The Kingdom of Sicily

The Sicily Kingdom is the island part of the Two Sicilies Kingdom (name of antique origin definitively back in use from 1816 after the Vienna treaty). It comprehended the Naples Kingdom too and it was constituted by the Sicily island and by some minor islands. Sicily was also called Trinacria for its shape similar to a triangle, delimited by the three "vertexes" : Cape Faro, Cape Passero and Cape Boeo.
Inside the Two Sicilies Kingdom the territory is also called "Beyond the lighthouse Dominion" as referring to the Messina lighthouse.
Sicily was in old times dominated by various dynasties: given to the Spaniards later on was attributed to the Savoy family (Utrech treaty 1713); then it went to the Austrian, exchanged by Amedeo of Savoy with Sardinia (from 1720); we got a first unification of the Kingdom under Austrian flag and then came the French under whose dominance the two territories again were separated.
With the Vienna treaty it was definitively asssigned to the Borbone family and the Two Sicilies Kingdom was again rebuilt.
It had a surface of approximatively 26,700 SqKm and 2.2 millions inhabitants. Capital was Palermo.
For other elements common to the Naples Kingdom I will not repeat myself here and I invite you to go to the Naples introduction.

As for Naples, in Sicily too from the beginning of 1800 the people riots went growing, always fed by the bad popular mood that in the previous decade took badly the Naples dominance, more than once forcefully imposed and getting worse for the island difficult general situation.
Violent have been the 1848 insurrectional riots, during which the King Ferdinand II, not able to count on the Austrian support because Pope Pious IX vetoed the crossing through his territories, did not exitate to bomb the Messina city (September 1848): this event gave to him the unpleasant surname of "Bomb King" with whom is remembered.
He died in Caserta May 22nd 1859, leaving the power in the hands of his firstborn son Francesco II.
The events that brought to the Sicily Kingdom fall (and later on to all the Two Sicilies Kingdom) bring to memory very important names and events of the Italian history.
May 6th 1860 is the date that marks the start of the end...
Giuseppe Garibaldi (see for his picture the introduction to the Naples Kingdom) leaves from Genova, exactly from Quarto, with a bit more than one thousand voluntiers, toward Sicily: it's the famous "Expedition of the Thousand"; the landing in Marsala, close to Trapani, was made in May 11th. The advance on the territory is continuos, sustained also by the population more and more willing to get their freedom back and to join the Sardinia Kingdom: violent battles see always the Borbonic troops defeated. At May end Garibaldi enters in Palermo now fully sustained by the population in revolt. The Borbonic troops are forced to surrender, towns get conquered one after the other and the island falls in the Garibaldi troops hands. June 6th in Palermo officially the Borbone dynasty in the town is declared ended. In the following months also the interior of the island is fully conquered. Two battles follow each other, between them the very violent and famous Milazzo battle. Now the Sardinian advance cannot anymore be stopped.
October 21st and 22nd see the plebiscites taking place that formalize officially the end of the Two Sicilies Kingdom. December 2nd Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo enters in absolute triumph.

The currency used in the Sicily kingdom was the Neapolitan Ducato, subdivided in 100 Grana, equivalent to 10 Carlini or 200 Tornesi. One Ducato was equal to 4.25 Italian Lire. It should be recalled that from the old times there is a debate between the various experts if the Neapolitan Grana and the Sicilian Grana do have about the same value. Someone sustains that this is the case, others say that the Sicilian one was worth exactly half. Both the thesys do have historical and economical justifications that are complex and difficult. To this work we can consider the two having the same value.

Here are briefly the main postal rates existent (rather complex) for the interior. The letters with at list half of the tax applied on them paid at the arrival the missing difference; if they have less of half the tax, they paid at the arrival the full fee.