palaces of Portici
Palace of Portici
The Royal Palace of Portici is a former royal palace in Portici, southern Italy. Today it is the home of the Orto Botanico di Portici. The Botanic Gardens are operated by the University of Naples Federico II...
, Caserta
Caserta Palace
The Royal Palace of Caserta is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed for the Bourbon kings of Naples. It was the largest palace and one of the largest buildings erected in Europe during the 18th century...
and Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte
The National Museum of Capodimonte is located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important Ancient Roman...
.
Ferdinand was his parents' third son. As a result, he was not groomed to be the ruler of Naples and Sicily; that position was to be filled by Prince Charles
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
. Ferdinand's older sister was Princess Maria Luisa
Maria Luisa of Spain
Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary as the spouse of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Names:...
; she was the future wife of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
.
When his father ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, Ferdinand, in accordance with the treaties forbidding the union of the two crowns, succeeded him as king of Naples following his abdication, under a regency
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
presided over by the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci
Bernardo Tanucci
Bernardo Tanucci was an Italian statesman, who brought enlightened government to the backward Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for Charles III and his son Ferdinand IV.-Biography:...
. The latter, an able, ambitious man, wishing to keep the government as much as possible in his own hands, purposely neglected the young king's education, and encouraged him in his love of pleasure, his idleness and his excessive devotion to outdoor sports.
Ferdinand grew up athletic, but ignorant and ill-bred. He delighted in the company of the lazzaroni
Naples Lazzaroni
The Naples Lazzaroni is used as a generic term to include various kinds of the lower class people in Naples, Italy. Described as "street people under a chief", they were often depicted as "beggars"—which some actually were, while others subsisted partly by service as messengers, porters, etc.No...
, the common citizens of the city, whose dialect and habits he affected. An avid sportsman, he often hunted and fished, even selling his catch in the market place, after haggling over the price, though then giving his profits to the poor. How much of Ferdinand's behavior was calculated is hard to determine.
Although poorly educated, he was apparently intelligent and often displayed considerable insight, once remarking that, like children, Naples was best ruled by "sticks and sweets."
Reign
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. The following year he married Archduchess Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina of Austria
Maria Carolina of Austria was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her...
, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa. By the marriage contract the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, and she was not slow to avail herself of this means of political influence.
Beautiful, clever and proud, like her mother, her ambition was to raise the kingdom of Naples to the position of a great power; she soon came to exercise complete sway over her husband, who much preferred to leave the government in her hands.
Tanucci, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777, and the Englishman Sir John Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, succeeded in so completely winning the favour of Maria Carolina, by supporting her in her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence and securing a rapprochement with Austria and Great Britain, that he became practically and afterward actually prime minister. Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was largely responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system of espionage, corruption and cruelty.
On the outbreak of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in 1789 the Neapolitan court was not hostile to the movement, and the Queen even sympathised with the revolutionary ideas of the day. However, when King Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and Maria Carolina's sister Queen Marie Antoinette were executed following the abolishment of the monarchy, Ferdinand and Maria Carolina were seized with a feeling of fear and horror and joined the first coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
against France in 1793.
French occupation and Parthenopaean Republic
Although peace was made with France in 1796, the demands of the French DirectoryFrench Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
, whose troops occupied Rome, alarmed the king once more, and at his wife's instigation he took advantage of Napoleon's absence in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and of Nelson's victories to go to war. He marched with his army against the French and entered Rome (29 November), but on the defeat of some of his columns he hurried back to Naples, and on the approach of the French, fled on board Nelson's ship the to Sicily, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy. Sadly, while on the ship Ferdinand lost his son Prince Albert who died on board on 25 December 1798 aged just 6.
The French entered the city in spite of the fierce resistance of the lazzaroni
Naples Lazzaroni
The Naples Lazzaroni is used as a generic term to include various kinds of the lower class people in Naples, Italy. Described as "street people under a chief", they were often depicted as "beggars"—which some actually were, while others subsisted partly by service as messengers, porters, etc.No...
, and with the aid of the nobles and bourgeois established the Parthenopaean Republic (January 1799). When a few weeks later the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force, under Cardinal Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
, to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church and the pro-Bourbon aristocracy was completely successful, and reached Naples in May 1800, and the Parthenopaean Republic collapsed. After few months King Ferdinand returned to the throne.
The king, and above all the queen, were particularly anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executed Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
) made use of Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress, to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.
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! style="background:#ccccff;"|Family of Ferdinand I in 1783
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Third Coalition
The king returned to Naples soon afterwards, and ordered wholesale arrests and executions of supposed LiberalsLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, which continued until the French successes forced him to agree to a treaty which included amnesty for members of the French party. When war broke out between France and Austria in 1805, Ferdinand signed a treaty of neutrality with the former, but a few days later he allied himself with Austria and allowed an Anglo-Russian force to land at Naples (see Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition was a conflict which spanned from 1803 to 1806. It saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I...
).
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
on 2 December enabled Napoleon to despatch an army to southern Italy. Ferdinand with his usual precipitation fled to Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
(23 January 1806), followed soon after by his wife and son, and on 14 February 1806 the French again entered Naples. Napoleon declared that the Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
dynasty had forfeited the crown, and proclaimed his brother Joseph
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
King of Naples and Sicily. But Ferdinand continued to reign over the latter kingdom (becoming the first King of Sicily in centuries to actually reside there) under British protection. Parliamentary institutions of a feudal type had long existed in the island, and Lord William Bentinck
Lord William Bentinck
Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck GCB, GCH, PC , known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman...
, the British minister, insisted on a reform of the constitution on English and French lines. The king indeed practically abdicated his power, appointing his son Francis regent, and the queen, at Bentinck's insistence, was exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
d to Austria, where she died in 1814.
