The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Neapolitan: Regno d''e Ddoje Sicilie; Sicilian: Regnu dî Dui Sicili; Italian: Regno delle Due Sicilie; Spanish: Reino de las Dos Sicilias) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and all of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States, which covered most of the area of today's Mezzogiorno.
The kingdom was formed when the Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples, which was officially also known as the Kingdom of Sicily. Since both kingdoms were named Sicily, they were collectively known as the "Two Sicilies" (Utraque Sicilia, literally "both Sicilies"), and the unified kingdom adopted this name. The king of the Two Sicilies was overthrown by Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860, after which the people voted in a plebiscite to join the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia. The annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies completed the first phase of Italian unification, and the new Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861.
The Two Sicilies were heavily agricultural, like the other Italian states.
1849May, 15
Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily.
Choose Another Date
Events on 1849
- 13Feb
Franz Joseph I of Austria
The delegation headed by Metropolitan bishop Andrei Șaguna hands out to the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria the General Petition of Romanian leaders in Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina, which demands that the Romanian nation be recognized. - 29Mar
Punjab region
The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab. - 14Apr
Lajos Kossuth
Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Lajos Kossuth as its leader. - 3Jul
Italian unification
The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification. - 17Sep
Harriet Tubman
American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.