Kingdom of Sicily (1713–1720)

The Kingdom of Sicily was ruled by the House of Savoy from 1713 until 1720, although they lost control of it in 1718 and did not relinquish their title to it until 1723. The only king of Sicily from the House of Savoy was Victor Amadeus II. Throughout this period Sicily remained a distinct realm in personal union with the other Savoyard states, but ultimately it secured for the House of Savoy a royal title and a future of expansion in Italy rather than in France. During this period, the Savoyard monarch used his new title to affirm his sovereign independence.

Victor Amadeus's policy towards Sicily was to bring it more in line with his mainland possessions, but to this end he progressed little in the short span of time he had. His own domain was weakened by the addition of Sicily, becoming more fragmented and extended (geographically), and more composite (legally and socially). He was finally forced to renounce Sicily in exchange for Sardinia.

The death of Prince Joseph Ferdinand, heir to the Spanish empire, on 6 February 1699 rendered the First Partition Treaty of 1698 inoperative. In subsequent negotiations, Louis XIV of France proposed that Victor Amadeus II cede his lands to France in exchange for the kingdoms of Sicily and Naples, both possessions of the Spanish. This proposal was rejected by Victor Amadeus, who was unwilling to part with the Principality of Piedmont, although he was willing to cede the Duchy of Savoy and County of Nice. The succession question was unsolved at the death of Charles II of Spain and the War of the Spanish Succession broke out. During the war, Savoy allied with Great Britain against France. When peace negotiations began in 1709, the British argued, partly in their own interests as well as those of Savoy, for giving the Savoyards the thrones of Sicily and Naples. Victor Amadeus' real interest was in acquiring the Duchy of Milan. In 1710 at Geertruydenberg, the Dutch pensionary Anthonie Heinsius and the Imperial envoy Karl von Zinzendorf mooted proposals for the Savoyard acquisition of Milan or Sicily. The Savoyard ambassador, the Marchese del Borgo, suggested exchanging the Savoyard state for Naples, Sicily and the Spanish-held State of the Presidi in central Italy.

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