House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Name	House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Founded	1734
Founder	Charles of Bourbon
Current head	dispute
Ethnicity	Spanish people, French people, Italian people
Cadet of	House of Bourbon

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is a dynastic branch of the House of Bourbon that ruled southern Italian realms and claimed the crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1734 until 1861, later producing claimants and consorts active in European aristocratic and diplomatic networks such as the Holy See, Austro-Hungarian Empire, United Kingdom, and Spanish monarchy. The dynasty intermarried with houses including Habsburg-Lorraine, Savoy, Bourbon-Parma, Hohenzollern, and Romanov, linking it to events like the War of the Polish Succession, the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna, the Italian unification, and the Franco-Prussian War.

History

The branch emerged amid 18th-century conflicts like the War of the Polish Succession and territorial rearrangements adjudicated by actors such as Philip V of Spain, Louis XV of France, Duke of Parma, and representatives at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and Treaty of Vienna (1738), after which the dynasty governed principalities including the Kingdom of Sicily and Kingdom of Naples, later unified as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies under monarchs who navigated crises involving the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), and revolts connected to figures like Giuseppe Garibaldi and events such as the Expedition of the Thousand.

Origins and Dynastic Formation

The founder, Charles (later Charles III of Spain), a son of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese, acquired Neapolitan and Sicilian crowns after campaigns supported by allies including France and mediated by treaties like the Treaty of Vienna (1738), then abdicated Naples and Sicily in favor of his son Ferdinand when he became King of Spain, establishing a cadet line that linked to the House of Bourbon and rival claims from the House of Habsburg and the Spanish Bourbons; subsequent successions and marital diplomacy involved figures such as Maria Amalia of Saxony, Maria Carolina of Austria, and members of the House of Bourbon-Parma.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816–1861)

The 1816 union of the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily under Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies followed reorganizations at the Congress of Vienna and faced pressures from liberal and nationalist movements exemplified by the Carbonari, the Revolutions of 1848, and insurrections in cities like Palermo and Naples; military and diplomatic contests involved personalities such as Francisco de Miranda and responses coordinated with powers including the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Austria, while suppression efforts intersected with confrontations during Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand and the annexation campaigns by the Kingdom of Sardinia under the House of Savoy culminating in incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy.

Government, Titles and Succession Disputes

Monarchs used titles including King of Sicily, King of Naples, and King of the Two Sicilies and awarded peerages linked to estates and orders such as the Order of Saint Januarius and the Royal and Military Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit; succession rules invoked treaties, pragmatic sanctions, and dynastic compacts comparable to those considered by the Congress of Vienna and contested in later legal debates by claimant lines associated with princes like Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta, Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria, and Infante Carlos, Duke of Madrid whose claims intersected with issues adjudicated by courts in jurisdictions such as Spain, Italy, and institutions like International Court of Justice-era practices, producing rival branches and disputes over styles, orders, and properties.

Notable Members and Marriages

The house counts prominent figures including sovereigns Charles VII of Naples and Sicily, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, Francis I of the Two Sicilies, and consorts such as Maria Carolina of Austria and Maria Christina of Savoy; dynastic marriages linked the line to Bourbon-Parma via Marie Louise of Spain, to Habsburg-Lorraine via Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, to the Romanov family through unions with members like Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia in related Bourbon branches, and to princely houses such as Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Württemberg, and Bourbon-Spain. Members served as patrons and participants in institutions and events like the Vatican, the Congress of Vienna, the Order of the Golden Fleece, and cultural centers in Naples, Palermo, Seville, and Madrid.

Legacy and Modern Claimants

After 1861 descendants remained influential as claimants, heads of chivalric orders, and dynastic figures involved in controversies over succession, property, and honors involving claimants such as Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria, Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, and opponents from the so-called Castro and Calabria branches, with impacts on relations to the Spanish monarchy and institutions like the Holy See; cultural and historical legacies persist in museums, archives, and architectural sites like the Royal Palace of Naples, Palazzo Reale di Palermo, and the collections connected to the Museo di Capodimonte, while scholarly debates involve historians of Italian unification, specialists on the Napoleonic era, and archivists at repositories in Rome, Madrid, Paris, and Vienna.

Category:European royal houses Category:Italian nobility