Francis II

Francis II (born Jan. 16, 1836, Naples—died Dec. 27, 1894, Arco, Italy) was the king of the Two Sicilies from 1859 until his deposition in 1860, the last of the Bourbons of Naples.

He was the only son of Ferdinand II by his first consort, Maria Cristina of Savoy. Timid and suspicious, he was easily overruled in state and family councils. Upon his accession he rejected proposals made by Count Cavour that he should join Piedmont–Sardinia in the war against Austria and grant liberal reforms on its conclusion. Thoroughly alarmed by the invasion (May 1860) of Sicily by Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Thousand, Francis, acting on the advice of the French emperor Napoleon III, capitulated to the liberals in his kingdom (June 25, 1860); he restored the constitution of 1848, granted freedom of the press, and promised fresh elections. It was too late to save the monarchy, however, and on October 1–2 the Bourbon forces were defeated by Garibaldi on the Volturno River. Francis was deposed by the plebiscite of October 21–22, and on the fall of Gaeta (Feb. 13, 1861) to the Piedmontese he retired to Rome as the guest of Pope Pius IX. When Rome also fell (1870), he settled in Paris.