Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

A state in southern Italy ruled by the Bourbon dynasty from 1816 until its conquest and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860–1861.

Congress of Vienna: A diplomatic conference that redrew Europe after Napoleon’s defeat, meeting from 1814 to 1815. Its settlement restored Bourbon rule in southern Italy and set the stage for the kingdom’s creation.
Bourbon monarchy: A dynastic system of rule established by branches of the House of Bourbon in Europe. The Two Sicilies was one of the Bourbon dynasty’s Italian monarchies.
Francis II of the Two Sicilies: The last king of the Two Sicilies, whose reign ended with the kingdom’s annexation in 1861. His resistance to invasion marked the monarchy’s final campaign.
Expedition of the Thousand: Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860 campaign in Sicily and southern Italy with a volunteer force of about a thousand. Its rapid victories dismantled Bourbon control across the kingdom.
Italian unification: The nineteenth-century movement that united most Italian states into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The Two Sicilies’ conquest was the decisive southern phase of unification.
Kingdom of Naples: A historical state in southern Italy centered on Naples, ruled by the Bourbons before 1816. It was one of the two kingdoms united to form the Two Sicilies.
Constitution of the Two Sicilies of 1848: A constitution granted by Ferdinand II during the 1848 revolutions, establishing a limited parliamentary system. It briefly constrained royal authority during a crisis of monarchy and popular revolt.
Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies: King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 to 1859, known for restoring royal control after revolutions. His repression and reform choices shaped the state inherited by Francis II.
Siege of Gaeta: The 1860–1861 siege that ended when Francis II’s forces surrendered the Bourbon stronghold of Gaeta. The surrender was the last major military act of the kingdom’s fall.
Kingdom of Italy: The state established in 1861 that united most of the Italian peninsula under the House of Savoy. It absorbed the territory and institutions of the former Two Sicilies.

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