Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies
Italian princess (1843-1871)
Princess Maria Annunciata Isabella Filomena Sebasia of the Two Sicilies (Italian: Maria Annunziata Isabella Filomena Sebasia, Principessa di Borbone delle Due Sicilie; 24 March 1843 – 4 May 1871) was a political figure from the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1862, she married Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria; however, their marriage was short-lived due to her premature death in 1871. She is known for being the mother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination in Sarajevo precipitated the start of World War I.
Early years (1843–1861)
Maria Annunciata Isabella Filomena Sabasia, known as Maria Annunciata to the public and “Ciolla” to her family, was born on 24 March 1843 at the Royal Palace of Caserta to King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and his wife, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria. She was the fourth of their twelve children, and the eldest daughter. She also had a half-brother, Francis, from her father's first marriage. Throughout her childhood and adulthood, Maria was known to be "calm, modest and reserved", while her mother enjoyed social life.
Death of Ferdinand
In 1859, Ferdinand, Maria's father, died, and her older brother Francis became king of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. His reign ended in 1860 during the Expedition of the Thousand led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who overthrew the monarchy, and the people voted to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, under King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia.
Upon the invasion, Maria Theresa moved the family towards Gaeta. The family stayed in Rome after many weeks of traveling.
The public source identifies “Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies” as italian princess (1843-1871). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Princess, Maria and Annunciata.
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This entry incorporates text from “Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.