Kingdom of neapolitan

The territories that later became part of the Kingdom of Naples constituted, by the beginning of the 11th century, a conglomerate of scattered Lombard princes ( Salerno , Capua ), vassals of the hereditary duchies ( Naples , Amalfi , Gaet ) and areas directly included in Byzantium. During the XI century, the entire territory of the future kingdom was conquered by the Normans , and in 1130 it became part of the newly formed Sicilian kingdom of Roger II Otville , which included the territory of the future Neapolitan kingdom in 1266 . The capital of the kingdom during this period was Palermo , the entire political history of the state was focused mainly on Sicily.

In 1265, the brother of King Louis of France Charles I of Anjou received from Pope Clement IV an investment in the hereditary possession of the Sicilian kingdom. On February 26, 1266, Charles I of Anjou defeated the troops of King Manfred at Benevento (Manfred himself died in this battle), then, almost without resistance, occupied the entire territory of the Sicilian kingdom. It was Charles I of Anjou who made Naples his residence.

The reign of Charles I of Anjou was despotic. All the burdensome taxes and monopolies introduced by the Hohenstaufen were saved and even increased. Thousands of followers of the Hohenstaufen have been executed, thrown into jail or banished. All the flax granted by Frederick II and his sons Conrad IV and Manfred were confiscated by Charles and then given to the French knights. The French behaved in the country as conquerors.

Dissatisfaction with the new king was the strongest in Sicily. March 30, 1282 in Palermo, an anti-French uprising broke out - the Sicilian Vespers . Over the next week, all the French in Sicily were destroyed. The attempt of Charles I of Anjou who landed in Messina and besieged her to crush the rebellion was unsuccessful. In August 1282, the son-in-law of Manfred, King of Aragon Pedro III , arrived in Sicily, who was soon recognized by all Sicilians as king (as the king of Sicily Pedro I).

Thus, the despotic and occupation regime of Charles I of Anjou led to the separation of Sicily into a separate state. The mainland of the former Sicilian kingdom remained in the hands of Charles I of Anjou and his heirs, who continued to be titled kings of Sicily. It is this state that is traditionally called the Kingdom of Naples.

Charles I of Anjou (reigned 1266–1285) and his successors Charles II (1285–1309), Robert (1309–1343), Giovanna I (1343–1382), Charles III Maly (1382–1386), Vladislav (1386–1414 ) pursued an active foreign policy that did not always correlate with the modest capabilities of their state.

Charles I of Anjou seriously threatened the Byzantine Empire that was reborn after the IV Crusade . His plans for the conquest of Constantinople were frustrated only because of the Sicilian Vespers. It is the influence of Charles that is credited with the change in 1270 of the proposed route of the VIII Crusade (instead of Egypt to Tunisia ): Tunisia, lying opposite Sicily, was much more interesting to Karl than distant Egypt. Karl made titanic efforts to gain control over the remnants of the crusader states in the East, as a result, he simply bought ( 1276 - 1277 ) from one of the pretenders the right to the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . As king of Jerusalem, Charles was preparing a new crusade, again ripped off by Sicilian evening.

Hungarian Succession

Charles II, who married Maria, sister of the Hungarian king Laszlo IV Kun , acquired the rights to the throne of Hungary after the death of his brother-in-law, which determined a new direction in Naples's foreign policy. The eldest son of Charles II, Karl Martell, was crowned in 1291 by the papal legate as king of Hungary, but another king was elected in Hungary. After nearly twenty years of struggle, the throne of Hungary was taken in 1308 by Charles I Robert , son of Karl Martell. At the same time, he had to give up his rights to Naples.

By family agreement, the successor of Charles II in 1309 was his third son, Robert. Later, after the suppression of the Hungarian line of the Anjou dynasty, the kings of Naples tried to occupy the throne of Hungary twice. Charles III managed at the end of 1385 to become king of Hungary and co-ruler of Queen Maria of Hungary, but was soon killed by his opponents.

