Francis I of the Two Sicilies

Francis I
King of the Two Sicilies
Reign 4 January 1825 – 8 November 1830
Predecessor Ferdinand I
Successor Ferdinand II
Born (1777-08-19)19 August 1777
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Died 8 November 1830(1830-11-08) (aged 53)
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Burial Basilica of Santa Chiara, Naples
Spouse Maria Clementina of Austria
Maria Isabella of Spain
Issue
House Bourbon-Two Sicilies
Father Ferdinand I
Mother Marie Caroline of Austria
Religion Roman Catholicism
Royal styles of
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Reference style His Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Sir

Francis I of the Two Sicilies (Italian: Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe; 19 August 1777 – 8 November 1830)[1] was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830.

Biography

Francis was born son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria in Naples. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic.

At the death of his older brother Carlo, Duke of Calabria, Francis became the heir to the throne and Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the Neapolitan throne.

In 1796 Francis married his double first cousin Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. When she died, he married his first cousin María Isabel, daughter of King Charles IV of Spain.

After the Bourbon family fled from Naples to Sicily in 1806, and Lord William Bentinck, the British resident, had established a constitution and deprived Ferdinand of all power, Francis was appointed regent (1812).

On the fall of Napoleon I, his father returned to Naples and suppressed the Sicilian constitution, incorporating his two kingdoms into that of the Two Sicilies (1816); Francis then assumed the revived title of duke of Calabria. While still heir apparent he professed liberal ideas, and on the outbreak of the revolution of 1820 he accepted the regency apparently in a friendly spirit towards the new constitution.

On succeeding to the throne in 1825, however, he pursued a conservative course. He took little part in the government, which he left in the hands of favourites and police officials, and lived with his mistresses, surrounded by soldiers, ever in dread of assassination. During his reign the only revolutionary movement was the outbreak on the Cilento (1828), repressed by the Marquis Delcarretto, an ex-Liberal. He was, however successful in having the Austrian occupation force withdrawn (1827) therefore relieving a large financial burden on the treasury.

During his reign, the Royal Order of Francis I was founded to reward civil merit.

Issue

With Maria Clementina of Austria:

With Isabella of Spain:

He also had illegitimate children by mistresses.

Ancestry

References

  1. De Majo, Silvio. "FRANCESCO I di Borbone, re delle Due Sicilie". Retrieved 2014-08-14.

Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Cadet branch of the House of Bourbon
Born: 19 August 1777 Died: 8 November 1830
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Ferdinand I
King of the Two Sicilies
4 January 1825 – 8 November 1830
Succeeded by
Ferdinand II
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