Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies

“ With the Tuscan Bernardo Tanucci as his minister, he introduced many useful reforms, improved the army, which was thus able to repel an Austrian invasion in 1744, embellished the city of Naples andCharles III. built roads. In 1759 Charles III., having succeeded to the Spanish crown, abdicated that of the Two Sicilies in favour of his son Ferdinand, who became Ferdinand IV. of Naples and III. of Sicily. Being only eight years old, a regency under Tanucci was appointed, and the young king’s education was purposely neglected by the minister, who wished toFerdinand IV. dominate him completely. ”

“ After his Austrian alliance the bonds of despotism were more closely tightened, and the increasing discontent of his subjects was manifested by various abortive attempts at insurrection; in 1837 there was a rising in Sicily in consequence of the outbreak of cholera, and in 1843 the Young Italy Society tried to organize a general rising, which, however, only manifested itself in a series of isolated outbreaks. ”

“ Following the example of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, the king of Sardinia, the grand duke of Tuscany, and the pope, grant their people liberal constitutions. The revolutionary troubles in Vienna and Hungary incite Lombardo-Venetia to insurrection. The Milanese drive Marshal Radetzky and the Austrian troops out of the city. Other cities join the Milanese. The duke of Modena flees. Venice rises against the Austrians. They leave the city, and a provincial form of government is set up under Daniele Manin. Charles Albert declares war on Austria. ”

“ Ferdinand was naturally shrewd, but badly educated, grossly superstitious and possessed of inordinate self-esteem. Though he kept the machinery of his kingdom fairly efficient, and was a patriot to the extent of brooking no foreign interference, he made little account of the wishes or welfare of his subjects. ”

“ The loyalty and attachment of their Sicilian Majesties to our king and country is such, that I would venture to lay down my head to be cut off, if they would not rather lose their kingdom of Naples, than hold it on terms from Austria and the French, by a separation from their alliance with England. There is not a thing which his majesty can desire, that their majesties of the two Sicilies will not have the greatest pleasure in complying with. I have, before, ventured on the character of their Sicilian majesties. The king is a real good man, but inclined to be positive in his opinion ”

“ Ferdinand had none of the qualities that are essential to a man occupying a position of authority. When the French came to take over the government of Naples, he flew, as usual, to Sicily, and under the continuous protection of British men-of-war was with great difficulty kept reigning there until the end of war, when he was again put on the throne of Naples in 1815, and forthwith commenced again his rule of incompetency and despotism, reversing the beneficent rule of his two able predecessors. ”

“ But then it would be necessary that the Two Sicilies as an independent and separate State should be well governed, and should have an enlightened Sovereign. This unfortunately has become hopeless and impossible under the Bourbon Dynasty, and no Englishman could wish to see a Murat or a Prince Napoleon on the Throne of Naples.4 The course of events since last summer seems to have finally decided the fate of Sicily and Naples, and there can be no doubt that for the interest of the people of Italy, and with a view to the general balance of Power in Europe, a united Italy is the best arrangement. ”

“ A revolt in Sicily is put down the following year. Sicily is used as a starting-point for the African wars.
1554 Charles gives his son Philip the title of king of Naples, on Philip’s marriage to Mary of England.
1556 Abdication of Charles V. Philip I (II of Spain) receives the Two Sicilies as part of his dominions. The kingdom becomes merely a Spanish province. Pope Paul IV wishes to drive the Spaniards from Naples and makes a league with Henry II of [670] France for that purpose. Francis, duke of Guise, grandson of René II of Lorraine, plans to obtain the crown of Naples. ”

“ In January, 1848, an address to the Sicilians was issued from Palermo, which stated that prayers, pacific protestations and demonstrations had all been treated by Ferdinand with contempt. Palermo would receive with transport every Sicilian who should come armed to sustain the common cause, and establish reformed institutions, "in conformity with the progress and will of Italy and of Pius IX." Property was to be respected, robbery was to be punished as high treason, and whoever was in want would be supplied at the common charge. ”

