The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies existed from 1816 to 1861, formally created on 8 December 1816 when the Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples under Bourbon rule. Its capital was Palermo from 1816 to 1817 and then Naples, and it was governed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Bourbon dynasty. Covering southern Italy and Sicily across roughly 111,900 square kilometers by 1860, it was the largest sovereign state by population and land area in Italy before Italian unification, holding about 36 percent of Italy's population around 1850, and its capital Naples was Europe's third-largest city and Italy's largest. The kingdom fell in 1860 and 1861 when Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand conquered its territory; King Francis II abdicated in February 1861 after the Siege of Gaeta, a plebiscite approved annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed that March, completing the first phase of Italian unification.
Facts
Government TypeAbsolute monarchy (briefly constitutional, 1848-1849) 1 Briefly constitutional in 1848-1849 before reverting to absolute rule. Government type (class) Classification
Status (Extant or Former) FAQs
Why was it called the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies?
Because the island kingdom and the mainland Kingdom of Naples both claimed the title Kingdom of Sicily, and the merged state of 1816 took the name of both.
The name goes back to the medieval Kingdom of Sicily, which was split after the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282 to 1302). The island of Sicily passed to the Crown of Aragon, while the mainland part of the realm, known unofficially as the Kingdom of Naples, kept the official title Kingdom of Sicily. Both kingdoms were therefore named after Sicily and were collectively called the "Two Sicilies". When they were reunified in 1816, the new state adopted that name, in Latin Utraque Sicilia, meaning both Sicilies.
Connections
In Era
Source Wikipedia: Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
In the Other Atlases
Government Type
Also in Society and Culture Atlas: the government type of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
WikipediaIntroduction
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Italian: Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Bourbons.
Infobox
Absolute monarchy (1816-1848; 1849-1861); Constitutional monarchy (1848-1849)
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: Status
The kingdom fell in 1860 and 1861 when Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand conquered its territory; King Francis II abdicated in February 1861 after the Siege of Gaeta, a plebiscite approved annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed that March, completing the first phase of Italian unification.
In Era: The Late Modern Period, lead paragraph and infobox, existence dates
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Italian: Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the Bourbons.
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