Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
Alfonso Maria Giuseppe Alberto of Naples and Sicily, better known as Alfons Maria of Bourbon Two Sicilies, Count of Caserta ( born March 28, 1841 in Caserta, Caserta, † May 26 1934 in Cannes on the Cote d' Azur ) was a Member of the house of Bourbon. After the death of his half-brother Francis II, King of the Two Sicilies, he became the pretender to the throne of the Royal House of the Two Sicilies (Naples).
Life
His Royal Highness Prince Alfonso was the third son of twelve children of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (1810-1859) and his second wife, the Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1816-1867), the eldest daughter of Archduke Charles of Austria -Teschen and Princess Henriette Alexandrine of Nassau- Weilburg.
After the death of his half-brother Francis II, King of the Two Sicilies (1836-1894) welcomed the Neapolitan legitimists - including L' Unione Meridional, Associazione operaia monarchica and Circolo Ferdinando Pio della Gioventù studentesca legittimista - whose brother Alfonso, Count of Caserta, as "the king" ( Alfonso I ). He had distinguished himself in Mentana in the Pontifical Swiss Guard, especially in Spain during the Karlistenkämpfe, as leader of the northern troops. He played up to the " pretender to the throne of Naples " on, and only in the last section of his long life, after the reconciliation between the Church and the State of Italy, he put relations with the Italian royal family restored.
It was therefore natural that his first-born son Ferdinando Pio, Duke of Calabria, no longer followed after his death in May 1934 as a pretender, but only the title " Head of the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies " wore. In this sense, the statutes of the Ordine di San Giorgio costantiniano have been redesigned, the Grand Master has traditionally been the King of Naples. Carlo, the second eldest, had 1900 waives all claims that were him through his affiliation with the Neapolitan line grow. It was through his marriage to the Princess of Asturias naturalized Infante of Spain. Therefore, on the death of Ferdinand the title of the head of the family to Ranieri, Duke of Castro went ( 1883-1973 ). This did not happen without some resistance on the part of the Infante Alfonso de Bourbon- Sicily (1901-1964), who was supported as the son of Prince Carlos in terms of its claims by the Spanish pretender Don Juan. Since the Spanish monarchy had been overthrown, he held the renunciation of his father to the title of Prince of Naples void. This waiver had done his father solemnly before the Cortes in Madrid. The Italian judicial authorities gave him by a judgment right. After Ranieri's death in 1973 he was succeeded as head of the family and as Grand Master of the Order, his son Ferdinand, Duke of Castro also.
Marriage and issue
On June 8, 1868 married Prince Alfonso in Rome his cousin ( 2nd degree ), the Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies ( 1851-1938 ), the eldest daughter of Francesco di Paola of Bourbon, Count of Trapani, and the Archduchess Marie Isabelle of Austria. From the joint connecting twelve children were born:
- Ferdinand Maria Pio (1869-1960), Duke of Calabria, Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Carlo Maria Francesco d' Assisi Pasquale Ferdinando Antonio di Padova Francesco de Paola Andrea Alfonso Avelino (1870-1949), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily, Infante of Spain
- Francesco di Paola (1873-1876), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Maria Immacolata Cristina Pia Isabella (1874-1947), Princess of Bourbon- Sicily
- Marie Christine Caroline Pia (1877-1947), Princess of Bourbon- Sicily
- Maria Pia Chiara Anna (1878-1973), Princess of Bourbon- Sicily
- Maria Antonietta Giuseppina (1880-1971), Princess of Bourbon- Sicily
- Gennaro Maria Francesco di Paola (1882-1944), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Ranieri Maria Gaetano (1883-1973), Duke of Castro, Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Filippo Maria Alfonso Antonio Ferdinando Francisco di Paola Lodovico Enrico Alberto Taddeo Francesco Saverio Uberto (1885-1949), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Francesco d' Assisi Maria Ferdinando Eudoxia (1888-1914), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily
- Gabriele Maria Giuseppe Carlo Ignazio Antonio Alfonso Pietro Giovanni di Gerardo Majella et Omni Sancti (1897-1975), Prince of Bourbon- Sicily