Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Encyclopedia
Don Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain (Full Italian
name: Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi, Principe di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Infante di Spagna) (10 November 1870, Gries
, Bolzano, Italy
– 11 November 1949, Seville
, Spain
) was the son of Prince Alfonso of the Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta
and his wife Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and nephew of the last King of the Two Sicilies
, Francis II
.
, Carlos married Mercedes, Princess of Asturias
, elder daughter of the late King Alfonso XII of Spain
and of his wife Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria
. Mercedes was the elder sister and heiress presumptive to King Alfonso XIII of Spain
, an unmarried teenager. A week before the wedding, on 7 February, Carlos was given the title, Infante of Spain.
Carlos and Mercedes had three children:
Mercedes died in childbirth in 1904.
In 1907, Carlos married secondly to Princess Louise of Orléans
, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris. The couple had four children:
Prince Carlos's descendants include the King of Spain (King Juan Carlos), the present Duke of Calabria
(Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
) and the present Brazilian Imperial Family.
in the Spanish–American War and received the Military Order of Maria Cristina. Eventually he rose to the rank of Inspector General
.
He was the 1,099th Knight
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
in Spain
in 1901 and the 280th Grand Cross
of the Order of the Tower and Sword
.
. On marrying his first wife, Carlos renounced his rights of succession to the Crown of Two Sicilies on 14 December 1900. In 1960, Carlos's older brother Ferdinand
died without male issue, and Carlos' son Alfonso reclaimed his rights. However, Carlos's younger brother Ranieri
objected and also claimed rights based on the renunciation of 1900. The dispute is still not resolved. While most royal houses in Europe recognize the claim of Ranieri's descendants, the Spanish Royal House recognizes the claim of Carlos's descendants.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
name: Carlo Maria Francesco d'Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Alfonso Andrea Avelino Tancredi, Principe di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, Infante di Spagna) (10 November 1870, Gries
Gries
Gries may refer to:* Gries am Brenner, a municipality in Tyrol, Austria* Gries, Bas-Rhin, a municipality in the department Bas-Rhin, France* Gries im Sellrain, a municipality in Tyrol, Austria* Gries, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Bolzano, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
– 11 November 1949, Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) was the son of Prince Alfonso of the Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta
Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
Prince Alfonso Maria Giuseppe Alberto of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta was the third son of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria....
and his wife Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and nephew of the last King of 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...
, Francis II
Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Francis II , was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as successive invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia ultimately brought an end to his rule, and marked the first major event of Italian unification...
.
Marriages and children
On 14 February 1901 in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Carlos married Mercedes, Princess of Asturias
Mercedes, Princess of Asturias
Infanta María de las Mercedes of Spain , Princess of the Asturias, for all 24 years of her life the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Spain, was the eldest daughter of King Alfonso XII of Spain and his second wife, Maria Christina of Austria.For a period from...
, elder daughter of the late King Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...
and of his wife Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria
Maria Christina of Austria
Maria Christina of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain...
. Mercedes was the elder sister and heiress presumptive to King Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...
, an unmarried teenager. A week before the wedding, on 7 February, Carlos was given the title, Infante of Spain.
Carlos and Mercedes had three children:
- Don Alfonso, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Infante of SpainInfante Alfonso, Duke of CalabriaInfante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria was one of two claimants to the title of the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies from 1960 until his death in 1964...
(1901–1964). - Fernando (1903–1905), died in San SebastiánSan SebastiánDonostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
one year after his mother's death. - Doña Isabella Alfonsa, Princess of the Two Sicilies, Infanta of SpainPrincess Isabel Alfonsa of Bourbon-Two SiciliesPrincess Isabel Alfonsa Maria Teresa Antonia Cristina Mercedes Carolina Adelaide Raphaela of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infanta of Spain, was a member of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and a Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies by birth...
(1904–1985). Married Count Jan Kanty Zamoyski (1900–1961) and had issue.
Mercedes died in childbirth in 1904.
