The

Tancred's rival for the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, deHe easily conquered both the scended into Italy in 1194. mainland and the island, and Tancred's only son William III. surrendered the crown to him. But with the excuse of a pretended plot he put a number of the most conspicuous persons in the kingdoms to death, and had William himself blinded. He then returned to Germany, and during his absence an agitation broke out, provoked by the cruelty of his lieutenants and encouraged by his Norman wife. He hurried back to Italy, and repressed the movement with his usual ferocity, but died in 1197. Costanza then had her son Frederick emperor (b. 1194) proclaimed king, and obtained the support Frederick of the Holy See on condition that the kingdom should be once more recognized as a fief of the church. The whole history of the ensuing period of south Italian history turns on the claims of the papacy over the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, based on the recognition of papal suzerainty in 1053. The Hohenstaufen kings refused to admit this claim; hence the persistent hostility of the popes and the calling in of foreign potentates and armies. Costanza died in 1198, leaving Pope Innocent III. regent and tutor to her son; the pope's authority was contested by various nobles, but in 1209 Frederick married Costanza, daughter of the king of Aragon, with whose help he succeeded in reducing a large part of Sicily to obedience. Two years later he was elected king of the Romans at the diet of Nuremberg in opposition to Otto IV., and in 1220 he was crowned emperor in Rome by pope Honorius III., but continued to reside in Sicily. He quelled a rising of Sicilian barons and Saracens, and confined 60,000 of the latter at Lucera in Capitanata, where they ended by becoming a most loyal colony. After the death of Frederick's wife Pope Honorius III. arranged a marriage for him with Yolande, daughter of John of Brienne (1225). But in 1227 Gregory IX. excommunicated him because he delayed the crusade which he had promised to undertake; and although he sailed the following year, and concluded a treaty with the sultan of Egypt whereby the kingdom of Jerusalem was re-established, the pope was not satisfied and sent an army into Neapolitan territory. On his return Frederick defeated the pontificals, and in 1230 peace was made at San Germano and the excommunication withdrawn. In 1231 he issued the celebrated Constitutions of the Sicilian kingdom at the parliament of Melfi. He had further quarrels with successive pontiffs, and was excommunicated more than once. In 1246 a number of his own barons and officials of the mainland conspired against his rule, but were crushed with great ferocity, and even his faithful secretary, Pietro della Vigna, fell a victim to the emperor's suspicions. Frederick's last years were embittered by the hostilities following on the crusade which the pope proclaimed against him and by rebellions in Naples and Sicily. He died in 1250. His policy was anti-feudal and tended to concentrate power into his own hands; hence the frequent risings of the barons. His court at Palermo had been one of the most brilliant in Europe, and attracted learned men from all over the then known world; his somewhat pagan philosophy was afterwards regarded as marking the beginnings of modern rationalism. He opened schools and universities, and he himself wrote poetry in Sicilian dialect.

Manfred.

His son Conrad IV succeeded to the empire, while to his illegitimate son Manfred he left the principality of Taranto and the regency of the southern kingdom, to be held By his political sagacity and in Conrad's name. moderation Manfred won a strong party to his side and helped Conrad to subjugate the rebellious barons. The emperor died in 1254, leaving an infant son, Conradin (b. 1252), and Manfred was appointed vicar-general during the latter's minority. Manfred, too, encountered the hostility of the popes, against whom he had to wage war, generally with success, and of some of the barons whom the papacy encouraged to rebel; and in 1258, on a rumour of Conradin's death, he was offered and accepted the crown of Naples and Sicily. The rumour proved false, but he retained the crown, promising to leave the kingdom to Conradin at his death and to defend his rights. He now became head of

Charles I.