“ As Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar he is first mentioned in a charter of Ferdinand I. of the year 1064. The legends which speak of the Cid as accompanying this monarch in his expeditions to France and Italy must be rejected as purely apocryphal. Ferdinand, a great and wise prince, under whom the tide of Moslem conquest was first effectually stemmed, on his deathbed, in 1065, divided his territories among his five children. Castile was left to his eldest son Sancho, Leon to Alphonso, Galicia to Garcia, Zamora and Toro to his two daughters Urraca and Elvira. ”

“ On the continent of Europe, Spain speedily acquired a commanding position in international affairs, as the result largely of Ferdinand's ability. The royal house of Aragon had long held claims to the Neapolitan and Sicilian kingdoms and for two hundred years had freely mixed in the politics of Italy. Now, in 1504, Ferdinand definitely secured recognition from France of his rights in Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Spain was becoming the rival of Venice for the leadership of the Mediterranean. ”

“ Never will her people or her wicked rulers be aware of this: as Austria is, and other nations are, whose interest it is to keep Italy feeble, partitioned, and divided."
"Europe must bow to France," said Belcastro, who was a confirmed Buonapartist. "Look around us! Ferdinand styles himself King of Naples and of Sicily: whether he is likely to keep that little long, even though protected by the fleets and armies of Britain, is very problematical. You fight for his crown here among the wilds of Calabria, while he spends his days ingloriously at Palermo ”

“ In Sicily the revolution smouldered and spluttered for years, in spite of remorseless efforts to stamp it out; on the mainland, robberies and brigandage, and outbreaks now political and now criminal, proved how delusive was a security based on oppression and lies. Amid these conditions Ferdinand passed the later years of his infamous reign. ... In Piedmont the retaliation was as effectual as in Naples, but less blood was shed there. Della Torre took command of the kingdom in the name of Charles Felix. ... Seventy-three officers were condemned to death, one hundred and five to the galleys ”

“ The position of the Italian states, at this period, whose petty feuds seemed to blind them to the invasion which menaced them from the Ottoman empire, was such as to excite a lively interest throughout Christendom, and especially in Ferdinand, as sovereign of Sicily. He succeeded, by means of his ambassadors at the papal court, in opening a negotiation between the belligerents, and in finally adjusting the terms of a general pacification, signed December 12th, 1482. ”

“ In answer to an appeal from the men of Sicily, Garibaldi sailed from Genoa with 1,000 followers, landed at Marsala on May 11, 1860, and took Palermo soon afterwards. The people were jubilant at his success, and Ferdinand was quickly deposed. Sicily joined Sardinia, and Victor Emmanuel reigned over the two territories.
In the same year, Central Italy, Southern Italy, the Papal States, and Naples, all joined the kingdom of Emmanuel and, in February, 1861, the first Parliament of all the Italian States was held at Turin. It was this event that was celebrated by the Italian Jubilee stamps. ”

“ Novara set Austria free to reinstate the Italian despots. Ferdinand at once re-established autocracy in Naples; though the struggle in Sicily did not end until May, when Palermo, after a splendid resistance, capitulated. In Tuscany disorder continued, and although Guerrazzi, who had been appointed dictator, saved the country from complete anarchy, a large part of the population, especially among the peasantry, was still loyal to the grand-duke. ”

“ The Sicilian Court. The court of Ferdinand IV., one of the most worthless and corrupt of the old feudal dynasties, was maintained in Sicily by the army, the navy, and the purse of England. His Sicilian majesty received from the British Government an annual subsidy of four hundred thousand pounds sterling ($2,000,000) , to support the dignity of his throne, and to pay for the troops which Sicily furnished England for her interminable warfare against the French Empire. ”

“ The subjugation of the Sicilians (in support of whom Lord Minto, much disappointed by a pseudo-constitution granted by the King, in which their rights were simply disregarded, had set out for Palermo) , still remained as difficult of completion as ever. On the 25th of March, the Sicilian Parliament met at the last-named place, and declared the dethronement of Ferdinand II. Thereupon ensued the bombardment of Messina, whence arose the King’s universally-known nickname of King Bomba. The independence of Sicily was now recognised by France and England. In May the cry of “Religion in Danger!” ”

