‘The System of This Court’: Elizabeth Farnese, the Count of Santiesteban and the Monarchy of the Two Sicilies, 1734–1738

Abstract

The new kingdom of the Two Sicilies was set up in 1734 under the direct supervision of the Spanish crown, since the young Don Carlos, first-born sonl of Philip V and Elizabeth Farnese, was thought to be too young to rule it by himself. Before its conquest and subsequent independence in that year, the kingdom of Naples had belonged to the Spanish king for more than two centuries until. 1707, when the viceroyalty was conquered and ruled by the Emperor. However, the city of Naples was still one of the most significant capitals of eighteenth-century Europe and the new kingdom wasa distinct political territory that was strategically important to both the Italian peninsula and the wider Mediterranean. This article analyses how the court culture promoted by the Spanish Queen and by the courtiers appointed to Don Carlos’s service contributed to the structure and character of the new Bourbon monarchy in the Italian South between 1734 and 1738.