The son of Charles III, Vladislav, in 1401 was the banner of the party that achieved the short-term arrest of Sigismund of Luxembourg , but did not manage to arrive in Hungary on time. Sigismund was released by his supporters and defeated the adherents of Vladislav.

Relations with the Papacy

Of considerable interest is the complicated history of relations between Naples and the papacy. Nominally, the kings of Naples were vassals of the pope and were required to support their sovereign. In fact, Neapolitan monarchs often sought control of the Papal States . Charles I of Anjou, Charles II and Robert, who needed the support of the pope in the struggle for Sicily, for the Hungarian succession to the throne (the last two) and the cunning oriental politics (the first) were loyal to the popes.

But already Queen Giovanna I entered into an open conflict with Urban VI , supporting the Avignon antipope Clement VII , which cost her a crown and a life.

Her killer and successor Charles III, who had captured Naples at the direct instigation of Urban VI, soon quarreled with his patron. The war between Charles III and Urban VI ended in the defeat of the pope, after which Charles III was excommunicated (he was killed in Hungary under excommunication).

The son of Charles III, Vladislav, also excommunicated by Urban VI, reconciled with his successor Boniface IX , then occupied the Papal Region, forcing Gregory XII to recognize the king as the sovereign of Rome .

The end of the complex relationship between the Anjou dynasty and the popes was the war between Vladislav and the Pisa antipope John XXIII . During this war, Vladislav was knocked out of Rome, defeated in May 1412 at Rocca Secca, obeyed John XXIII, then resumed fighting and took Rome in June 1413.

Anjou Dynasty and Crusader States in the Balkans

Princes from the unusually large family of Charles II managed to occupy the thrones in a number of small crusader states in the Balkans. The fourth son of Charles II Philip ( 1278 - 1332 ) became by marriage the prince of Achaea and the nominal Latin emperor of Constantinople. The fifth son of Charles II, John ( 1294 - 1336 ) became the Duke of Durazzo (now Durres - in Albania ).

After the Sicilian Vespers and the accession of Pedro III of Aragon to Sicily, the Neapolitan monarchs made repeated attempts to regain power over the island and continued to hold the empty title of kings of Sicily.

In 1283, Charles I of Anjou went to Provence to recruit a new army and navy. His viceroy in Naples remained the heir to the throne - the future Charles II . In 1284, the Sicilian Admiral Ruggiero di Lauria, with a feigned retreat, lured the Neapolitan fleet out of the harbor and defeated it. Charles II was captured.

After the death of Charles I of Anjou ( 1285 ), his son was proclaimed king, while still in prison in Sicily. Only in 1287 did it reach an agreement whereby Charles II was returned to freedom in exchange for renouncing claims to Sicily. The pope, insisting on his sovereignty over Sicily, refused to confirm the agreement, as a result the agreement was broken. As a result, Charles II was nevertheless released, but in May 1289 he was crowned pope as king of Sicily, which again led to the resumption of the war.

In 1295, another attempt was made to reconcile Naples and Aragon . In accordance with the agreement, the king of Aragon and Sicily, Jaime II, refused the crown of Sicily in favor of Carl Valois , son-in-law of Charles II. Carl Valois, in turn, refused the title of King of Aragon, which he received from Pope Martin IV in 1284 . This time, the Sicilians refused to obey the agreement concluded behind them, and crowned Federigo II , brother of Jaime II.

In 1302, Charles II and his son-in-law Karl Valois jointly invaded Sicily, but because of the onset of famine and epidemics, they were forced to stop moving inside the island. In August 1302, peace was concluded , ending the 20-year war for Sicily between the Anjou and Aragonese dynasties. Federigo II was recognized as the lifetime king of Sicily and married the daughter of Charles II Eleanor. Under the terms of the agreement, after the death of Federigo II, Sicily was to return again under the rule of Charles II and his descendants. In practice, this last condition has not been met. A number of historians consider that the year 1302 was the year of the formation of the Neapolitan and Sicilian kingdoms independent of each other.

