Francis I., king of the Two Sicilies, born in Naples, Aug. 19, 1777, died there, Nov. 8, 1830. He was the son of Ferdinand I. and Caroline Maria. The death of his elder brother in 1778 made him heir to the throne, and he married a daughter of the emperor Leopold II., who became the mother of the future duchess of Berry. After the death of his wife in 1801 he contracted a second marriage with the daughter of Charles IV. of Spain. His father appointed him regent of Naples in 1812, and on the advice of Lord Bentinck he proclaimed a constitutional form of government; but in November, 1813, Ferdinand dissolved the parliament and deposed his son. In 1815 Francis returned to Naples, and succeeded in making himself so popular that his father was obliged to appoint him governor of Sicily under the title of duke of Calabria; and on the outbreak of the revolution in 1820 he was obliged to reinstate him as regent at Naples. Francis, siding with the revolutionists, restored constitutional institutions; but subsequently, being informed of the projected Austrian intervention in favor of absolutism, he reconciled himself with his father, on whose death, Jan. 4, 1825, he succeeded to the throne.

Contrary to his antecedents, his short reign became notorious for subserviency to Austria, mismanagement, corruption, and cruelty, and especially for the wholesale massacre of the revolted inhabitants of Bosco and the utter destruction of that little town. His second wife bore him seven daughters, one of whom, Maria Christina, became the wife of Ferdinand VII. of Spain and the mother of Queen Isabella, and five sons, the eldest of whom was his successor, Ferdinand II.