the Ghibellines or Imperialists of Italy, and his position was
strengthened by the marriage of his daughter Costanza to Peter,
son of King James of Aragon. But he met with opposition from
the turbulent nobility and the clergy, who had been deprived
of many privileges, and he failed to conciliate the communes,
which were oppressed by taxes and beginning to aspire to
Innocent IV., in his determination to crush the
autonomy.
Hohenstaufens, offered the kingdom in turn to Richard, earl
of Cornwall, to Edward, son of Henry III. of England, and to
Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX. of France. After long
negotiations with successive popes, Charles was finally induced
by Clement IV. to come to Italy in 1265, agreeing to accept
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies as a fief of the church, and
in 1266 he marched southward with the privileges of
a crusader (see CHARLES I., king of Naples and Sicily).
The defection of many cities and nobles facilitated his task,
and Manfred was forced to retire on Benevento, where, on the
26th of February, owing to the treachery of a part of his troops,
he was defeated and killed. As a result of this victory Charles
was soon master of almost the whole kingdom, and he entered
Naples, which now became the capital instead of Palermo.
Old laws,
He persecuted the nobles who had sided with Manfred, and
established a military despotism which proved more oppressive
than that of the Hohenstaufens had ever been.
customs and immunities were ruthlessly swept away, the people
were ground down with taxes, and the highest positions and
finest estates conferred on French and Provençal nobles. Al-
though the southern Italians had long been ruled by foreigners,
them, and initiated that long period of corruption, decadence
it was the Angevin domination which thoroughly denationalized
Invited by Sicilian malcontents and Ghibellines, Conradin
and foreign slavery which only ended in the 19th century.
(Ital. Corradino), the last surviving Hohenstaufen, descended
in Germany, and he found many supporters; but
into Italy in 1267 at the head of a small army collected
A battle took place
of Lucera and came to intercept him.
King Charles on hearing of his arrival abandoned the siege
were defeated, and Conradin himself was subsequently caught
at Tagliacozzo (August 23rd, 1268), in which the Imperialists
and beheaded (see CONRADIN). All who had assisted the un-
and handed over to Charles, who had him tried for high treason
of Agosta put to the sword. Thus ended the power of the
fortunate youth were cruelly persecuted, and the inhabitants
and Conradin awakened sympathy among the people of the
Hohenstaufens. Although the picturesque figures of Manfred
kingdom, their authority was never really consolidated and their
of another foreigner like the Angevin comparatively easy.
German knights were hated; which facts rendered the enterprise

Conradin.

The

Sicilian

Vespers,

In Sicily, however, Charles's government soon made itself odious by its exactions, the insolence and cruelty of the king's French officials and favourites, the depreciation of the currency, and the oppressive personal services, while the nobles were incensed at the violation of their feudal constitution. Just as Charles was contemplating an expedition to the East, the Sicilians rose in revolt, were led by the Salernitan noble Giovanni da Procida, a friend massacring the French throughout the island. The malcontents at the court of Peter III. of Aragon, husband of Manfred's of the emperor Frederick and of Manfred, who had taken refuge daughter Costanza. He had induced Peter to make good his somewhat shadowy claims to the crown of Sicily, but while preparations were being made for the expedition, the popular acre of nearly all the French in the island, broke out at Palermo rising known as the Sicilian Vespers, which resulted in the masson Easter Day 1282. Peter reached Palermo in September, and by the following month had captured Messina, the last French stronghold. Pope Martin IV. now proclaimed a crusade against the Aragonese, and the war continued for many years. The Sicilian fleet under Ruggiero di Lauria defeated that of where the king's son, Charles the Lame, was captured. Charles I. the Angevins at Malta in 1283, and 1284 in the Bay of Naples. died in 1286, and, his heir being a prisoner, his grandson, Charles

sion.

Revolu tions.

Naples, which became henceforth an integral part of the Spanish | dominions. The old divisions of nobility, clergy and people were maintained and their mutual rivalry encouraged; the Naples & Spanish nobles were won over by titles and by the splendour posses. of the viceregal court, but many persons of low birth who showed talent were raised to high positions. The viceroy was assisted by the Collateral Council and the Sacred College of Santa Chiara, composed of Spanish and Italian members, and there was an armed force of the two nationalities. Spanish rule on the whole was oppressive and tyrannical, and based solely on the idea that the dependencies must pay tribute to the dominant kingdom. During the rule of Don Pedro de Toledo (one of the best viceroys) Naples became the centre of a Protestant movement which spread to the rest of Italy, but was ultimately crushed by the Inquisition. In Sicily Spanish rule was less absolute, for the island had not been conquered, but had given itself over voluntarily to the Aragonese; and the parliament, formed by the three bracci or orders (the militare consisting of the nobility, the ecclesiastico, of the clergy, and the demaniale, of the communes), imposed certain limitations on the viceroy, who had to play off the three bracci against each other. But the oppressive character of the government provoked several rebellions. In 1598 an insurrection, headed by the philosopher Tommaso Campanella, broke out in Calabria, and was crushed with great severity. In 1647, during the viceroyalty of the marquis de Los Leres in Sicily, bread riots in Palermo became a veritable revolution, and the people, led by the goldsmith Giovanni d' Alessio, drove the viceroy from the city; but the nobles, fearing for their privileges, took the viceroy's part and turned the people against d'Alessio, who was murdered, and Los Leres returned. On the 7th of July 1647, tumults occurred at Naples in consequence of a new fruit tax, and the viceroy, Count d' Arcos, was forced to take refuge in the Castelnuovo. The populace, led by an Amalfi fisherman, known as Masaniello (q.v.), obtained Masaniello. arms, erected barricades, and, while professing loyalty to the king of Spain, demanded the removal of the oppressive taxes and murdered many of the nobles. D' Arcos came to terms with Masaniello; but in spite of this, and of the assassination of Masaniello, whose arrogance and ferocity had made him unpopular, the disturbances continued, and again the viceroy Even the had to retire to Castelnuovo and make concessions. arrival of reinforcements from Spain failed to restore order, and the new popular leader, Gennaro Annese, now sought assistance from the French, and invited the duke of Guise to come to Naples. The duke came with some soldiers and ships, but failed to effect anything; and after the recall of d' Arcos the new viceroy, Count d'Ognate, having come to an arrangement with Annese and got Guise out of the city, proceeded to punish all who had taken part in the disturbances, and had Annese and a number of others beheaded.

