Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand II (Italian: Ferdinando Carlo Maria; Sicilian: Ferdinannu Carlu Maria; Neapolitan: Ferdinando Carlo Maria; 12 January 1810 – 22 May 1859) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death in 1859.
This article is about the 19th-century king who ruled from Naples. For the 15th-century King of Naples with the same name, see Ferdinand II of Naples.Ferdinand II
8 November 1830 – 22 May 1859
12 January 1810
Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily
22 May 1859 (aged 49)
Caserta Palace, Caserta, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
- Francis II of the Two Sicilies
- Prince Luigi, Count of Trani
- Prince Alberto, Count of Castrogiovanni
- Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
- Maria Annunziata, Archduchess of Austria
- Maria Immacolata, Archduchess of Austria
- Prince Gaetano, Count of Girgenti
- Prince Giuseppe, Count of Lucera
- Maria Pia, Duchess of Parma
- Prince Vincenzo, Count of Melazzo
- Prince Pasquale, Count of Bari
- Princess Maria Luisa, Countess of Bardi
- Prince Gennaro, Count of Caltagirone
Family[edit]
Ferdinand was born in Palermo to King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain. His paternal grandparents were King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Queen Maria Carolina of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Charles IV of Spain and Maria Luisa of Parma. Ferdinand I and Charles IV were brothers, both sons of Charles III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Among his siblings were: Teresa Cristina, Empress of Brazil, wife of the last Brazilian emperor Pedro II.
Early reign[edit]
In his early years, he was fairly popular. Progressives credited him with Liberal ideas and, in addition, his free and easy manners endeared him to the so-called lazzaroni, the lower classes of Neapolitan society.[1]
On succeeding to the throne in 1830, he published an edict in which he promised to give his most anxious attention to the impartial administration of justice, to reform the finances, and to use every effort to heal the wounds which had afflicted the Kingdom for so many years.[1] His goal, he said, was to govern his Kingdom in a way that would bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number of his subjects while respecting the rights of his fellow monarchs and those of the Roman Catholic Church.
The early years of his reign were comparatively peaceful: he cut taxes and expenditures, had the first railway in Italy built (between Naples and the royal palace at Portici), his fleet had the first steamship in the Italian Peninsula and he had telegraphic connections established between Naples and Palermo, Sicily.
However, in 1837, he violently suppressed Sicilian demonstrators demanding a constitution and maintained strict police surveillance in his domains. Liberal reformists, who were motivated by visions of a new society founded upon a modern constitution, continued to demand that the King grant a constitution and liberalize his rule.