by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was located in today’s southern Italy. It included the island of Sicily and all of the Italian peninsula south of the Papal States. Ferdinando I, the first King of the Two Sicilies, had previously reigned over two kingdoms, as Ferdinando IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinando III of the Kingdom of Sicily. He had been deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionary Parthenopean Republic for six months in 1799 and again by Napoleon in 1805, before being restored in 1816 after the defeat of Napoleon. After the 1816 restoration, the two kingdoms were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Sardinia became a driving force behind the Italian unification movement along with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a general and nationalist, and Giuseppe Mazzini, a politician and journalist. Garibaldi conquered Naples and Sicily, the territories of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies was deposed, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ceased to exist, and its territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Eventually, the Sardinian troops occupied the central territories of the Italian peninsula, except Rome and part of Papal States. With all the newly acquired land, Vittorio Emanuele II was proclaimed the first King of the new, united Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

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Maria Cristina of Savoy was the first wife of Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, and has been venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy since her beatification in 2014. Maria Cristina Carlotta Giuseppa Gaetana Efisia was born on November 14, 1812, in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia in the Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy. She was the youngest of the six daughters and the youngest of the seven children of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. Her paternal grandparents were Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand Karl, Archduke of Austria-Este and Maria Beatrice d’Este, Duchess of Massa.

Maria Cristina had five sisters and one brother. Two of her sisters died in infancy and her brother died in childhood from smallpox.

• Maria Beatrice of Savoy (1792 – 1840), married Francesco IV, Duke of Modena, had four children
• Maria Adelaide of Savoy (1794 – 1795), died in infancy
• Carlo Emanuele of Savoy (1796 – 1799) died in early childhood from smallpox
• A daughter (1800 – 1801), died in infancy
• Maria Teresa of Savoy (1803 – 1879), twin of Maria Anna, married Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma, had two children
• Maria Anna of Savoy (1803 – 1884), twin of Maria Teresa, married Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria, no children

On November 21, 1832, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Acquasanta in Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia, now in Italy, 20-year-old Maria Cristina married 22-year-old Ferdinando II, King of Two Sicilies. Ferdinando had become King of the Two Sicilies two years earlier upon the death of his father Francesco I, King of the Two Sicilies.

Maria Cristina was shy, modest, reserved, and a very devout Catholic. She found herself living in a court with a lifestyle that was very far from her sensitivity. This caused her to never feel quite comfortable. During the short time that she was Queen of the Two Sicilies, Maria Cristina managed to prevent the carrying out of all death sentences. Maria Cristina was called “the Holy Queen” for her deep religious devotion. She endured her nearly constant illnesses with patience and piety and was popular with the people for her charity, modesty, and humility.

Ferdinando and Maria Cristina had one child:

• Francesco II, King of the Two Sicilies (1836-1894), married Maria Sophie in Bavaria; had one daughter

On January 21, 1836, five days after giving birth to her only child, 23-year-old Maria Cristina died from childbirth complications. She was buried at the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the traditional burial site for the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, now in Italy. A year after Maria Cristina’s death, Ferdinando married Maria Theresa of Austria, daughter of Archduke Karl of Austria, Duke of Teschen and Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg. The couple had twelve children.

In 1859, a cause for the canonization of Maria Cristina as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church was opened. On July 10, 1872, Maria Cristina was declared to be a Servant of God and on May 6, 1937, she was declared a Venerable Servant of God. On May 3, 2013, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle due to her intercession and approved Maria Cristina’s beatification. She is known in the Roman Catholic Church as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy and is one step away from canonization as a saint.

On January 25, 2014, the Basilica of Santa Chiara in Naples, Italy, the burial site of Maria Cristina, was the site of her beatification ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony including the two branches of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies led by Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria and Carlo, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro. Both branches claim to be Head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and this event united them for the first time in fifty years. Carlos, Prince of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria, who died the following year, did not attend the beatification and was represented by his wife.

Pope Francis was represented at the beatification ceremony by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Cardinal Sepe Crescenzio, Archbishop of Naples was celebrant, and Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, Grand Prior of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, was also present. Following the beatification ceremony, members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies paid their respects at the tomb of Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy.

• Royal House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies: Beatification of Maria Cristina of Savoy

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Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Index
• Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina of Savoy – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_of_Savoy> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ferdinando-ii-king-of-the-two-sicilies/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2021. Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/vittorio-emanuele-i-king-of-sardinia-and-duke-of-savoy/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
• It.wikipedia.org. 2021. Maria Cristina di Savoia – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Cristina_di_Savoia> [Accessed 16 August 2021].
• Realcasadiborbone.it. 2014. Beatification of Queen Maria Cristina of Savoy – Real Casa di Borbone delle Due Sicilie. [online] Available at: <https://realcasadiborbone.it/en/duke-duchess-castro-attend-beatification-queen-maria-cristina/> [Accessed 16 August 2021].