Francis I of the Two Sicilies

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Francesco I
King of the Two Sicilies

Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Reign 4 January 1825-8 November 1830
Born 14 August 1777(1777-08-14)
Died 8 November 1830 (aged 53)
Predecessor Ferdinand I
Successor Ferdinand II
Consort Maria Isabella of Spain
Issue Princess Carolina Ferdinanda Luisa
Prince Ferdinand
Princess Luisa Carlotta
Princess Maria Christina
Prince Ferdinand
Prince Carlo
Prince Leopold
Marie Antoinette of Tuscany
Prince Antonio
Princess Marie Amelia
Princess Maria Carolina
Princess Teresa
Prince Luigi Carlo
Prince Francis
Royal House Bourbon
Father Ferdinand I
Mother Marie Caroline of Austria

Francis I (Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe, August 14, 1777 – November 8, 1830) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830.

Contents

[edit] Biography

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

In 1796 Francis married Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. 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 his father returned to Naples and suppressed the Sicilian constitution and autonomy, 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. But he was probably more conservatively inclined than that.

Hence, on succeeding to the throne in 1825, he followed more conservative principles as well. 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 He was, however successful in having the Austrian occupation force withdrawn (1827) therefore relieving a large financial burden on the Treasury.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.

[edit] Ancestors

Francis I's ancestors in three generations
Francis I of the Two Sicilies Father:
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies		 Paternal Grandfather:
Charles III of Spain		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Philip V of Spain
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Elisabeth of Parma
Paternal Grandmother:
Maria Amalia of Saxony		 Paternal Great-grandfather:
Augustus III of Poland
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Maria Josepha of Austria
Mother:
Marie Caroline of Austria		 Maternal Grandfather:
Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Leopold, Duke of Lorraine
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Élisabeth Charlotte of Orléans
Maternal Grandmother:
Maria Theresa of Austria		 Maternal Great-grandfather:
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

[edit] Children

With Maria Clementina of Austria:

With Isabella of Spain:

Also had illegitimate children with his mistresses.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Born: 14 August 1777 Died: 8 November 1830
Regnal titles
Preceded by:
Ferdinand I		 King of the Two Sicilies
1825-1830		 Succeeded by:
Ferdinand II