Sicilies, << SIHS uh leez, >> Kingdom of the Two, was the name of an early kingdom of Italy. It consisted of the Kingdom of Naples in southern Italy, and the Kingdom of Sicily on the island of Sicily. At times, they were united as the Two Sicilies. The kingdom was formed in the early 1100’s by Normans, who conquered the region during the 1000’s.
In 1266, the Two Sicilies came under French rule. In 1282, an uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers took place in Sicily. It resulted in the massacre of nearly all the French on the island. Sicily was later separated from Naples and ruled by the Spanish. In the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713, Austria seized Naples, and Sicily was given to Savoy. Savoy turned Sicily over to Austria in 1719, in exchange for Sardinia.
In 1734, Spain conquered Naples and Sicily, and a member of the royal Spanish Bourbon family became their ruler. Under Napoleon, the French held Naples briefly in 1799 and again from 1806 to 1815. Later in 1815, it was returned to Bourbon rule. In 1816, Naples and Sicily were formally united as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies played an important part in the movement for a united Italy. In 1820, there was an uprising in Naples of the Carbonari, a secret nationalist society. King Ferdinand was forced to grant the Neapolitans a constitution. An Austrian army invaded Naples and restored Ferdinand to power.
In 1860, the Italian military leader Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for the Kingdom of Italy, which was just coming into being. Later that year, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became part of the domain of Victor Emmanuel II, who became king of Italy in 1861.