Under the successors of Federigo II, royal power in Sicily weakened, a number of areas of the island were controlled by barons almost independent of the central government. Queen of Naples Giovanna I tried to take advantage of this. After a long war in 1372, King Federigo III recognized Giovanna I as Queen of Sicily and took a vassal oath to her and Pope. Federigo III at the same time retained power over the island with the title of King of Trinacria (the ancient name of Sicily).

The unrest in Naples, which began in 1381, and lasted for several decades, between the princes, who were contesting each other’s crown of Naples, did not allow the Neapolitan monarchs to gain real control over Sicily.

For a century, the Kingdom of Naples, albeit ruled by a foreign, French-born dynasty, remained a holistic strong power, bearing weight in both Italian and, in general, Mediterranean politics. Beginning in the 1370s, a deep crisis began that led to the economic weakening of the state, loss of influence in international affairs, and loss of independence.

The crisis of the Kingdom of Naples turned out to be a violation of the natural order of succession and the appearance in the arena of two dynasties that had approximately equal rights to the throne. In 1369, the childless queen Giovanna I elected Karl Durazzo (great-grandson of Charles II) as her heir out of numerous relatives, married him to her niece (and his cousin) Margarita.

In 1380, Giovanna I changed her mind and adopted the French prince Louis I of Anjou (great-great-grandson of Charles II on the female side). Pope Urban VI , who excommunicated Giovanna I from the Church, recognized Charles Durazzo as King of Naples and helped him capture Naples in 1381. Giovanna I was captured and strangled on May 22, 1382. Carl Durazzo occupied the throne of Naples under the name of Charles III.

Louis I of Anjou, meanwhile, was recognized as King of Naples by Pope Clement VII of Avignon, and in 1382 invaded Naples with a strong mercenary army to recapture the inheritance of his adoptive mother. During 1382-1384, two kings waged war on the territory of Southern Italy, ending in the ruin of Louis, the dispersal of his army and his sudden death.

Following Louis I of Anjou, died in 1386 and his happier rival Charles III. Now, the son of Charles III, Vladislav, had practically no means and allies, being under excommunication of the Roman and Avignon popes, to defend his crown against Louis II of Anjou , the son of Louis I. During 1389-1400, Louis II actually controlled most of southern Italy, including including the capital, and Vladislav was in Gaet. Only in 1400, Vladislav managed to free the territory of the kingdom from his opponent.

In the years 1411-1412, Louis II of Anjou again waged war against Vladislav, now at the head of the army of Pisa Pope John XXIII . Louis managed to drive the Neapolitan army out of Rome, and in May 1412 inflict a serious defeat on it under Rocca Secca. A step away from victory, Louis II quarreled with his allies and soon left Italy.

In 1420, the son of Louis II of Louis III of Anjou was recognized by Pope Martin V as the heir to the childless Neapolitan Queen Giovanna II , the sister and successor of Vladislav. Gathering a significant army, Louis III was preparing to conquer Naples. Giovanna II, in a hopeless situation, called for the help of Alphonse V , king of Aragon and Sicily, and adopted him.

The war (1420-1422) between Louis III and Alphonse V, which took place on the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, ended in the triumph of Alphonse. But Alphonse, who had earlier felt himself the ruler of Naples, went too far, disposing of the kingdom as king and ignoring Giovanna II. Therefore, taking advantage of Alphonse's temporary departure to Spain (1423), Giovanna II canceled his adoption and now adopted his former enemy Louis III. A new war between Louis III and the Aragonese ended with the victory of Louis, who became the heir to the Queen. Giovanna II survived her “son” and after his death (1434) recognized her brother Rene the Good as the heir.

At the time of the death of Giovanna II (February 2, 1435), Renee, who was involved in the war for the duchy of Lorraine , was in captivity and could not accept the crown. Taking advantage of this, Alphonse V, relying on the first adoption of Giovanna II, captured Naples. Freed from captivity, Renee arrived in southern Italy in 1438, but could not defeat Alphonse and left the country in 1442. In 1442, Alfonso V recognized king of Naples and the pope - overlord of the kingdom.

