Kingdom of Naples

• 1. Origins And Partition

  ›

  In 1282, the island of Sicily erupted in a violent uprising known as the War of the Sicilian Vespers. This rebellion forced King Charles I of Anjou to abandon his claim over the entire island and retreat to the mainland. The conflict officially ended with the Peace of Caltabellotta signed in 1302. That treaty formally divided the old Kingdom of Sicily into two distinct entities. The island itself became a separate kingdom under the Crown of Aragon. The mainland portion remained under Angevin control but retained the name Kingdom of Sicily for decades. Historians later began calling this mainland state the Kingdom of Naples after its capital city. This partition created a political fault line that would define southern Italian history for centuries.

• 2. Angevin Succession Wars

  ›

  Queen Joanna I of Naples ruled from 1382 until her death in 1435. Her childless status triggered a dynastic crisis within the Angevin family lines. She adopted Louis I, Duke of Anjou, as her heir despite claims from her cousin, the Prince of Durazzo. This decision set up a junior Angevin line against the senior line led by Charles III of Naples. In 1382, Charles III murdered Queen Joanna I to seize the throne for himself. His son Ladislas then fought to maintain control against Louis II of Anjou. Louis II briefly seized the throne in 1389 before being expelled by Ladislas in 1399. These internal wars drained resources and weakened royal authority across the region.

• 3. Aragonese Unification And Rule

  ›

  Alfonso V of Aragon conquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1442. He unified Sicily and Naples under his rule once again as dependencies of the Crown of Aragon. Despite this personal union, the two territories remained administratively separate entities. Alfonso died in 1458, triggering the War of the Neapolitan Succession that lasted until 1462. The kingdom split apart after his death when Ferdinand I inherited Naples as an illegitimate son. Ferdinand I ruled from 1458 to 1494 and preferred the simple title King of Sicily. This period saw the rise of diplomatic tensions between France and Spain over Italian territory. French kings used Angevin claims to justify invasions starting with Charles VIII in 1494.

• 4. Spanish Fiscal Exploitation

  ›

  Heavy taxation funded Spanish wars throughout the seventeenth century. From 1631 to 1636 alone, Naples sent 53,500 soldiers and 3.5 million scudi to support the Spanish king. These payments exceeded what Castile raised despite having twice the population. By 1647, public debt had quintupled while taxes tripled since 1612. Fifty-seven percent of all revenue went toward interest payments on borrowed money. The state sold assets like prisons, forests, and royal fortresses to barons just to survive. In 1647, the people of Naples rose in revolt against this crushing economic burden. They formed a short-lived Neapolitan Republic before Spanish troops suppressed the uprising later that year.

• 5. Habsburgs And Bourbons

  ›

  The Treaty of Rastatt in 1714 transferred Naples to Charles VI of the Austrian Habsburgs. Austrian rule lasted only until 1734 when a Spanish army conquered both Naples and Sicily during the War of the Polish Succession. Charles, Duke of Parma, became King of Naples and Sicily from 1735 onward. He was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule Spain. When he inherited the Spanish throne in 1759, he left Naples and Sicily to his younger son Ferdinand IV. Despite being under personal union with other kingdoms, they remained constitutionally separate entities. This arrangement persisted until formal unification occurred in 1816.

• 6. Napoleonic Disruption

  ›

  Napoleon installed his brother Joseph as King of Naples in 1806 after defeating allied armies at Campo Tenese. Joseph held the title until sent to Spain two years later. His sister Caroline and brother-in-law Marshal Joachim Murat then took control. Ferdinand IV fled to Sicily where he retained his throne despite repeated invasion attempts by Murat. The British defended Sicily for the remainder of the war while French forces controlled mainland Italy. After Napoleon's defeat in 1814, Murat reached an agreement with Austria allowing him to keep the throne temporarily. When Napoleon returned for the Hundred Days in 1815, Murat sided with him again. Austrian forces defeated Murat decisively at the Battle of Tolentino. Murat fled but was captured and executed by firing squad in Pizzo, Calabria.

• 7. Scientific Renaissance

  ›

  Astronomer Giovanni Battista Zupi observed the phases of Mercury between 1590 and 1650. Mathematician Aloysius Lilius created the Gregorian calendar during the sixteenth century. Physicist Giovanni Alfonso Borelli studied Jupiter moons and animal movement mechanics from 1608 to 1679. Archaeologist Agostino Scilla initiated modern scientific study of fossils between 1609 and 1650. Physician Domenico Cotugno defined cerebrospinal fluid and sciatica from 1736 to 1822. Natural historian Giuseppe Maria Giovene worked across biology, geology, meteorology, and entomology from 1753 to 1837. These scholars advanced early modern science within the kingdom through observation and hypothesis testing rather than pure theory alone.