Ferdinand II (Sicily)

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Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies
Statue of Ferdinand II in the National Railway Museum in Pietrarsa

Ferdinand II. Karl (born January 12, 1810 in Palermo , † May 22, 1859 in Caserta ) was King of both Sicilies .

origin

Ferdinand Karl was a grandson of King Ferdinand I and the eldest son of King Franz I and his second wife, the Infanta Maria Isabel of Spain . He was born on January 12, 1810.

government

On November 8, 1830, he took over from his father a country that had been shattered by the rule of the nobility and priests, the waste of the court and attempts at revolt, and initially seemed inclined to political reforms. He started his government with an amnesty and with a financial regulation. He ordered substantial savings, eliminated officials disliked by the people, abolished oppressive hunting privileges, cleared the export of grain, improved the army, and paid special attention to public construction. On the other hand, all liberal endeavors were suppressed and punished with the greatest severity. In support of absolutism , Ferdinand organized an expensive military power. During his reign there were a number of political conspiracies , as a result of which a sophisticated espionage and police system was established.

When Sicily rose at the beginning of January 1848, Ferdinand felt compelled on January 19th to grant some reforms and to dismiss his previous advisers. On January 29th, he passed a constitution for both parts of the empire. Soon after, he sent troops to northern Italy to support the Kingdom of Sardinia in the war against Austria , but arrived too late to avert the defeat. On April 7th, Naples had declared war on Austria and the declaration was followed by a proclamation in which the Neapolitan sovereign considered the Italian league as well as valid for the Kingdom of Naples. The Sicilians, however, distrusted the king and rose against him. While the king was approving the sending of an army of 17,000 men under the command of General Pepe to Lombardy , news came from Palermo that Sicily had already declared him forfeited from the throne. On April 18, 1848, parliament declared the Bourbons deposed. The king, for his part, unceremoniously dissolved the two chambers of parliament that had met at the beginning of 1848. In April 1849 Ferdinand's troops smothered the Sicilian uprising in a bloodbath. In view of the bombing of Messina , which did not spare the civilian population , the people called their king Re Bomba from then on . In the course of the general reaction in Italy, Ferdinand eliminated the new constitution entirely. He let everyone involved in the reform of the state be persecuted as hard as possible. 22,000 people were fined for political offenses. Ferdinand had his former ministers do forced labor as galley slaves before his eyes . He enriched himself from the confiscated property of the condemned.

When in 1856 France and England recommended that the king change his policy in the interests of the peace and quiet of Italy, following the ideas of Sardinia at the Paris Congress , he forbade any interference in his government so decidedly that it broke off all diplomatic relations with Naples.

The attempted assassination attempt by Agesilao Milano against Ferdinand on December 8, 1856, as well as various uprisings only strengthened him more decisively in the direction he was taking. In January 1859 the court went to Bari . On March 7, 1859, the already terminally ill king was hoisted on board the frigate Fulminante and returned to Naples. He finally retired to Caserta , had the state of siege explained in Naples and died on May 22, 1859.

The volcanic island of Ferdinandea was named after Ferdinand II. It appeared around 60 km off the southwest coast of Sicily in July 1831, but disappeared under the sea surface in December of that year.

Marriages and offspring

Prince Alfons Maria of Naples and Sicily

King Ferdinand II married on November 21, 1832 in Voltri with Princess Maria Christina of Savoy , daughter of King Victor Emanuel I of Sardinia-Piedmont , who gave birth to the Crown Prince.

One year after the death of his first wife, in January 1837, he married Maria Theresa of Austria , daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria-Teschen , in Naples , who bore him eight sons and four daughters:

King Ferdinand II was buried in the Church of Santa Chiara .

literature

  • Niccola Nisco: Ferdinando II. E il suo regno . Morano, Naples 1884.

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand II.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Rudolf Lill : History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1980. ISBN 3-534-06746-0 . P. 113.
  2. ^ Rudolf Lill: History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . P. 130.
  3. ^ Rudolf Lill: History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . P. 134.
  4. ^ Rudolf Lill: History of Italy from the 16th century to the beginnings of fascism . P. 139.
predecessor Office successor
Franz I. King of the Two Sicilies
1830–1859 		Francis II
personal data
SURNAME Ferdinand II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ferdinand II. Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Naples and both Sicilies
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1859
Place of death Caserta