, image = Francesco II of the Two Sicilies.JPG , caption = King Francis II , succession = King of the Two Sicilies , reign = 22 May 1859 – 20 March 1861 , predecessor = Ferdinand II , successor = ''Kingdom of Italy'' , succession2 = Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies , reign-type2 = Tenure , reign2 = 20 March 1861 – 27 December 1894 , successor2 = Prince Alfonso , spouse = , issue = Princess Maria Cristina Pia , house = House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies , father = Ferdinand II , mother = Maria Christina of Savoy , birth_date = , birth_place = Royal Palace of Naples, Naples,

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and a ...

(now Naples, Italy) , death_date = , death_place =

Arco ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

, Austria-Hungary
(now Arco, Italy) , burial_place =

Basilica of Santa Chiara The Basilica of Saint Clare (''Basilica di Santa Chiara'' in Italian) is a church in Assisi, central Italy. It is dedicated to and contains the remains of Saint Clare of Assisi, a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and founder of the Order of ...

, Naples , religion =

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Francis II (

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

and it, Francesco II, christened ''Francesco d'Assisi Maria Leopoldo''; scn, Francischieddu; 16 January 1836 – 27 December 1894) 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 Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

and Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia ultimately brought an end to his rule, as part of Italian unification. After he was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Sardinia were merged into the newly formed Kingdom of Italy.

Biography

Early life

The only son and heir of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies by his first wife, Maria Christina of Savoy, Francis II was the last of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon kings of Naples, 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 Maria Theresa of Austria (1816-1867), Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, whom he feared, and also by the priests, and by the camarilla (history), camarilla, or reactionary court set. On 3 February 1859 in Bari, Francis married Maria Sophie of Bavaria, Duchess Maria Sophie of Bavaria, of the royal Bavarian house of Wittelsbach (a younger sister of Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria). Maria Sophie, along with Elisabeth, was a great beauty. However, their marriage was unhappy. Their only daughter, Princess Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina, was born ten years after her parents married, and lived only three months (24 December 1869 – 28 March 1870).

Reign

Francis II took the throne on 22 May 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 Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Cavour. On 7 June, a part of the Swiss Guards, Swiss Guard mutinied, and while the king mollified them by promising to redress their grievances, General Alessandro Nunziante gathered his troops, who surrounded the mutineers and shot them down. The incident resulted in the disbanding of the whole Swiss Guard, at the time the strongest bulwark of the Bourbon dynasty. Cavour again 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

King Francis II of Naples and Queen Amalia leave Gaeta of the Two Sicilies

Meanwhile, the revolutionary parties were conspiring for the overthrow of the Bourbons in Calabria and Sicily, and

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 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 6 September 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 Italy, Victor Emmanuel II 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 Volturnus (1860), Battle of Volturno (which took place on 1 October 1860), while the Piedmontese captured Capua. By late 1860, only Gaeta, Messina, and Civitella del Tronto still held out. The Siege of Gaeta (1860), Siege of Gaeta by the Piedmontese began on 6 November 1860. Both Francis II and his wife behaved with great coolness and courage. Even when the French fleet, whose presence had hitherto prevented an attack by sea, was withdrawn, they still resisted. It was not until 13 February 1861 that the fortress capitulated.

Overthrow

Thus, the

ceased to exist and its territory was incorporated into that of the Kingdom of Sardinia (soon renamed the Kingdom of Italy), and Francis II was deposed. Francis and Maria Sophia first lived in Rome as guests of the Pope, where they maintained a government in exile recognized by some Catholic powers including France, Spain, Austria-Hungary, Austria and Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria. 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, French Third Republic, France, and Bavaria. In 1894, Francis died at

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, pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Cause of beatification and canonization

On 11 December 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.

Honours

* : Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium), Order of Leopold, ''9 June 1855'' * : Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, ''15 June 1844'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I * : ** Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, Order of St. Stephen, ''1849'' ** Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, ''1861'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of St. Louis * Kingdom of Prussia: ** Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, ''4 June 1853'' ** Pour le Mérite (military), ''20 February 1861'' * : Knight of the Order of Saint Hubert, ''1857'' * : Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, ''1860'' * Grand Duchy of Tuscany: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Joseph, Order of St. Joseph * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Württemberg), Order of the Württemberg Crown, ''1864''''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg'' (1886/7), "Königliche Orden" p
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Ancestors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis 02 Of The Two Sicilies 1836 births 1894 deaths Princes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Monarchs of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Deaths from diabetes Burials at the Basilica of Santa Chiara Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) 19th-century Roman Catholics Italian Roman Catholics Italian Servants of God 19th-century venerated Christians Roman Catholic royal saints Royal reburials