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Elder son of King Francis I, Ferdinand was born in
Palermo on 12 January 1810 and died in Caserta on
22 May 1859, when he was still young. A year after
his death the invasion of the Kingdom began and nobody
can say whether, had he still been alive, things would
have been different. History, as everybody knows,
is not made of suppositions; but we know what type
of person and king he was and therefore we are not
wrong if we say that Garibaldi and company would have
had a hard time with him still on the Throne.
Ferdinand II of Bourbon
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At
first he had the title of Duke of Noto and after
the death of his grandfather in 1825 he became
Duke of Calabria. Ecclesiastic and military
people educated him. That explains his deep
faith and his passion for military things. When
he was still a child, the British thought of
making him King of Sicily (according to their
plans, he would have been easily controlled),
whereas in 1820 the Carbonari wanted to give
him the crown of Lombardy. Later someone thought
he could be the leader of the future Risorgimento.
But Ferdinand was never tempted by these proposals,
because of his sincere affection to his land
and people and also because he was aware of
his rights as King were based on his dynastic
legitimacy and this legitimacy was sacred for
all lawful sovereigns. Therefore every lawful
sovereign had to be respected and his royal
rights protected. In other words, Ferdinand
always respected the Gospel motto "do as
you would be done by". For this reason
others could continue to reign and later take
possession of Ferdinand’s kingdom by dispossessing
his lawful heirs. |
In 1827, after the departure of the Austrian forces
from the Kingdom, he was appointed as General Captain
of the army. On 8 November 1830, his dying father
gave him his blessing and he ascended the Throne when
still in his prime. He immediately issued a proclamation
in which he promised he would resolve the problems
still troubling the Kingdom. He spent the rest of
his life to keep this promise. He immediately replaced
some ministers, reduced the spending of the Court,
gave a great amnesty to political prisoners and exiled
people, recalled for service some officers who had
served under Murat and where suspended after the risings
of 1820, did not punish harshly some conspirators
who had attempted on his life during the first years
of his reign. However, despite his royal mercifulness,
he never forgot his duties as Catholic king and openly
opposed the liberal reforms implemented by his sister
Maria Christine in Spain and took Charles’ sides.
Maria Cristina of Savoy
Caracciolo
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In
1832 he married Princess Maria Cristina of Savoy,
fourth daughter of Victor Emanuel I, who gave
him a son destined to succeed him as Francis
II. Maria Cristina was a woman of extraordinary
religious piety and charity and her life in
Naples was not easy for health reasons, but
she endured everything in a Christian spirit.
Her subjects loved her for her virtues and considered
her a living saint. The Catholic Church has
listed her among the venerable people and her
canonization is still underway. She died in
1836, fifteen days after giving birth to her
son, comforted by religious sacraments. On 26
December of that same year, Ferdinand II married
Archduchess Maria Teresa of Hapsburg, who gave
him nine children - among which Alfonso Maria,
Head of the Royal House after Francis II died
without heirs in 1894. Many of his daughters
married sovereigns. |
The Events of 1848
Maria
Teresa of Austria
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As
everybody knows, after the failure of the Carbonari
risings in 1820-21 and 1830-31, the "Giovine
Italia" became operative in Italy. Founded
by Giuseppe Mazzini, this organisation made
a series of attempts to subvert the established
order. Among these attempt, that of the Bandiera
brothers is worth mentioning. The Bandiera brothers
attempted a landing (with only 20 men) against
the peaceful and lawful Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
hoping that the population would follow them
and expel the Bourbon. They died in a tragic
way. The moderate party of the Risorgimento
found the federal proposal made by Vincenzo
Gioberti as a valid alternative to Mazzini’s
extremism. In his work "Il primato morale
e civile degli italiani", first published
in 1843, Vincenzo Gioberti stressed the supremacy
of Italian culture and civilization - due mainly
to the fact that the Seat of the Catholic Church
had always been in Italy - and proposed a solution
to the Italian Issue: the creation of a federation
of lawful States (which therefore could keep
their lawful sovereigns) under the lead of the
Roman Pontiff. |
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