Francis II

Francis II,1836–94, last king of the Two Sicilies (1859–61), son and successor of Ferdinand II. A weak ruler, he let his ministers follow his father's reactionary policy. Faced with the growing movement for Italian unity (seeRisorgimento), he first sided with Austria. When he sought the alliance ofVictor Emmanuel IIof Sardinia, around whom the movement for Italian unification had coalesced, it was too late—Garibaldihad conquered Sicily and was marching (1860) on Naples. Francis fled to Gaeta. There he and his queen, Maria of Bavaria (sister of Empress Elizabeth of Austria), resisted gallantly until 1861, when they surrendered to Victor Emmanuel. They went into exile, at first in Rome, then in Paris and the Tyrol.

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