The ce volution at

Messias.

In 1670 disorders broke out at Messina. They began with a
riot between the nobles and the burghers, but ended in an anti-
Spanish movement; and while the inhabitants called
in the French, the Spaniards, who could not crush the
the Dutch. Louis XIV. sent a fleet
rising, called
under the duc de Vivonne to Sicily, which defeated
the Dutch under de Ruyter in 1676. But at the peace of
Nijmwegen (1679) Louis treacherously abandoned the Messinese,
who suffered cruel persecution at the hands of the Spaniards
and lost all their privileges. An anti-Spanish conspiracy of
Neapolitan nobles, led by Macchia, with the object of proclaiming
the archduke Charles of Austria king of Naples, was discovered;
but in 1707 an Austrian army conquered the kingdom, and
Spanish rule came to an end after 203 years, during which it had
succeeded in thoroughly demoralizing the people.

In Sicily the Spaniards held their own until the peace of
Utrecht in 1713, when the island was given over to Duke
In
Victor of Savoy, who assumed the title of king,
1718 he had to hand back his new possession to
Spain, who, in 1720, surrendered it to Austria and gave
Sardinia to Victor Amadeus In 1733 the treaty of the Escurial

Sicily under Savoy.

Charles

Don Carlos of Bourbon, son of Philip V. of Spain easily conquered
between France, Spain and Savoy against Austria was signed.
both Naples and Sicily, and in 1738 he was recognized as king
Charles was well received, for the country now was an
of the Two Sicilies, Spain renouncing all her claims.
independent kingdom once more. With the Tuscan
Bernardo Tanucci as his minister, he introduced many useful
reforms, improved the army, which was thus able to repel an
In 1759 Charles III., having succeeded to the
Austrian invasion in 1744, embellished the city of Naples and
built roads.
son Ferdinand, who became Ferdinand IV. of Naples and III.
Spanish crown, abdicated that of the Two Sicilies in favour of his
Ferdinand
was appointed, and the young king's education was
of Sicily. Being only eight years old, a regency under Tanucci
purposely neglected by the minister, who wished to v
dominate him completely. The regency ended in 1767,
and the following year Ferdinand married the masterful and
She had Tanucci dismissed and set herself to the task of making
ambitious Maria Carolina, daughter of the empress Maria Theresa.
With the help of John Acton, an English-
Naples a great power.
man whom she made minister in the place of Tanucci, she freed
Naples from Spanish influence and secured a rapprochement
with England and Austria.

