Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in southern Italy from 1816 until 1861. It was created by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, after the Congress of Vienna of 1814, by uniting the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples, which had been ruled by Joseph Bonaparte who conferred the title "Prince of Naples" to be hereditary on his children and grandchildren, during the reign of Napoleon. The ruling dynasty was a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon.

The capital of the kingdom was Naples. Roman Catholicism was the state religion.  The kingdom was full of corruption and poverty: mainly because of this, most of the population welcomed the Risorgimento with the unification of southern Italy to the rest of Italy in 1861.

In 1861, Giuseppe Garibaldi and his men, who were known as "red shirts", captured Sicily. This was welcomed by the local population. Garibaldi then crossed the Strait of Messina and captured Naples. South Italy and Sicily then joined the Kingdom of Italy.

Administrative division

The peninsula was divided into fifteen "departments" and the island of Sicily was divided into seven departments. 

After the Two Sicilies were conquered by Garibaldi, the departments became provinces of Italy.

Royal family

For a time the heir to the throne was given the title of "Hereditary Prince of Naples". But this was later changed to the Duke of Calabria after the uniting of the two kingdoms. Collectively the royal family generally lived at the Palace of Caserta. Children of the monarch were born with the style of Royal Highness as well as the title of Prince/ss of the Two Sicilies. Several males in the family were given titles such as "Duke of Castro", "Count of Caserta", "Prince of Salerno", a majority of which were lost due to a lack of male heirs. The present pretending monarch is Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, who does use the title of Duke of Calabria.
.                                           thumb|King Joseph I of Naples and the two Sisleys|
   Peninsula   Capital 1 20px  Abruzzo Ultra I  Teramo 2 20px  Abruzzo Ultra II  Aquila 3 20px Abruzzo Citra  Chieti 4 20px Contado di Molise  Campobasso 5 20px Terra di Lavoro  Capua, from 1818 Caserta 6 20px Province of Naples  Naples 7 20px Principato Ultra  Avellino(*) 8 20px Principato Citra  Salerno 9 20px Capitanata  originally San Severo, then Foggia 10 20px Terra di Bari  Bari 11 20px Terra d'Otranto  Lecce 12 20px Basilicata  Potenza 13 20px Calabria Citra  Cosenza 14 20px Calabria Ultra II  Catanzaro 15 20px Calabria Ultra I  Reggio   Insular  Capital 16 20px Caltanissetta  Caltanissetta 17 20px Catania  Catania 18 20px Girgenti  Girgenti 19 20px Messina  Messina 20 20px Noto  Noto 21 20px Palermo  Palermo 22 20px Trapani  Trapani
* The city of Benevento was formally included in this department, but it was occupied by the Papal States and was de facto an exclave of that country.

References

Category:19th century in Italy
Category:1816 establishments in Europe
Category:1861 disestablishments
Category:Former monarchies in Italy
Category:House of Bourbon
Category:19th-century establishments in Italy
Category:1860s disestablishments in Italy