by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Prince Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria was Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and pretender to the former throne from 1934 until his death in 1960. His death brought about a dispute between two branches of his extended family, both claiming to be the rightful heir and thus head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

Prince Ferdinando Pio Maria, was born in Rome on July 25, 1869, the eldest child of Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta and Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had 11 younger siblings:

• Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1870) – married (1) Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, had issue; (2) Princess Louise of Orléans, had issue
• Prince Francesco di Paola of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1873) – died in childhood
• Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1874) – married Prince Johann Georg of Saxony, had issue
• Princess Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1877) – married Archduke Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Tuscany, had issue
• Princess Maria di Grazia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1878) – married Prince Luiz Maria of Orléans-Braganza, had issue
• Princess Maria Giuseppina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1880) – married Count Alfredo Galanti, had issue
• Prince Gennaro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1882) – married Beatrice Bordessa, Countess of Villa Colli, no issue
• Prince Ranieri of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (1883) – married Countss Maria Zamoyska, had issue
• Prince Filippo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1885) – married Princess Marie Louise of Orléans, had issue
• Prince Francesco d’Assisi of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1888) – unmarried
• Prince Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897) – married (1) Princess Malgorzata Czartoryska, had issue; (2) Princess Cecylia Lubomirska, had issue

Princess Maria Ludwiga of Bavaria. source: Wikipedia

On May 31, 1897 in Munich, Ferdinando Pio married Princess Maria Ludwiga Theresia of Bavaria. She was a daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Maria Theresia of Austria-Este. The couple settled in Munich, and had six children:

• Princess Maria Antonietta (1898) – unmarried
• Princess Maria Christina (1899) – married Dr. Don Manuel Sotomayor y Luna, no issue
• Prince Ruggero, Duke of Noto (1901) – died in childhood
• Princess Barbara (1902) – married Count Franz Xavier of Stolberg-Wernigerode, had issue
• Princess Lucia (1908) – married Eugenio di Savoia-Genova, Duke of Genova, had issue
• Princess Urraca (1913) – unmarried

After the Bavarian Monarchy was abolished in 1918, Ferdinando Pio and his family settled at Villa Amsee in Lindau, where he would live the remainder of his life.  Upon his father’s death in May 1934, Ferdinando Pio became pretender to the former throne and Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. At this time, he took the title Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the Head of the House.

grave of Ferdinando Pio and his wife. photo: By Flo Sorg – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26567819

The Duke of Calabria died at Villa Amsee on January 7, 1960. He was buried at the Filialkirche St. Peter und Paul in Rieden, Swabia, Germany.

His death brought about the current dispute over the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. As he had no surviving sons, it should have passed to the descendants of his younger brother, Prince Carlo, who had died in 1949. Carlo’s son, Infante Alfonso of Spain, claimed to be the rightful heir. The second claimant was Ferdinando Pio’s younger brother, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro. The primary issue of the dispute is whether Carlo had renounced his rights of succession when he married the Spanish heiress-presumptive, Maria de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, in 1901. At the time, Carlo became a Spanish and was made an Infante of Spain. Prince Ranieri interpreted this as a renunciation of any claims to the throne of Two Sicilies, thus making him the rightful heir. However, Infante Alfonso argued that the renunciation would have only taken effect if Mercedes had ascended to the Spanish throne.

The dispute continues today, with two branches of the family claiming to be the rightful heir and Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies:

• The Senior Line (Calabrian) – descended from Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria
• The Junior Line (Castrian) – descended from Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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