The

On the outbreak of the French Revolution the king and queen were not at first hostile to the new movement; but after the fall of the French monarchy they became violently opposed to severe persecutions against all who were remotely suspected of it, and in 1793 joined the first coalition against France, instituting French sympathies. Republicanism, however, gained ground, especially among the aristocracy. In 1796 peace with France was concluded, but in 1798, during Napoleon's absence in Egypt and after Nelson's victory at Aboukir, Maria Carolina induced in Naples in September, where he was enthusiastically received. Ferdinand to go to war with France once more. Nelson arrived The king, after a somewhat farcical occupation of Rome, which had been evacuated by the French, hurried back to Naples as (the lowest class of the people) were devoted to the dynasty soon as the French attacked his troops, and although the lazzaroni and ready to defend it, he fled with the court to Palermo in a panic on board Nelson's ships. The wildest confusion prevailed, and the lazzaroni massacred numbers of persons suspected of republican sympathies, while the nobility and the educated classes, finding themselves abandoned by their king in this cowardly manner, began to contemplate a republic under French auspices as their only means of salvation from anarchy. In January 1799 the French under Championnet reached as they were, resisted the enemy with desperate Naples Naples, but the lazzaroni, ill-armed and ill-disciplined French in courage, and it was not until the 20th that the invaders and the were masters of the city. On the 23rd the Partheno- Parthenorepublic. paean republic was proclaimed. The Republicans were men of culture and high character, but doctrinaire and unpractical, and they knew very little of the lower classes of their own country. The government soon found itself in financial difficulties, owing to Championnet's demands for money; it failed to organize the army, and met with scant success in its at Palermo sent Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, a wealthy attempts to "democratize" the provinces. Meanwhile the court and influential prelate, to Calabria, to organize a counter-revolution. He succeeded beyond expectation, and with his "Christian army of the Holy Faith" (Esercito Cristiano della Santa Fede), consisting of brigands, convicts, peasants and some soldiers, marched through the kingdom plundering, burning and massacring. An English but after a few engagements with the Republican fleet comsquadron approached Naples and occupied the island of Procida, manded by Caracciolo, an ex-officer in the Bourbon navy, it was recalled to Palermo, as the Franco-Spanish fleet was expected. Ruffo, with the addition of some Russian and Turkish allies, now marched on the capital, whence the French, save for a small force under Méjean, withdrew. The scattered Republican detachments were defeated, only Naples and Pescara holding

paean

Cardinal Ruffo and the San. fedisti.

out. On the 13th of June Ruffo and his hordes reached Naples, and after a desperate battle at the Ponte della Maddalena, entered the city. For weeks the Calabresi and lazzaroni continued to pillage and massacre, and Ruffo was unable, even if willing, to restrain them. But the Royalists were not masters of the city, for the French in Castel Sant' Elmo and the Republicans in Castelnuovo and Castel dell' Uovo still held out and bombarded the streets, while the Franco-Spanish fleet might arrive at any moment. Consequently Ruffo was desperately anxious to come to terms with the Republicans for the evacuation of the castles, in spite of the queen's orders to make no terms with the rebels. After some negotiation an armistice was concluded and a capitulation agreed upon, whereby the castles were to be evacuated, the hostages liberated and the garrisons free to remain in Naples unmolested or to sail for Toulon.

Naples.

While the vessels were being prepared for the voyage to Toulon all the hostages in the castles were liberated save four; but on the 24th of June Nelson arrived with his fleet, Nelson at and on hearing of the capitulation he refused to recognize it save in so far as it concerned the French. Ruffo indignantly declared that once the treaty was signed, not only by himself but by the Russian and Turkish commandants and by the British captain Foote, it must be respected, and on Nelson's refusal he said that he would not help him to capture the castles. On the 26th Nelson changed his attitude and authorized Sir William Hamilton, the British minister, to inform the cardinal that he (Nelson) would do nothing to break the armistice; while Captains Bell and Troubridge wrote that they had Nelson's authority to state that the latter would not oppose the embarcation of the Republicans. Although these expressions were equivocal, the Republicans were satisfied and embarked on the vessels prepared for them. But on the 28th Nelson received despatches from the court (in reply to his own). in consequence of which he had the vessels brought under the guns of his ships, and many of the Republicans were arrested. Caracciolo, who had been caught whilst attempting to escape from Naples, was tried by a court-martial of Royalist officers under Nelson's auspices on board the admiral's flagship, condemned to death and hanged at the yard arm. For the part played by Nelson in these transactions see the articles CARACCIOLO and NELSON. On the 8th of July, King Ferdinand arrived from Palermo, and the state trials, conducted in the most arbitrary fashion, resulted in wholesale butchery; hundreds of persons were executed, including some of the best men in the vengeance. country, such as the philosopher Mario Pagano, the

Bourbon

scientist Cirillo, Manthonè, the minister of war under the republic, Massa, the defender of Castel dell' Uovo, and Ettore Caraffa, the defender of Pescara, who had been captured by treachery, while thousands of others were immured in horrible dungeons or exiled.

and many conspirators in Naples were tried by the French state courts and shot.

Murat.