The inter-dynastic war, which lasted about 60 years, led to the weakening of the Kingdom of Naples. Applicants regularly brought with them foreign hired armies ravaging the country. The Neapolitan monarchs, in order to preserve the crown, were also forced to maintain foreign armies, which led to an overwhelming increase in the tax burden and economic recession. In addition, the presence of two equally legitimate monarchs led to the erosion of patriotism of the nobility, which could always choose a ruler more convenient at that moment.

The conquest of Naples by Alphonse V of Aragon (in Naples he became Alphonse I) opened a new page in the history of the country. Another alien dynasty, the Aragonese, was on the throne, and for the next half century the country was drawn into the orbit of Spanish influence. The peaceful period (1442-1458) of the reign of Alfonso I remained a golden age in Neapolitan history: the economy revived, trade, science and art developed. Naples was at that time the center of the Mediterranean power of Alphonse, which included Aragon , Catalonia , Mallorca , Sicily , Sardinia and Southern Italy .

With the death of Alphonse, the "golden age" ended at once. The kingdom of Naples, according to Alfonso's will, passed to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I (1458–1494), whose negative qualities outweighed the positive. Protecting art, he simultaneously led a very expensive and luxurious lifestyle, was loving, cruel, insidious and vindictive. His opponents rebelled, calling for the last time to the aid of the French prince - John of Anjou, the son of Rene the Good.

In 1460, Ferdinand I defeated at Sarno was on the verge of defeat. Fortunately for him, his energetic wife Isabella Chiaramonte took matters into his hands, bowing a portion of the Anjou adherents to her side and seeking the help of Pope Pius II . In 1462, Ferdinand I managed to defeat his opponents under Troy, and by 1464 the civil war ended in his victory.

The next 20 years were years of calm, and Ferdinand successfully played the role of his father, a Renaissance monarch. But in 1485 another rebellion of the nobility broke out against him, supported by Innocent VIII . Only in August 1486 did the opponents reconcile, and Ferdinand I vowed to forget the insults. But soon the king trapped the former rebels and dealt with them with particular cruelty. For this, Ferdinand I and his son (future Alphonse II ) were excommunicated, and the general dissatisfaction they sow led the dynasty to disaster.

Already after the death of Ferdinand I (1494), the French king Charles VIII , who considered himself the heir to the extinct Anjou line of Valois and confident in the general hatred of the Neapolitans towards the Aragonese dynasty, having secured the support of Pope Alexander VI and small Italian states, announced his claims to Naples.

In January 1495, the French army crossed the Neapolitan border , King Alphonse II (1494-1495), convinced of the impossibility of resisting universal hatred, renounced the throne, his son and successor Ferdinand II (1495-1496) fled to Sicily. Charles VIII gained control of all of southern Italy, was crowned in Naples and, due to political complications, returned to France in the summer of 1496.

The departure of Charles VIII provided an opportunity for revenge Ferdinand II. With the support of his cousin Ferdinand II of Aragon , who also owned Sicily, Ferdinand II regained his kingdom (1496), forcing the French garrisons to surrender. But already his successor Federigo (1496-1501) failed to confront external and internal enemies.

In November 1500, the new French king Louis XII , who had previously captured Milan , concluded a secret Granada treaty with Ferdinand II of Aragon on the joint conquest and division of the Kingdom of Naples. In the summer of 1501, the Allies simultaneously invaded southern Italy, King Federigo surrendered, the Neapolitans surrendered with little or no resistance.

Under the terms of the Granada Treaty, the French received Naples , Gaeta and Abruzzi , and Apulia , Basilicata and Calabria passed to the Aragonese. But already in 1503, the winners quarreled, in the outbreak of the war the French were defeated at Garigliano (November-December 1503). Under the terms of the new peace treaty, the Kingdom of Naples completely came under the control of Ferdinand II of Aragon. For southern Italy, more than two centuries of foreign rule began.

