Parthenopean Republic

Parthenopean Republic, short-lived republic in Naples proclaimed on Jan. 23, 1799, after a popular uprising of pro-French republicans resulted in the ouster of King Ferdinand IV. A counterrevolution the same year, aided by a papal army and an English fleet under Horatio Nelson and marked by wholesale butcheries of the republicans, resulted in the eventual return of Ferdinand to Naples in 1802, sanctioned by the Peace of Amiens. In 1806 Napoleon revenged himself by sending an invasion force under his brother Joseph, who was proclaimed king of Naples on March 30, 1806. Ferdinand fled to Sicily.