FRANCIS II. (1836-1894), king of the Two Sicilies, son of Ferdinand II. and Maria Cristina of Savoy, was the last of the Bourbon kings of Naples. He ascended the throne on May 22, 1859. He at once appointed Carlo Filangieri (q.v.), as prime minister but did not take his sensible advice, and Filangieri soon resigned. On June 7 a part of the Swiss Guard mutinied, and while the king mollified them by promising to redress their grievances, General Nunziante collected other troops, who sur rounded the mutineers and shot them down. Cavour repeated an earlier proposal for an alliance to divide the papal states between Piedmont and Naples, the province of Rome excepted, but Francis rejected an idea which to him savoured of sacrilege. Meanwhile the revolutionary parties were conspiring for the overthrow of the Bourbons in Calabria and Sicily, and Garibaldi was preparing for the conquest of Sicily (see GARIBALDI) . These events at last frightened Francis into granting a constitution, but its promulgation was followed by disorders in Naples and the resignation of ministers, and Liborio Romano became head of the government. Garibaldi who had crossed the straits of Messina, was advancing northwards. Francis, after long hesita tions and even an appeal to Garibaldi himself, left Naples (Sept. 6) with his wife Maria Sophia, the court, the diplomatic corps (the French and English ministers excepted), and went by sea to Gaeta, where a large part of the army was concentrated. The next day Garibaldi entered Naples, was enthusiastically welcomed, and formed a provisional government. Garibaldi's troops defeated the Neapolitan royalists on the Volturno (Oct. 1-2), while the Piedmontese under Victor Emmanuel captured Capua. The siege of Gaeta by the Piedmontese began on Nov. 6, 1860. The fortress capitulated on Feb. 12, 1861, and Francis was driven from his kingdom. He died on Dec. 27, 1894 at Arco in Tirol.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-R. de Cesare, La Fine d' un regno, vol. ii. (Citta Bibliography.-R. de Cesare, La Fine d' un regno, vol. ii. (Citta di Castello, 1900) gives a detailed account of the reign of Francis II., while H. R. Whitehouse's Collapse of the Kingdom of Naples may be recommended to English readers ; G. Nisco's Francesco II. (Naples, 1887) should also be consulted. See under NAPLES ; GARI BALDI ; BIXIO NINO ; CAVOUR ; ITALY ; FILANGIERI; etc.