contact: Jeff Matthews

During the Angevin rule, the island of Sicily was ruled separately by the Aragonese, who subsequently took over the mainland portion, giving rise to the name "The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" (see 1282 & 1442, below).

The Duchy of Benevento (the yellow dot on the map) was a separate Papal holding from 1053 until the unification of Italy.

5. The HAPSBURGS   From 1503 to 1700, the Kingdom was a Spanish vice-realm with a long succession of viceroys  appointed by the Spanish Hapsburgs. That dynasty is represented on the façade of the Royal Place in Naples by a statue of Charles V of Spain, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1520. In 1700, the Wars of the Spanish Succession broke out and lasted until 1713.

6. The AUSTRIAN VICE-REALM. From 1713 to 1734, viceroys of  Naples were appointed from Vienna by the Austrian Hapsburgs. Naples again became a Kingdom of its own in 1734 under the Bourbon dynasty.

7. The BOURBONS

Charles III        1734-1759
Ferdinando IV   1759-1806   (The Bourbon reign was interrupted by…

...the short-lived Neapolitan Republic in 1799, then...)

8. BONAPARTE

Joseph Bonaparte 1807  (Napoleon’s brother)
Gioacchino Murat 1808-1815  (Napoleon’s brother-in-law)

9. THE BOURBONS (cont.)

The Bourbons returned to the throne in 1815; thus,

Ferdinand I (same person as Ferd. IV, above)  1815- 1825
Francesco I          1825-1830
Ferdinando II       1830-1859
Francesco II         1859-1860

• 1130—Roger anointed King. Palermo new capital;

• 1211—Frederick II becomes King and 10 years later also Holy Roman Emperor;

• 1266—King Manfred defeated by the armies of the Pope and Charles of Anjou; Charles becomes King. Naples becomes capital.

• 1282—Sicilian Vespers. Sicilian throne passes to the House of Aragon. Sicily is then part of the Crown of Aragon, a confederation of independent states united at the level of the King of Aragon (see 1442, below);
  

• 1382—Queen Giovanna I deposed and murdered by Charles of Durazzo who assumes throne;

• 1442—King Rene besieged and driven out of Naples by Alfonso of Aragon who becomes the first to use the term “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies”. With the defeat of the Angevins, the Crown of Aragon is at its greatest expanse and includes a large portion of eastern Spain, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples and part of Greece;
  

• 1469—In Spain, the dynastic union of the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon through the marriage of Isabel and Ferdinand leads to the foundation of the modern nation state of Spain (see 1503, below);
  

• 1486—King Ferrante kills barons in Castel Nuovo;
  

• 1503—Spanish armies capture Naples. Spain rules for next 200 years;
  

• 1656—The great plague: 60 percent of population die;
• 
  
• 1700—Charles II dies. He is the last king of the Spanish Empire. The Wars of the Spanish Succession ensure, after which...

• 1713—Naples is ruled by Austria for the next 21 years;

• 1734—Charles III begins rule as Bourbon king;

• 1799 French Invasion—Bourbons flee to Sicily; Establishment of Neapolitan (aka "Parthenopean") Republic. It lasts less than a year;
  

• 1802—Ferdinando IV returns to Naples;
  

• 1806—French invasion. Bourbons flee to Sicily again;

• 1808—Napoleon gives throne first to brother then Murat;

• 1815—Bourbons returns and dynasty lasts until...

• 1861—End of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Unification of Italy.