From 1503 to 1734, the Kingdom of Naples, formally preserved, lost its independence. The kings of Naples were successively Ferdinand II of Aragon (in Naples Ferdinand III) and his successors the Spanish Habsburgs ( Charles V , Philip II , Philip III , Philip IV , Charles II ). During this period, Southern Italy and the Mediterranean increasingly turned into a scene secondary to world politics. The conquest of vast possessions in America, the conflict with France, localized mainly in Northern Italy and the Netherlands, the Dutch Revolution , the Thirty Years War and the subsequent other pan-European wars absorbed the attention of the Spanish monarchs, while southern Italy became a deaf province of the “world empire”.

Charles V visited Naples and Sicily in 1535. Naples was ruled on behalf of the monarch by the Viceroy , who had full power in the territories accountable to him. The economic development of the Kingdom of Naples was inhibited during this period. The only major Neapolitan revolt against the Spanish crown was the Mazaniello uprising in 1647, and the brief existence of the Neapolitan Republic . The uprising was doomed from the very beginning, as the forts around the city continued to be controlled by troops loyal to the Spanish crown, and the territory around the city continued to be controlled by the nobility, the roads and the food supply of the rebellious city were in the hands of forces loyal to Spain. Viceroy Rodrigo Ponce de Leon went with the rebels to negotiate, and six months later, the Spaniards again occupied the city without resistance. The rebels were beheaded and control of Naples restored. The French fleet twice attempted to attack and occupy the city, in the hope of supporting the rebels, but twice the French forces were successfully repulsed by the Spanish troops.

After the death of Charles II (1700), Naples, among other possessions of the Spanish Habsburgs, was the subject of a pan-European conflict - the war for the Spanish inheritance . In its course in 1707, Naples was captured by the Austrians. Under the terms of the Utrecht Peace, the Kingdom of Naples became part of the possessions of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI . According to the results of the Fourth Alliance War , the Sicilian kingdom was included in the number of Austrian possessions.

See List of Viceroys of Naples

After 1716, one of the most important tasks of Spanish diplomacy was to ensure the sons of Philip V from the second wife of Elizabeth Farnese independent property in Italy.

In 1725, Philip V and Charles VI finally recognized each other and the status quo in the Apennines as a result of recent wars. A separate article stipulated that Infant Karl (1716–1788), the eldest of the children of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese, would become the heir to the dying ducal dynasties in Parma and Tuscany . In 1731, after the death of the last Farnese, Carl took possession of Parma.

In 1733, a new conflict began in Europe, this time over the Polish inheritance . Taking advantage of this crisis, Carl, with the support of his father, occupied Naples and Sicily . Under the terms of the Vienna preliminary peace (October 3, 1735), Austria reconciled with the loss of Southern Italy, Charles was recognized by Europe as king of Naples and Sicily. In exchange for this, the new king (according to the Neapolitan account, Charles VII) refused Parma and inheritance rights to Tuscany in favor of the Habsburgs, and together with his father recognized the Pragmatic sanction . The same treaty determined that the crowns of Naples and Spain would never be on the head of the same monarch. During the war for the Austrian inheritance in 1744, the Austrian army tried to return Naples to the Habsburgs, but was defeated by Charles VII at the Battle of Velletri .

The reign of Charles VII (1734-1759) left a significant mark in the history of Naples. For the first time since 1501, Southern Italy gained its monarch, and only this ensured Charles VII's intravital and posthumous popularity. Charles VII, under the influence of his minister Bernardo Tanucci, ruled the country in the spirit of enlightened absolutism. The king consistently reduced the privileges of the clergy, its strength, forced the clergy engaged in economic activities to pay taxes from which they had previously been exempted. Similarly, Charles VII introduced taxes for the land aristocracy. Thus, it was possible to reduce the tax burden for the common people. Charles VII simultaneously successfully fought against secret organizations, such as Masons , and opposed the clergy's attempts to restore the Inquisition in the country. A judicial reform was carried out, the Italian language became the first state language . Charles VII created long-term favorable conditions for the development of the economy, especially the textile industry and trade, by concluding trade agreements with most European powers and Mediterranean neighbors, including the Ottoman Empire . Under Charles VII, grandiose public works were carried out to build roads, bridges, and reconstruct Neapolitan harbor.

