Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/591

* FERDINAND I. 539 FERDINAND. dinaml died suddenly January I. 1825, and wag succeeded by his son, Francis I. for a good ac- count of Ferdinand's reign, consult : Colletta, Storia del name di Napoli dul /;.;( sino al 1815, Eng. translation (Edinburgh, Is.'iS) ; Lanzilatti, liemorie storiche di Ferdinando I. (Naples, 1827); Jeaffreason, The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson (London, 1889) ; Probyn, Italy, 1815-78 (London, 1884). FERDINAND II. (1810-59). King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 to 1859, known as "King Bomba.' He was the son of Francis I. by his second wife, Isabella Maria of Spain, and was born January 12, 1810. On succeeding his father in 1830, he found the country in the most wretched condition. The beginning of his reign was marked by specious promises of reform in the economy and government of the country. But Ferdinand soon began to listen to Austrian counsels, which saw danger for the whole penin- sula in liberal measures. From that time Naples became the scene of incessant conspiracy, revolu- tion, bloodshed, and political prosecutions. The King was aided by his infamous minister of police, Delcarreto, and an elaborate system of espionage was established. The general discon- tent was greatly aggravated by this obnoxious policy. After insurrections had taken place in 1837.' 1841, 1844, and 1847. Ferdinand was forced to yield to the storm of 1848, and granted a con- stitution to both parts of his dominions. After following the Constitution so far as to call the Chambers together, he quarreled with the Depu- ties, and on March 13, 1849, dismissed them, impatient of any interference with his authority. An insurrection which had broken out in Sicily was put down by a ruthless bombardment of Messina, an incident which earned for the King the name of Bomba. After the subjugation of Sicily he hastened completely to set aside the new Con- stitution, while all who had taken any part in the agitation for reform were subjected to cruel per- Becution. In 1851 there were 13.000 political prisoners confined at Naples. Both France and England made strong representations in 1856. but in vain. Several attempts to assassinate Ferdi- nand failed, but in 1858 he was forced by Great Britain to liberate the political prisoners. Ferdi- nand died May 22, 1859, after terrible suffering, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Francis II. Consult: Nisco, Ferdinando II. ed il suo regno (Naples, 1884) ; Daw-burn, Naples and King Fer- dinand (London, 1858) ; Thayer. The Dawn of Italian Independence (Boston. 1893) ; Stillman, The Union of Italy (Cambridge, 1898). FERDINAND I. (1549-1609). Grand Duke of Tuscany, a member of the House of Medici. He became Cardinal at the age of fourteen, and after the death of his brother in 1587 succeeded te the rule of the grand duchy. He favored the extension of commerce and of public works, and ■continued the construction of the harbor of Leg- horn, begun by his father. He cultivated excel- lent relations with the other States of Italy, and permitted the descendants of the Jewish refugees from Spain to settle in his realm. Owing to his numerous successful financial enterprises, he •eventually became the leading capitalist of Europe. FERDINAND II. ( 1010-70) . Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was a son of Cosimo II., whom he succeeded in 1621, becoming of age in 1628. He Vul. VII. — <io. 30011 fell under the influence of Spanish politics. In 1642-44 he formed an alliance with Venice, Parma, and Modena, against the Papal Stati. an.l conducted a disastrous war which imposed hea 3 obligal ions on the people. FERDINAND III. (1769-1824). Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Archduke oi Austria. He was the second son of the Emperor Leopold II., and was born at Florence, May 6, 1769. Ill 170 1 he succeeded his lather in the government of Tuscany, when the latter became Emperor through the death of Joseph II. A lover of peaceful progress, he remained strictly neutral in 1 In- first coalition against France, and was the first sovereign in Europe to recognize the French Re- public, in 17!i2. In 1793, intimidated by the com- bined menaces of the Russian and British cabi- nets, the Grand Duke was constrained to relin- quish his neutral policy, and to become a passive member of the coalition against. France. In 17115, on the French occupation of Piedmont, he speedily reassumed friendly relations with France, in 1707, in order to save his State from annexation to the Cisalpine Republic, he concluded a treaty with Bonaparte on the most unfavorable terms. undertaking to pay a war levy to France, and to transfer to the Museum of Paris some of the chief masterpieces of the Florentine galleries. Owing to the continued intrigues of France in his State. Ferdinand was forced to seek an Austrian alliance, which furnished Bonaparte with a pre- text for declaring war against Tuscany. In 1799 Ferdinand had to retire to Vienna, and in lsol, at the Peace of Luneville, he was forced to renounce all claims on Tuscany, receiving the title of Elector and the principality of Salzburg (1803), which after the Peace of Pressburg. in 1805, he exchanged for the Duchy of Wurzburg. He was one of the princes in the Confederation of the Rhine (q.v. ), and in 1814 was reinstated in his Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the Peace of Paris. In cooperation with his chief minister, Fossombroni, he reformed the institutions of the grand duchy, and enjoyed ten years of prosperous rule. He died June 7, 1824, leaving his State to his only son, Leopold II. Consult: Thayer, Dawn of Italian Independence (Boston, 1893) : Inghi- rami, Storia delta Toscama (Fiesole, 1843) ; Reu- mont, Storia della Toscana sotto la dinastia di Lorena-Absburgo (Florence, 1877); Tivaroni, Italia durante il dominio austriaco (Milan. 1892-94). FERDINAND IV. ( 1835— ) . Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was born in Florence, a son of Leopold II. and of Maria Antonia, daughter of Francis I., King of the Two Sicilies. After his father had renounced the throne (July 21. 1859), Ferdinand assumed the title of Grand Duke, and on March 26, 1860, issued a protest against the incorporation of Tuscany with Sardinia. FERDINAND (1577-1650). Duke of Ba- varia, and Elector of Cologne. He was born at Arnsberg, and was educated by the Jesuits at the University of Ingolstadt. After the death of his uncle (1612), whose coadjutor he had be- come in 1595, he was appointed his successor as Elector of Cologne. He also obtained the bish- oprics of Liege. Miinster. and Hildesheim, to which, in 1618. Paderborn was added. He was an enthusiastic disciple of the" Jesuits, and zeal- ously strove to exterminate heresy.