List of Neapolitan monarchs

List of the monarchs of Naples
Coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501)

House of Anjou

In 1382, the Kingdom of Naples was inherited by Charles of Durazzo, King of Hungary, great grandson of King Charles II of Naples. After this, the House of Anjou of Naples was renamed House of Anjou-Durazzo, when Charles married his first cousin Margaret of Durazzo, member of a prominent Neapolitan noble family.

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignClaim to the throneTitle
Charles I
(Carlo I)
30 March 12827 January 1285 • Conquered the Kingdom of Sicily from Manfred as a part of the war between the Hohenstaufen dynasty & the Papacy

 • Following the Sicilian Vespers in 1282, the island of Sicily was lost to Peter III of Aragon

King of Sicily, Naples and Albania
(Re di Sicilia, Napoli e Albania)
Charles II, the Lame
(Carlo II, lo Zoppo)
7 January 12855 May 1309 • Son of Charles IKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Robert I, the Wise
(Roberto I, il Saggio)
5 May 130920 January 1343 • Son of Charles IIKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Joanna I
(Giovanna I)
20 January 134312 May 1382 • Granddaughter of Robert IQueen of Naples
(Regina di Napoli)
Louis I
(Luigi I)
August 134826 May 1362 • Husband of Joanna I

 • Grandson of Charles II; member of the House of Anjou-Taranto
 • Potential claimant to the throne through the male line if Joanna died childless, but he and his line also died out.

Jure uxoris King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
After Joanna's death without legitimate issue, the heirs were her nieces, only one (Margaret) of whom left issue (with Charles, a member of the Durazzo branch of the House of Anjou). The next ones in line were the Durazzo branch itself (the Taranto branch, of which Louis I was part, had been extinguished), whose prominent figure, Charles, was Joanna's enemy.
Charles III, the Short
(Carlo III, il Breve)
12 May 138224 February 1386 • Great-grandson of Charles II and second cousin of Joanna I of Naples

 • Member of the House of Anjou-Durazzo

King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Ladislaus I, the Magnanimous
(Ladislao I, il Magnanimo)
24 February 1386Early 1390 • Son of Charles IIIKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

House of Valois-Anjou (disputed)

Joanna of Naples had refused to name her enemy Charles of Durazzo as heir to the Neapolitan throne despite him ending up succeeding her anyway. If Charles' line was ignored, the subsequent heirs would be the descendants of Margaret, Countess of Anjou, a daughter of Charles II of Naples; the line pointed to the kings of France of the House of Valois. Joanna chose this line, though she named as heir, her second cousin once removed, Louis of Valois-Anjou, the second son of King John II of France, in order to avoid a personal union with France.

As Charles III had already seized the Neapolitan throne, initially the House of Valois-Anjou only had an empty claim. One of their members, Louis II, succeeded in ruling Naples for a time.

Time as claimant instead of actual rule will be shown in italic.

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Louis I of Anjou
(Luigi I)
13821384 • Adopted son and heir of Joanna I
 • Great-great-grandson of Charles II through female line
 • Could not establish himself in Naples before his death
King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Louis II
(Luigi II)
1384
1389
1417
1399
 • Son of Louis I (adopted son of Joanna I)
 • Crowned in 1389
 • Actually ruled in Naples only from 1390 until 1399
King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Louis III of Anjou
(Luigi III)
14171434 • Son of Louis II
 • He was recognised as Joanna II's heir in 1423.
King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

House of Anjou (restored)

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Ladislaus I, the Magnanimous
(Ladislao I, il Magnanimo)
Late 13996 August 1414 • Son of Charles IIIKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Joanna II
(Giovanna II)
6 August 14142 February 1435 • Daughter of Charles IIIQueen of Naples
(Regina di Napoli)

House of Valois-Anjou (restored)

Joanna II recognised Louis III of Anjou as heir in 1423, however he died in 1434 before succeeding to the throne. His brother René of Anjou succeeded to the claim and became king upon Joanna's death in 1435.

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
René I, the Good
(Renato I, il Buono)
2 February 14352 June 1442 • Son of Louis IIKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

House of Trastámara

Before Louis of Anjou, Queen Joanna II's adopted heir had been Alfonso V of Aragon. His father, Ferdinand I of Aragon had inherited both Aragon & Sicily from his maternal uncle Martin I of Aragon. Martin, in turn had claimed the throne of Sicily following the extinction of the Sicillian branch of the House of Barcelona, thereby bringing Sicily under the Aragonese crown. Alfonso refused to be disinherited and conquered Naples from René of Anjou in 1442. Although both Sicily & Naples were once again under the rule of the single monarch since the Sicillian Vespers, Alfonso passed the Aragonese throne (including Sicily) to his brother John, while Naples went to his illegitimate son Ferdinand.

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Alfonso I, the Magnanimous
(Alfonso I, il Magnanimo)
2 June 144227 June 1458 • Adopted son of Joanna II; conqueredKing of Aragon, Sicily and Naples
(Re di Aragona, Sicilia e Napoli)
Ferdinand I
(Ferdinando I)
27 June 145825 January 1494 • Illegitimate son of Alfonso IKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Alfonso II
(Alfonso II)
25 January 149423 January 1495 • Son of Ferdinand IKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Ferdinand II
(Ferdinando II)
23 January 14957 September 1496 • Son of Alfonso IIKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)
Frederick I
(Federico I)
7 September 14961 August 1501 • Son of Ferdinand IKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

Union with France (1501–1504)

Upon his death in 1480, René of Anjou transferred his claim to his nephew, Charles IV, Duke of Anjou. Charles died in 1481 and willed his claim to Louis XI of France. His son Charles VIII attempted to take Naples by force, but failed and died childless in 1498.

