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Francis II of the Two Sicilies

Naples, 16 Jan 1836 – Arco, 27 Dec 1894

10 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 16 Jan 1836

    Born in Naples

  2. 24 Dec 1869

    A daughter is born

  3. 27 Dec 1894

    Dies in Arco, aged 58

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 1

During his lifetime

He lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Naples.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1830s · Francis II is born in Naples

In the news1835–1837

Deadly cholera epidemic hits Italy in 1835

A cholera epidemic struck Italy between 1835 and 1837, resulting in over 140,000 deaths, including nearly 20,000 in Naples alone. Poor sanitation in urban centers favored the spread of the disease, which disproportionately affected the poor.

Getting around

Travel by mule and lettiga in Sicily

In Sicily, travel was often done by mule or in a lettiga, a carriage-like box without wheels carried by two mules that moved at about three miles per hour. This unconventional vehicle was notoriously noisy due to bells and prone to swaying on uneven ground.

Around the world1832

Cholera spreads around the world

A cholera pandemic from India reached Europe and the Americas; cities learned the hard way about clean water and sewers.

Daily life

Limited access to education

The kingdom had no compulsory school attendance, and education was largely controlled by the Church, with literacy rates remaining extremely low, at approximately 14.4 percent by 1861.

What people wore

Sorrento women's feast day attire

On feast days, peasant women in Sorrento wore bodices of damask with braided trim, styled their hair in a Chinese fashion, and wore a special pin called a spadella with a ribbon hanging down their necks.

Music

The expressive tarantella dance

The tarantella was a beloved dance characterized by expressive, flirtatious movements between partners, often performed during festivals and social gatherings. It was considered a deeply emotional, poetic performance that captivated spectators with its dramatic gestures.

At the table

Scrap fish for a soldo

For one soldo, a poor resident could buy a small paper cone of fried fish known as fragaglia, which were the scraps from the bottom of fishmongers' baskets.