Restoration
After the fall of Napoleon, Joachim MuratJoachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
, who had succeeded Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples in 1808, was dethroned in the Neapolitan War
Neapolitan War
The Neapolitan War was a conflict between the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples and the Austrian Empire. It started on 15 March 1815 when Joachim Murat declared war on Austria and ended on 20 May 1815 with the signing of the Treaty of Casalanza...
, and Ferdinand returned to Naples. By a secret treaty he had bound himself not to advance further in a constitutional direction than Austria should at any time approve; but, though on the whole he acted in accordance with Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
's policy of preserving the status quo, and maintained with but slight change Murat's laws and administrative system, he took advantage of the situation to abolish the Sicilian constitution, in violation of his oath, and to proclaim the union of the two states into the kingdom of the Two Sicilies (12 December 1816).
Ferdinand was now completely subservient to Austria, an Austrian, Count Nugent, being even made commander-in-chief of the army. For the next four years he reigned as an absolute monarch within his domain, granting no constitutional reforms.
1820 revolution
The suppression of liberal opinion caused an alarming spread of the influence and activity of the secret society of the CarbonariCarbonari
The Carbonari were groups of secret revolutionary societies founded in early 19th-century Italy. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in Spain, France, Portugal and possibly Russia. Although their goals often had a patriotic and liberal focus, they lacked a...
, which in time affected a large part of the army. In July 1820 a military revolt broke out under General Guglielmo Pepe
Guglielmo Pepe
Guglielmo Pepe was an Italian general and patriot. He was brother to Florestano Pepe and cousin to Gabriele Pepe. He married to Marianne Coventry, a Scottish woman.-Biography:Pepe was born at Squillace in Calabria....
, and Ferdinand was terrorised into signing a constitution on the model of the Spanish Constitution of 1812
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
. On the other hand, a revolt in Sicily, in favour of the recovery of its independence, was suppressed by Neapolitan troops.
The success of the military revolution at Naples seriously alarmed the powers of the Holy Alliance
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Paris on September 26, 1815, in the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon.Ostensibly it was to instill the Christian values of...
, who feared that it might spread to other Italian states and so lead to a general European conflagration, which it was their main preoccupation to avoid. After long diplomatic negotiations, it was decided to hold a congress at Troppau (October 1820). The main results of this congress were the issue of the famous Troppau Protocol, signed by Austria, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Russia only, and an invitation to King Ferdinand to attend the adjourned Congress of Laibach
Congress of Laibach
The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives, held in 1821 as part of the so-called Concert of Europe, which was the decided attempt of the Great Powers to settle international problems after the Napoleonic Wars through discussion and collective weight...
(1821), an invitation of which the United Kingdom approved "as implying negotiation". At Laibach Ferdinand played so sorry a part as to provoke the contempt of those whose policy it was to re-establish him in absolute power.
He had twice sworn, with gratuitous solemnity, to maintain the new constitution; but he was hardly out of Naples before he repudiated his oaths and, in letters addressed to all the sovereigns of Europe, declared his acts to have been null and void. An attitude so indecent threatened to defeat the very objects of the reactionary powers, and Friedrich von Gentz
Friedrich von Gentz
Friedrich von Gentz was a German publicist and statesman.-Early years:Gentz was born at Breslau.His father was an official, his mother distantly related to the Prussian minister Friedrich Ancillon...
congratulated the congress that these sorry protests would be buried in the archives, offering at the same time to write for the king a dignified letter in which he should express his reluctance at having to violate his oaths in the face of irresistible force. But, under these circumstances, Metternich had no difficulty in persuading the king to allow an Austrian army to march into Naples "to restore order".
The campaign that followed did little credit either to the Austrians or the Neapolitans. The latter, commanded by General Pepe, who made no attempt to defend the difficult defile
Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
s of the Abruzzi, were defeated, after a half-hearted struggle at Rieti
Rieti
Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River...
(7 March 1821), and the Austrians entered Naples. The parliament was now dismissed, and Ferdinand inaugurated an era of savage persecution, supported by spies and informers, against the Liberals and Carbonari, the Austrian commandant in vain protesting against the savagery which his presence alone rendered possible.
Ferdinand died in Naples in January 1825.
Ancestry
Titles and styles
- January 12, 1751 – August 10, 1759 His Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
Prince Ferdinand of Naples and Sicily, Infante of Spain - August 10, 1759 – September 8, 1814 His MajestyMajestyMajesty is an English word derived ultimately from the Latin maiestas, meaning "greatness".- Origin :Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else...
the King of Naples and Sicily- January 12, 1799 to 13 June 1799 Titular King of Naples and Sicily
- 26 May 1805–1814 Titular King of Naples and Sicily
- 12 December 1816 – 4 January 1825 His MajestyMajestyMajesty is an English word derived ultimately from the Latin maiestas, meaning "greatness".- Origin :Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else...
the King of the Two Sicilies
Honours
12 January 1751 Knight of the Insigne e reale ordine di San Gennaro- 12 January 1751 Created Knight of the Order of the Golden FleeceOrder of the Golden FleeceThe Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
- 24 February 1808 Created Grand Master (and Knight) of the Royal Order of the Two Sicilies
- 10 August 1759 Created Grand Master of the Military order of Saint GeorgeSacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint GeorgeThe Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry. It was fictively established by Constantine the Great, though in reality it was founded between 1520 and 1545 by two brothers of the Angeli Comneni family. Members of the Angeli Comneni family remained...
- 1 April 1800 Created Grand Master (and Knight) of the Illustrious Royal Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit