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| Naples 1707-1735 |
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French Revolution The Parthenopean Republic, 1799 |
| The Kingdom of Two Sicilies 1735-1799 |
In the War of Polish Succession (1733-1735),
Spain, now under the Bourbon Dynasty, regained the
Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, lost to Austria respectively
Savoy-Piemont in the
War of Spanish Succession (1700-1713). Don Carlos, son of the King of Spain, was crowned
King of Two Sicilies (1738); Spain
renounced her claims, the Two Sicilies thus becoming a sideline of the Spanish Bourbon Dynasty.
Jews, banned from Naples since 1541, were readmitted.
He reformed the army and improved the roads. When an English fleet threatened the Neapolitan coast
in 1742, during the War of Austrian
Succession, the Kingdom hastily declared neutrality. Later during the same war, in 1744, an
Austrian invasion was repelled.
A number of reforms pertained to the church; the number of priests was limited to 10 for every 1000 inhabitants, later reduced to five; for the construction of new churches state permission was required, church tax reduced etc.; in 1741 a concordat was signed. A 1756 edict redefined the status of nobles, with the objective to turn them into a class of public servants.
In 1759, King Charles inherited the Spanish crown; he abdicated as King of the Two Sicilies in favour of his son Ferdinand and, in the pragmatic decree of 1759, established rules for the succession in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which was to be ruled by a side branch of the Spanish Bourbon Dynasty. A Cadastral Survey of the kingdom was begun in 1740 and completed in the 1750s.
For many years, minister Bernardo Tanucci, a Tuscan, dominated Neapolitan politics; he ruled as regent during the minority of Ferdinand I. (until 1767). The Jesuits were expelled in 1767; when Pope Clement XIII. responded by excommunicating Tanucci, the latter ordered Pontecorvo and Benevent, exclaves of the Papal State surrounded by Neapolitan territory, occupied (until 1773).
Ferdinand's wife Maria Carolina, a daughter of Austria's Maria Theresia, had Tanucci dismissed (1777) and replaced by Englishman John Acton; during his administration, the Two Sicilies switched from a Spanish to an Anglo-Austrian Alliance.
A Supreme Council of Finance was established in Naples in 1782. In 1778 the Neapolitan Academy of Science and Letters was founded.
The Spanish and Austrian Line of the Habsburgs, the Spanish/Neapolitan Line of the Bourbon, the Dukes of Savoy had one thing in common : they were foreigners, and as such they were perceived by the establishment, the landowning nobility and the church, which cooperated in order to defend their position.
The university of Naples was the first to appoint a professor for political economy, Antonio Genovesi (1754). Some attempts were made by the Neapolitan government to introduce reforms; the Jesuits were expelled in 1765, convents closed, attempts were made to reform the agriculture, vehemently opposed by the landowning nobility. In 1763/1764 Naples was struck by a severe famine.
In 1793 the Kingdom of Two Sicilies joined the First War of the Coalition against France. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1794. In 1798 Neapolitan forces moved into the Papal State in order to expel the French; the coalition falling apart, King Ferdinand, responding to Napoleon's threats, withdrew his forces.
A number of reforms pertained to the church; the number of priests was limited to 10 for every 1000 inhabitants, later reduced to five; for the construction of new churches state permission was required, church tax reduced etc.; in 1741 a concordat was signed. A 1756 edict redefined the status of nobles, with the objective to turn them into a class of public servants.
In 1759, King Charles inherited the Spanish crown; he abdicated as King of the Two Sicilies in favour of his son Ferdinand and, in the pragmatic decree of 1759, established rules for the succession in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which was to be ruled by a side branch of the Spanish Bourbon Dynasty. A Cadastral Survey of the kingdom was begun in 1740 and completed in the 1750s.
For many years, minister Bernardo Tanucci, a Tuscan, dominated Neapolitan politics; he ruled as regent during the minority of Ferdinand I. (until 1767). The Jesuits were expelled in 1767; when Pope Clement XIII. responded by excommunicating Tanucci, the latter ordered Pontecorvo and Benevent, exclaves of the Papal State surrounded by Neapolitan territory, occupied (until 1773).
Ferdinand's wife Maria Carolina, a daughter of Austria's Maria Theresia, had Tanucci dismissed (1777) and replaced by Englishman John Acton; during his administration, the Two Sicilies switched from a Spanish to an Anglo-Austrian Alliance.
A Supreme Council of Finance was established in Naples in 1782. In 1778 the Neapolitan Academy of Science and Letters was founded.
The Spanish and Austrian Line of the Habsburgs, the Spanish/Neapolitan Line of the Bourbon, the Dukes of Savoy had one thing in common : they were foreigners, and as such they were perceived by the establishment, the landowning nobility and the church, which cooperated in order to defend their position.
The university of Naples was the first to appoint a professor for political economy, Antonio Genovesi (1754). Some attempts were made by the Neapolitan government to introduce reforms; the Jesuits were expelled in 1765, convents closed, attempts were made to reform the agriculture, vehemently opposed by the landowning nobility. In 1763/1764 Naples was struck by a severe famine.
In 1793 the Kingdom of Two Sicilies joined the First War of the Coalition against France. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1794. In 1798 Neapolitan forces moved into the Papal State in order to expel the French; the coalition falling apart, King Ferdinand, responding to Napoleon's threats, withdrew his forces.
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EXTERNAL FILES |
Naples, Kingdom of, from infoplease;
Naples, from Catholic Encyclopedia The Royal House of the Two Sicilies, History, from The Royal House of Bourbon Article Kingdom of Naples, from EB 1911 Article Naples from Catholic Encyclopedia Article Bernardo Tanucci, from Catholic Encyclopedia L'avvento Borbone, from Repubblica Napoletana, in Italian, illustrated Alexandre Dumas, Storia dei Borboni di Napoli, from Repubblica Napoletana, in Italian The Virtual Jewish History Tour : Timeline Italy Civitella, from Walled Cities |
| DOCUMENTS |
Map : major Italian States in 1748, from Modern Italy
at Dickinson College; with inaccuracies (Veltlin etc.) George Chalmers: [A] collection of treaties between Great Britain and other powers. (London 1790): vol. 2 : English Treaties with two Sicilies : 1713 The Engagement, concerning the Rights of British Merchants in Sicily, at Utrecht pp.338 ff List of Kings etc., from World Statesmen : Italian States, 1760-1860 by Ben Cahoon, scroll down Charles III. of Spain, the Two Sicilies etc., Pragmatic Decree of October 6th 1759, posted by Chivalric Orders, in Italian Portrait of (the 9-year-old, future) King Ferdinand IV. of Naples, 1760, by Adolf Mengs, posted by Web Gallery of Art |
| REFERENCE |
History of Italian Regions : Naples / Two Sicilies, from History Book Reviews
The 18th Century : the Era of Enlightened Reforms, in : Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Pr. 1994, pp.75-86 Anna Maria Rao, Enlightenment and Reform, pp.229-252 in Early Modern Italy (Short Oxford History of Italy), Oxford : UP 2002 [G] Girolamo Imbruglia, Naples in the 18th Century, Cambridge : UP 2000, KMLA Lib.Sign. 945.73 I32n Jeanne Chenault Porter, Baroque Naples, 1600-1800, a documentary history, NY : Italica Press 2001, KMLA Lib.Sign. 945 P844b v.4 |
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