Naples, Kingdom of

Former kingdom comprising the southern portion of the Italian peninsula. The region was held successively by Romans, Byzantines, Lombards, and Saracens before it was conquered by Normans in the 11th century and incorporated into their kingdom of Sicily. It became a separate kingdom in 1282, but it was reunited with Sicily in 1442 as one of the Two Sicilies. Again separating from Sicily in 1458, it was claimed by France and then by Spain, which ruled it for two centuries. It was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs in 1713 but was conquered in 1734 by the Spanish Bourbons, who reestablished the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Napoleon annexed it to France and then made it an independent kingdom (1806–15), after which the Bourbons were restored. In 1860 Naples and Sicily voted for unification with northern Italy.