After the death of his childless brother Ferdinand VI in 1759, Charles ascended the Spanish throne under the name Charles III (1759-1788) by inheritance. Since, according to the conditions of the Vienna Peace of 1735, he could not simultaneously occupy the thrones of Spain and Naples, Charles, before sailing to Spain on October 6, 1759, transferred Southern Italy to his third son Ferdinand (1751-1825), who became king of Naples under the name Ferdinand IV (1759 —1799, 1799-1806, 1815-1816) and the king of Sicily under the name Ferdinand III (1759-1816). Tanucci was appointed head of the regency council, which ensured the continuity of foreign and domestic policy.

Ferdinand IV, who was on the throne at an early age and did not receive a decent education, was completely incapable of governing the country. His true passion was hunting, fishing, and love affairs. Maria-Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), who became his wife in 1768, quickly gained unlimited power over her limp husband, secured the resignation of Tanucci (1777), and subsequently virtually ruled the country along with her favorite John Acton .

The new government formally continued the reform policy, but in reality, by the 1780s, reforms had reached an impasse. In the era of revolutionary upheaval, the united Neapolitan and Sicilian kingdoms entered as an economically backward absolute monarchy, led by an insignificant king and a queen unpopular with the people.

The first republican clubs arose in Naples in 1793, in August of the same year a number of clubs merged into the Patriotic Society. The activity of the Republicans was facilitated by the stay in the French fleet in the Bay of Naples. After the departure of the French ships and the news of the direction of the English fleet to the Mediterranean Sea, Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina decided to break off relations with republican France.

In December 1793, the leaders of the Patriotic Society were arrested or forced to flee abroad. Then the repression fell on another club, "Republic or Death", the majority of whose members were arrested, and three were hanged on October 18, 1794. The successes of the French army in Italy in 1796, the actual collapse of the First Coalition forced Ferdinand IV to stop persecuting dissidents. After the signing of the Paris Treaty with France (October 11, 1796), the Neapolitan government granted amnesty to all political prisoners.

In November 1798 , when the Second Coalition was formed against France, which included Russia, Austria and England, Ferdinand IV violated the conditions of the Paris world and invaded the territory of the Roman Republic - an ally of France.

The French, who did not expect an attack, were forced to leave Rome, but then defeated the Neapolitans under Civita-Castellana. Located in Rome, Ferdinand IV, learning about the defeat of his army, fled in the wrong clothes in Naples. Having ordered the distribution of weapons to all Neapolitans and the burning of the Neapolitan fleet, Ferdinand IV, Maria Carolina and their closest minions fled from Naples to Sicily on the night of December 21, 1798, in Naples on the English ship of Admiral Nelson .

After a heroic three-day defense on January 21-23, 1799, Naples was taken by the French army under the command of General Championne . On January 24, 1799, the Partenopean Republic was proclaimed in Naples, whose power was distributed by the French throughout the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, with the exception of Abruzzi and Southern Calabria . These areas, as well as Sicily, remained under the rule of King Ferdinand.

The newly formed republic was not strong. Peasant revolts began in the provinces, which the new government suppressed by force. There was no unity among the Republicans themselves. The recall to France of General Championne, the victory of the Russian-Austrian armies in Northern Italy, the subsequent withdrawal of the French units from Naples to Northern Italy inspired the monarchists.

On February 8, 1799, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo appeared in Calabria with a handful of supporters, in the name of the king announcing the creation of the army of the Holy Faith to liberate Naples from the French and Republicans. Within a few months, this army ( sanfedists ) turned into a formidable force, which, with the support of the English (Nelson) and Russian ( Ushakov ) fleets from the sea, liberated the entire territory of Southern Italy from the Republicans.

On June 22, 1799, the remains of the French army and Republicans capitulated to Ruffo. Under the terms of surrender, they were promised free access to ships with the right to leave Naples, and an amnesty was declared to all supporters of the republic. But Ferdinand IV, Maria Carolina and Nelson, who stood behind them, refused to recognize the agreement signed on their behalf by Cardinal Ruffo, after which the cardinal resigned.