Charles VIII was succeeded by his 2nd cousin once removed Louis XII. Louis had no claim to the Neapolitan throne, but as successor to Charles VIII in France he nevertheless wanted to succeed him in Naples as well.

Naples was conquered in 1501 and became part of a personal union with the Kingdom of France. The local government was ruled by a French viceroy.

House of Valois-Orléans

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Louis XII of France
(Luigi XII)
2 August 150131 January 1504 • Succeeded to Charles VIII on the French throne; conquered Naples

Union with Spain (1504–1647)

Ferdinand II of Aragon conquered Naples from the French in the Treaty of Granada. Naples, alongside Sicily entered in a personal union with the Kingdom of Aragon, which lasted for over 2 centuries. Over time, the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile merged to form the Monarchy of Spain, known colloquially as the "Kingdom of Spain", though the constituent crowns (Castile, Aragon, Sicily, Naples) retained their own institutions, and were ruled officially as separate states in personal union rather than as a unified state. The local government was ruled by a Spanish viceroy. The royal houses were:

House of Trastámara

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Ferdinand III
(Ferdinando III)
31 January 150423 January 1516 • Conquered Naples from Louis XII
Joanna III
(Giovanna III)
23 January 151612 April 1555 • Daughter of Ferdinand III

Joanna III was kept confined under alleged insanity during her whole reign.

House of Habsburg

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Charles IV
(Carlo IV)
14 March 151625 July 1554 • Son of Joanna III
Philip I
25 July 155413 September 1598 • Son of Charles IV
Philip II
13 September 159831 March 1621 • Son of Philip I
Philip III
31 March 16211647 • Son of Philip II

Neapolitan Republic (1647–1648)

House of Guise

Officially a Republic, Naples was governed for a short time by the Duke of Guise, under the title of "Doge of Naples".

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Henry of Guise
(Enrico di Guisa)
22 October 16475 April 1648 • Claimed a lineage with the House of Valois-AnjouDoge of Naples
(Doge di Napoli)

Union with Spain (1648–1713)

Naples returned to its former status; in personal union with the Crown of Aragon and the Spanish monarchy.

House of Habsburg

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Philip III
164817 September 1665 • Son of Philip II
Charles V
17 September 16651 November 1700 • Son of Philip III

House of Bourbon

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Philip IV1 November 170011 April 1713 • Great-nephew of Charles V

Kingdom of Naples (1713–1799)

Under the terms of the Peace of Utrecht the crown of Naples passed to the Austrian Habsburgs.

House of Habsburg

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Charles VI11 April 17131734/1735 • Great-grandson of Philip I

House of Bourbon

In 1734 Spanish troops conquered the Kingdom of Naples, which was surrendered to Charles of Bourbon under the Treaty of Vienna (1738).

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Charles VII
(Carlo VII)
2 June 17346 October 1759 • Son of Philip IV;
confirmed King with a treaty (1738). Abdicated, 1759 to assume the throne of Spain.
King of Spain, Naples and Sicily
(Re di Spagna, Napoli e Sicilia)
Ferdinand IV
(Ferdinando IV)
6 October 175923 January 1799 • Son of Charles VIIKing of Naples and Sicily
(Re di Napoli e Sicilia)

Parthenopean Republic (1799)

Dictators

PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of OfficePolitical PartyRef.
1Jean Étienne Championnet
(1762–1800)
21 January 179924 February 1799Military
Championnet was appointed to defend the Roman Republic, but despite the French Directory's directives, he also conquered Naples and created the Parthenopean Republic. After a short dictatorship, he was deposed and imprisoned by France itself.
2Jacques MacDonald
(1765–1840)
24 February 17993 June 1799Military[1]
After Championnet's deposition, MacDonald ruled Naples for some months, before moving his forces in Northern Italy. Naples was then reconquered by the Bourbons' loyalists.

Kingdom of Naples (1799–1816)

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Ferdinand IV
(Ferdinando IV)
13 June 179930 March 1806 • Son of Charles VIIKing of Naples and Sicily
(Re di Napoli e Sicilia)

House of Bonaparte

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Joseph I
(Giuseppe I)
30 March 18068 July 1808 • Appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte, abdicated 1808 to assume the throne of Spain.King of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

House of Murat

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Joachim-Napoleon
(Gioacchino Napoleone)
1 August 180822 May 1815 • Brother-in-law of Joseph IKing of Naples
(Re di Napoli)

House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

PortraitCoat of ArmsNameReignRelationship with Predecessor(s)Title
Ferdinand IV
(Ferdinando IV)
22 May 18158 December 1816 • Son of Charles VIIKing of Naples and Sicily
(Re di Napoli e Sicilia)

Naples was merged with Sicily to form Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

See also

References

  1. ^ Acton, Harold (1957). The Bourbons of Naples (1731–1825) (2009 ed.). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 9780571249015.
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