In 1808 Napoleon conferred the crown of Spain on Joseph, and appointed Joachim Murat king of Naples. Murat continued Joseph's reforms, swept away many old abuses and. Joachim reorganized the army; and although he introduced the French codes and conferred many appointments and estates on Frenchmen, his administration was more or less native, and he favoured the abler Neapolitans. His attempts to attack the English in Sicily ended disastrously, but he succeeded in crushing brigandage in Calabria by means of General Manhès, who, however, had to resort to methods of ferocity in order to do so. The king, owing to his charm of manner, his handsome face, and his brilliant personality, gained many sympathies, and began to aspire to absolute independence. He gradually became estranged from Napoleon, and although he followed him to Russia and afterwards took part in the German campaign, he secretly opened negotiations with Austria and Great Britain. In January 1814 he signed a treaty with Austria, each power guaranteeing the dominions of the other, while Sicily was to be left to Ferdinand. The following month he proclaimed his separation from Napoleon and marched against Eugène Beauharnais, the French viceroy of Lombardy. But no important engagements took place, and when Napoleon escaped from Elba, Murat suddenly returned to the allegiance of his old chief. He marched at the head of 35,000 men into northern Italy, and from Rimini issued his famous proclamation in favour of Italian independence, which at the time fell on deaf ears (March 30th, 1815). He was subsequently defeated by the Austrians several times and forced to retreat, and on the 18th of May he sailed from Naples for France (see MURAT, JOACHIM). Generals Guglielmo Pepe and Carrascosa now concluded a treaty with the Austrians at Casalanza on favourable terms, and on the 23rd the Austrians entered Naples to restore Bourbon rule.

The

The English

constitu

Ferdinand and Maria Carolina had continued to reign in Sicily, where the extravagance of the court and the odious Neapolitan system of police espionage rendered their presence a burden instead of a blessing to the island. The king Bourbons obtained a subsidy from Great Britain and allowed in Skily. British troops to occupy Messina and Agosta, so that they might operate against the French on the mainland. A bitter conflict broke out between the court and the parliament, and the British minister, Lord William Bentinck, favoured the opposition, forced Ferdinand to resign his authority and appoint his son regent and introduced many valuable reforms. The queen perpetually intrigued against Bentinck, and even negotiated with the French, but in 1812 a more liberal constitution on British lines was introduced, and a Liberal ministry under the princes of Castelnuovo and Belmonte appointed, while the queen was exiled in the following year. But after the fall of Napoleon Sicily ceased to have any importance for Great Britain, and Bentinck, whose memory is still cherished in the island, departed in 1814. Ferdinand succeeded in getting a reactionary ministry appointed, and dissolved parliament in May 1815, after concluding a treaty with Austria-now freed by Murat's defection from her engagements with him-for the recovery of his mainland dominions by means of an Austrian army paid for by himself. On the 9th of June Ferdinand re-entered Naples and bound himself in a second treaty with Austria not to introduce a constitutional government; but at first he abstained from persecution and received many of Murat's old

The

restora tion la Naples.

War with France continued until March 1801, when peace was made, and after the peace of Amiens in 1802 the court returned to Naples, where it was well received. But when the European war broke out again in the following year, Napoleon (then first consul) became very exacting in his demands on King Ferdinand, who consequently played a double game, appearing to accede to these demands while negotiating with England. After Austerlitz Napoleon revenged himself by declaring that "the Bourbon dynasty had ceased to reign," and sent an army under his brother Joseph to occupy the kingdom. Ferdinand and Maria Carolina fled to Palermo in January 1805; in February 1806 Joseph Bonaparte entered Naples as king. A cultivated, well-meaning, not very in-officers into his army in accordance with the treaty of Casalanza. Joseph Bonaparte, telligent man, he introduced many useful reforms on In October 1815 Murat, believing that he still had a strong a basis of benevolent despotism, abolished feudalism party in the kingdom, landed with a few companions at Pizzo and built roads, but the taxes and forced contributions which he levied proved very burdensome. Joseph's authority did not exist throughout a large part of the kingdom, where royalist risings, led by brigand chiefs, maintained a state of anarchy, and a British force under Sir John Stuart, which landed in Calabria from Sicily, defeated the French at Maida (July 6th, 1806). Both the French and the royalists committed atrocities,

The secret article of the treaty of June 12, 1815, runs as follows: "H.M. the King of the Two Sicilies, in re-establishing the govern ment of the kingdom, will not agree to any changes irreconcilable either with the ancient institutions of the monarchy or with the principles adopted by H.I. and R. Austrian Majesty for the internal involve the obligation of interfering with the ancient constitution of régime of his Italian provinces." It is to be noted that this did not Sicily, which Metternich desired to see remain undisturbed.