“ King Ferdinand's final concessions to his rebellious subjects were repudiated. Lord Palmerston, who had vainly offered British Situation in Sicily mediation to Ferdinand, on the floor of Parliament openly defended the uncompromising attitude of the Sicilians. In preparation for the inevitable conflict, Filangieri gathered an army of 20,000 Neapolitans, while Mierolavsky, a Pole, took command of the Sicilian insurgents. ”

“ The European powers regarded the expedition of Charles the Eighth with somewhat different feelings; most of them were not unwilling to see so formidable a prince waste his resources in a remote and chimerical expedition; Ferdinand, however, contemplated with more anxiety an event, which might terminate in the subversion of the Neapolitan branch of his house, and bring a powerful and active neighbor in contact with his own dominions in Sicily. He lost no time in fortifying the faltering courage of the pope by assurances of support. ”

“ The royal infants were immediately to assume the titles of King and Queen of Naples, and Duke and Duchess of Calabria. Until the consummation of the marriage, the French division of the kingdom was to be placed under the administration of some suitable person named by Louis the Twelfth, and the Spanish under that of the archduke Philip, or some other deputy appointed by Ferdinand. ”

“ Simultaneously with Rome the south of Italy had entered into the movement so characteristic of the year 1848. The scenes of 1820 and 1821 were repeated." The Sicilians again demanded independence; expelled the Neapolitan garrison from Palermo; refused to accept a constitution proffered by King Ferdinand II., which created a united parliament for Naples and Sicily; voted in a Sicilian parliament the perpetual exclusion of the Bourbon dynasty from the throne, and offered the crown of Sicily to a son of the king of Sardinia, who declined the gift. ”

“ In simple language, let Donna Marie be in attendance.' And so thou shalt, love; and by thy gentle virtues and modest loveliness, add increase of honor to thy husband. Ha! what says Gonzalo de Lara?" he added, as his eye glanced over another paper—"'Tumults in Sicily—active measures—Senor Stanley—enough on which to expend his chivalric ardor, and evince his devotedness to Ferdinand; but Sicily quieted—supposed the king will still grant his request—assign him some post about his person, be at hand for military service against the Moors.' Good! then the war is resolved on. ”

“ Cavour again proposed an alliance to divide the papal states between Piedmont and Naples, the province of Rome excepted, but Francis rejected an idea which to him savoured of sacrilege. Filangieri strongly advocated a constitution as the only measure which might save the dynasty, and on the king’s refusal he resigned. Meanwhile the revolutionary parties were conspiring for the overthrow of the Bourbons in Calabria and Sicily, and Garibaldi was preparing for a raid in the south. ”

“ She felt that she was to be made to descend to an inferior rank in the scale of nations. Ferdinand earnestly remonstrated with the pope, and subsequently, by means of his Venetian minister, with Maximilian, on this mistaken policy. [28] But the indifference of the one, and the cupidity of the other, were closed against argument. The result was precisely what the prudent monarch foresaw. Venice was driven into the arms of her perfidious ancient ally, and on the 23d of March, 1513, a definitive treaty was arranged with France for their mutual defence. ”

“ There a new trait of human baseness awaited him. The governor of the island and of an old castle, built, as is said, by the Saracens, which then stood on the island, attempted to parley with the prince to whom he owed all, refusing to receive him with more than one attendant. Ferdinand sprang ashore alone, seized the villain by the throat, and, casting him under his feet, trampled upon him in presence of his own forces and the garrison. The castle was soon in his possession, but he remained not long in Ischia.
On the 21st February, 1495, the French monarch approached the city of Naples. ”

“ It is impossible that so shrewd a statesman as Ferdinand could, from the mere consideration of advantages so remote to himself and dependent on so precarious a contingency as the marriage of two infants, then in their cradles, have seriously contemplated an arrangement, which surrendered all the actual power into the hands of his rival ”