In 1907, Carlos married secondly to Princess Louise of Orléans
Princess Louise of Orléans
Louise d'Orléans was a Princess of the Two-Sicilies and maternal grandmother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain....
, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris. The couple had four children:
- Don Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1908–1936). Killed in the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. - Doña Maria de los Dolores of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1909–1996). In 1937, she married Prince Augustyn Józef CzartoryskiAugustyn Józef CzartoryskiPrince Augustyn Józef Czartoryski was a Polish noble . He was the son of Prince Adam Ludwik Czartoryski and Countess Maria Ludwika Krasińska....
(1907–1946) and had one surviving son, AdamAdam Karol CzartoryskiPrince Adam Karol Jezus Maria Józef Franciszek Salezy and all the Saints Czartoryski, es. Adán Carlos Jesús María José Francisco de Sales y todos los Santos Czartoryski-Bórbon Krasinski y Orléans is a Polish-Spanish aristocrat, the creator of the Princes Czartoryski Foundation, and a patron of the...
. She remarried to Carlos Chias on 1950. - Doña María Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1910–2000) who married Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and became the mother of current reigning King Juan Carlos I of SpainJuan Carlos I of SpainJuan Carlos I |Italy]]) is the reigning King of Spain.On 22 November 1975, two days after the death of General Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was designated king according to the law of succession promulgated by Franco. Spain had no monarch for 38 years in 1969 when Franco named Juan Carlos as the...
. - Doña Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two SiciliesPrincess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two SiciliesPrincess Maria de la Esperanza Amalia Raniera Maria Rosario Luisa Gonzaga of Bourbon-Two Sicilies was the youngest daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and his wife Princess Louise of Orléans...
(1914–2005), who married Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-BraganzaPrince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-BraganzaPrince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza was one of two claimants to the Brazilian throne and head of the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian Imperial House.-Biography:Prince Pedro Gastão was the son of Prince Pedro de Alcântara...
.
Prince Carlos's descendants include the King of Spain (King Juan Carlos), the present Duke of Calabria
Duke of Calabria
Duke of Calabria was the traditional title of the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Naples after the accession of Robert of Naples. It was also adopted by the heads of certain Houses that had once claimed the Kingdom of Naples in lieu of the royal title....
(Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria
Infante Carlos of Spain, Prince of the Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, KOGF, KGCHS is the son of Don Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria and Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma .-Biography:Infante Carlos is one of two claimants of the dignity of...
) and the present Brazilian Imperial Family.
Military service
Carlos served in the Spanish ArmySpanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
in the Spanish–American War and received the Military Order of Maria Cristina. Eventually he rose to the rank of Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
.
He was the 1,099th Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The 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...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1901 and the 280th Grand Cross
Grand Cross
The phrase Grand Cross is used to denote the highest grade in many orders of knighthood. Sometimes the holders of the highest grade are referred to "knights grand cross" or just "grand crosses"; in other cases the actual insignia itself is called "the grand cross".Alternatively, in some other...
of the Order of the Tower and Sword
Order of the Tower and Sword
The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459....
.
Two Sicilies succession
In 1894, Carlos's father Alfonso became the Head of the House of Bourbon-Two SiciliesHouse of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
The House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a cadet Italian branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the Capetian dynasty in male line...
. On marrying his first wife, Carlos renounced his rights of succession to the Crown of Two Sicilies on 14 December 1900. In 1960, Carlos's older brother Ferdinand
Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria
Prince Ferdinand Pius , Duke of Calabria , was head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and pretender to the throne of the extinct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1934 to 1960....
died without male issue, and Carlos' son Alfonso reclaimed his rights. However, Carlos's younger brother Ranieri
Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro
Prince Ranieri Maria Gaetano, Duke of Castro was a claimant to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.-Biography:...
objected and also claimed rights based on the renunciation of 1900. The dispute is still not resolved. While most royal houses in Europe recognize the claim of Ranieri's descendants, the Spanish Royal House recognizes the claim of Carlos's descendants.