Kingdom of Naples

The Kingdom of Naples, officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until then, the island of Sicily and southern Italy had constituted the "Kingdom of Sicily". When the island of Sicily revolted and was conquered by the Crown of Aragon, it become a separate kingdom also called the Kingdom of Sicily. This left the Neapolitan mainland in the possession of Charles of Anjou who continued to use the name "Kingdom of Sicily". Later, two competing lines of the Angevin family competed for the Kingdom of Naples in the late 14th century, which resulted in the murder of Joanna I at the hands of her successor, Charles III of Naples. Charles' daughter Joanna II adopted King Alfonso V of Aragon as heir, who would then unite Naples into his Aragonese dominions in 1442.

As part of the Italian Wars, France briefly ruled the territory in 1494 and at the beginning of the 16th century; it then went to war with Spain over the kingdom in 1502, a conflict that ended in a victory for Ferdinand II, who was in full control of the kingdom by 1504. The Spanish held control of Naples throughout the 17th century where it remained an important source of economic and military power for the Spanish Crown. After the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century, the possession of the kingdom again changed hands; the 1714 Treaty of Rastatt saw Naples given to Charles VI of the Austrian Habsburgs. However, Naples and Sicily were conquered by Charles, Duke of Parma (of the Spanish Bourbons) during the War of the Polish Succession in 1734, he was then installed as King of Naples and Sicily from 1735. In 1816, Naples formally unified with the island of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The Kingdom of Naples was one of the largest and most important Italian states of its era. Its territory corresponded to the current Italian regions of Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise, and also included some areas of today's southern and eastern Lazio.

The term "Kingdom of Naples" is in near-universal use among historians, but it was not used officially by the government. Since the Angevins remained in power on the Italian peninsula, they kept the original name of the Kingdom of Sicily (Regnum Siciliae). At the end of the War of the Vespers, the Peace of Caltabellotta (1302) provided that the name of the kingdom would be the Kingdom of Sicily Citra Farum had become known colloquially as the Kingdom of Naples (Regnum Neapolitanum or Regno di Napoli).

In the late Middle Ages, it was common to distinguish the two Sicilies by noting its location relative to the rest of Italy and the Punta del Faro, i.e., the Strait of Messina. The peninsular kingdom was known as Sicily citra Farum or al di qua del Faro ('on this side of Faro'), and the island kingdom was known as Sicily ultra Farum or di la del Faro (on the other side of Faro). When both kingdoms came under the rule of Alfonso the Magnanimous in 1442, this usage became official, although Ferdinand I (1458–94) preferred the simple title King of Sicily (Rex Sicilie).

In the 18th century the Neapolitan intellectual Giuseppe Maria Galanti argued that Apulia was the true "national" name of the kingdom. By the time of Alfonso the Magnanimous, the two kingdoms were sufficiently distinct that they were no longer seen as divisions of a single kingdom. Despite being repeatedly in personal union, they remained administratively separate. In 1816, the two kingdoms finally merged to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Naples, which was the capital of the Duchy of Naples since the 7th century, surrendered to Roger II of Sicily in 1137, and was annexed to the Kingdom of Sicily. The Normans were the first to bring political unity to southern Italy in the centuries after the failure of the Byzantine effort to reconquer Italy. The Normans established a kingdom that included southern mainland Italy and the island of Sicily, which was primarily ruled from Palermo. The title of King of Sicily was established by the Antipope Anacletus II as early as 1130 and subsequently legitimized, in 1139, by Pope Innocent II. Since the royal titles over the State had been assigned to the Normans by Innocent II, the popes, in particular Pope Innocent III and Pope Innocent IV, claimed the feudal rights of the Church State over the Kingdom. After Constance, Queen of Sicily married Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, the region was inherited by their son Frederick II, as King of Sicily. The region that later became the separate Kingdom of Naples under the Angevins formed part of the Kingdom of Sicily, which included the island of Sicily and Apulia.

Following the rebellion in 1282, King Charles I of Sicily (Charles of Anjou) was forced to leave the island of Sicily by Peter III of Aragon's troops. Charles, however, maintained his possessions on the mainland, customarily known as the "Kingdom of Naples", after its capital city.