An ancient and glorious Kingdom
An ancient and glorious Kingdom
An ancient
and glorious Kingdom
The Hautevilles and the constitution of the “Reame”
It is the “Reame” (Realm) par excellence. Its territory was defined from the very first years of its constitution under Roger II of Hauteville, remaining unchanged over the centuries until its fall in 1861: to the north, the border followed a line starting from Civitella del Tronto below Ascoli and reaching Gaeta via Leonessa, L’Aquila, above Pontecorvo, and then down to the Tyrrhenian Sea; to the south, the border was the sea itself, including Sicily.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the territories of the future Kingdom were partly under Byzantine rule (Lower Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, and the Duchy of Naples) and partly under Lombard rule (the Duchy of Benevento); in the 9th century, Sicily fell into Muslim hands.
In the following centuries, especially in the 11th, the geopolitical situation of Southern Italy collapsed into a dismal fragmentation of small local powers, while the ancient Byzantine and Lombard domains increasingly lost control of the situation.
This progressively led to a sort of “war of all against all,” aggravated by continuous Saracen incursions. In such a state, the South naturally became impoverished and weakened; those who knew how to take advantage were the Normans, led by the bold Hauteville (Altavilla) family.
The first Norman adventurers had already arrived around the year 1000, placing themselves at the service of various lords at war with rival lords; in this mercenary policy, the Hautevilles shone, soon establishing their own county in Melfi in 1043. From this moment, their political-military expansion was constant (especially under Robert Guiscard, who conquered Puglia and Calabria), until, having also intervened in the Investiture Controversy, they unscrupulously gained recognition from the Popes as feudal lords of the Church’s southern lands (in 1091 they also expelled the Muslims from Sicily). Finally, in 1130, Roger II of Hauteville (1101–1154) was proclaimed King of Sicily, Puglia, and Calabria by Pope Anacletus II, albeit as his vassal, later extending his rule over Capua, Benevento, and Naples. This was the formal birth of the Kingdom of Naples, then called the “Kingdom of Sicily.”
Roger II was succeeded by: William I the Bad (1154–1166), William II the Good (1166–1189), Tancred (1189–1194), and William III (1194).
The “Reame”
The Norman dynasty ended with Constance of Hauteville, wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI of Hohenstaufen (son of Frederick I Barbarossa) and mother of Frederick II of Swabia. Upon his father’s death in 1197, Frederick II inherited not only the Empire but also the Realm (he was born in Jesi and raised in Palermo).
After the death of Frederick II in 1250, his natural son Manfred became lieutenant of the Kingdom as regent in place of his half-brother Conrad IV, who died prematurely in 1254. Manfred then maintained the regency in the name of Conrad’s son, Conradin of Swabia, but in 1258 he broke with his nephew and proclaimed himself King of Sicily, resuming his father’s anti-ecclesiastical policy.
First Urban VI and then Clement IV favored the descent into Italy of Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX of France (the Saint), who faced and killed the Ghibelline Manfred at Benevento in 1266. However, Conradin then arrived, claiming dynastic rights to the Kingdom; Charles faced him at Tagliacozzo in 1268, defeating him; he first had him arrested and then beheaded in Piazza del Mercato in Naples.
In this way, Charles was able to assume the title of Charles I of Anjou, King of Sicily, beginning the Angevin—and thus Capetian—rule over the Realm. Due to the consequences of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, he lost Sicily in 1282 to Peter III of Aragon (who had married Constance, daughter of Manfred), who became King of Sicily (1282–1285). The Realm was then divided into the Kingdom of Naples, under the Angevins, and the Kingdom of Sicily, under the Aragonese.
The Kingdom of Naples under the Angevins and the Aragonese
The Angevins held the continental part until 1442, the year in which Alfonso of Aragon definitively won the war against the Angevins (which broke out because Joanna II of Anjou had first named Alfonso as her heir and then recanted, naming a distant French relative, Louis of Anjou) and conquered Naples in triumph, unifying the Realm once again. After Charles I, the following reigned over Naples:
- his son Charles II (1285–1309),
- Robert the Wise (1309–1343),
- Joanna I (1343–1381),
- Charles III of Durazzo (1381–1386),
- Ladislaus of Durazzo (1386–1414),
- Joanna II of Durazzo (1414–1435),
- Louis III (1435–1438),
- René (1438–1442).