The restoration of Ferdinand in Naples was marked by significant repression. According to historians, over the next year, about 9 thousand people were executed, 30 thousand were arrested, 7 thousand were expelled. Repressions were stopped only after Bonaparte's victory at Marengo , when France, once again regaining control of northern Italy, ultimately demanded an end to executions in Naples.

In 1805, Ferdinand IV joined the Third Coalition . After the defeat of the Russian-Austrian army at Austerlitz and Austria's withdrawal from the war (December 1805), Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina, without waiting for the French invasion, again fled to Sicily under the protection of the English fleet.

In March 1806, Napoleon I, by decree, deposed the Neapolitan Bourbons and transferred the crown of Naples to his brother Joseph Bonaparte , who was replaced in 1808 by the son-in-law of the emperor Joachim Murat .

Murat’s rule in Naples was peaceful, the kingdom’s state structure was brought into line with the structure of the First Empire. Murat managed to win over most of the bourgeoisie and the land aristocracy. Under Murat, proceedings were introduced by Minister Giuseppe Zurlo . Murat was too connected with Napoleon, and the emperor's failures led to the fall of the king.

In 1813 , after the French escaped from Russia, Murat entered into secret negotiations with Austria, hoping to maintain his power even in the event of the defeat of Napoleon. Soon military happiness again leaned on the side of the French, and Murat, breaking the negotiations with Austria, again joined Napoleon and participated on his side in the battle for Dresden (August 26–27, 1813) and in the “Battle of the Peoples” near Leipzig (October 16–19) 1813).

After Napoleon’s defeat, Murat returned to Naples, openly sided with the coalition, and during January-February 1814 the Neapolitans together with the Austrians liberated Northern and Central Italy from the French. Murat hoped to maintain his crown, but the Vienna Congress , which took as the main thesis the need to return all possessions to their monarchs, was inclined to decide to return the Bourbons to Naples. Therefore, upon receiving the news of Napoleon's return to France ( One Hundred Days ), Murat declared war on Austria on March 15, 1815, and called on all Italians to fight against the invaders. The Neapolitan troops quickly moved north, occupied Rome and Bologna, but were defeated at Tolentino. Murat, having left the army, fled to Naples, then to France.

In May 1815, Ferdinand IV again became king of Naples. The king, who during the years of Sicilian exile became a constitutional monarch (1812), having occupied Naples, began to rule again as an absolute monarch. In order to permanently destroy the memory of both the constitution granted to him in Sicily and the years of the constitutional monarchy of Murat in Naples, Ferdinand announced on December 8, 1816 the unification of the two kingdoms into a single state - the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Religion

Unlike the rest of Europe, where religious wars were raging, Naples, due to its position in the southern Mediterranean , bypassed this fate. From the moment of the accession of the Anjou dynasty, Catholicism received the status of the state religion, and its followers had the support of the majority of the population. Religious minorities, as well as foreign settlers who professed Islam and Orthodoxy, were oppressed because of their beliefs.

Fencing

During the bloody battles, battles, conquests, its own fencing system was formed, which is called Neapolitan fencing , based on documentary sources, arose in the city of Naples at the beginning of the 15th century. The Neapolitan school of fencing is considered one of the most powerful fencing schools in Italy ^[2] . Neapolitan fencing is the twin of Sicilian fencing, shorter movements are a distinctive feature. In this style of fencing there is a series of Spanish punches, work with a brush, with the help of which weapons are also imitated. It has its own fighting position , also its own Neapolitan weapons, such as a sword and a sword. This fencing is based on the principles and methods of action of animals, that is, the Neapolitan fencing is based on logical models of animals, on which technique is then built. The technique of this style of fencing is proudly mixed with fun and dancing , which distinguished the Neapolitans in their nature ^[3] .

See List of Rulers of the Kingdom of Naples

• Neapolitan Fencing
• Cavallo
• Middle Abruzzo
• The science of fencing (the last treatise is dedicated to the Neapolitan school)