In 1443, the Kingdom of Naples was conquered, as mentioned, by Alfonso V of Aragon (1443–1458), who was succeeded by his son Ferdinand I (1458–1494), the famous Ferrante, who remained only King of Naples (and never of Sicily).
He was succeeded by Alfonso II (1494–1495), momentarily ousted by Charles VIII of France; but the Kingdom immediately returned to the Aragonese with Ferdinand II (1495–96) and Frederick (1496–1501), until, in 1504, Ferdinand the Catholic (King of Aragon, Sicily, and Spain—through his marriage to Isabella of Castile) reunited the Kingdom of Naples with those of Spain and Sicily.
From this moment, therefore, the Kingdom of Naples (like that of Sicily) became an integral part of the Kingdom of Spain and would be governed for about two centuries by a Viceroy.
The Kingdom of Sicily under the Aragonese
In Sicily, Peter III (I as King of Sicily) was succeeded by: James II (1285–1296), Frederick II (1296–1336), Peter II (1336–1342), Louis (1342–1355), Frederick III (1355–1377), Martin I (1377–1409), and Martin II (1409). In 1412, the Kingdom of Sicily was united with the Kingdom of Aragon; its Sovereigns were: Ferdinand I (1412–1416), Alfonso the Magnanimous (1416–1458), John (1458–1479), and Ferdinand the Catholic (1479–1516). With Ferdinand the Catholic, husband of Isabella of Castile and founder with her of the Kingdom of Spain, Sicily became part of the Kingdom of Spain along with the Kingdom of Naples.
The Viceroyalty
From 1504 to 1713, the Kingdom of Naples was effectively unified with the Kingdom of Spain. As is well known, upon the death of Ferdinand the Catholic, Charles I of Habsburg (1500–1558) became King of Spain [he was the son of Philip the Handsome of Habsburg, himself the son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, and Joanna the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand the Catholic and Isabella of Castile]. He thus inherited the Kingdom of Spain with all its domains (including the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily) in 1516, and the Holy Roman Empire in 1519, becoming one of the most important sovereigns in history, also because his immense territories were increased by the conquest of the American colonies.
He abdicated in 1556, leaving the Holy Roman Empire and the imperial title to his brother Ferdinand, and the Kingdom of Spain and all its connected domains, including the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, to his son Philip II], who in 1519 also became Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. He was therefore, to all intents and purposes, also King of Naples and Sicily. He was succeeded as King of Spain by his son Philip II (1556–1598); subsequent Kings of Spain (and thus of Naples and Sicily, which were directly governed by Viceroys of royal appointment) were: Philip III (1598–1621), Philip IV (1621–1665), and Charles II (1665–1700).
Charles II of Habsburg-Spain died without heirs and named Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, as his successor, preferred over Charles of Habsburg-Austria; he took the title of Philip V of Bourbon, King of Spain. This triggered the War of the Spanish Succession (1700–1713), which saw Philip V emerge victorious; in exchange for international recognition of his right to the Throne of Madrid, he had to cede the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to the Habsburgs. Thus, from 1713, the “Viceroyalty” was again under Habsburg rule, though this time under the Austrian Habsburgs: it became an integral part of the Holy Roman Empire, with Emperor Charles VI as its sovereign. Furthermore, from 1714 to 1720, Sicily was given to King Victor Amadeus of Savoy, but later returned to the Habsburgs.
The Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, Restorers of the Kingdom
In 1734, due to historical events described more fully in the entry dedicated to Charles of Bourbon (King of Naples and Sicily from 1734 to 1759), Charles, son of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese, conquered the Crowns of Naples and Sicily, effectively restoring a united and sovereign kingdom.
After two centuries of political dependence, the “Reame” became a free nation once again under the dynasty of the Bourbons of Naples and Sicily.
The successors of Charles of Bourbon were:
- Ferdinand IV (1759–1825), from 1814 Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies;
- Francis I (1825–1830),
- Ferdinand II (1830–1859),
- Francis II, who lost the Kingdom in 1860, when it was conquered by Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy.
With this conquest, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist as a sovereign and independent kingdom.
