• Source: Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Castro

Prince Ferdinand Pius (Ferdinando Pio Maria), Duke of Calabria and Castro (25 July 1869, Rome – 7 January 1960, Lindau), was head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and pretender to the throne of the extinct Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1934 to 1960.




Family


Ferdinand was the eldest child of Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta and his wife Princess Maria Antonietta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He was a grandson of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and an older brother of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Maria Immaculata, Princess Johann Georg of Saxony, Maria Cristina, Archduchess Peter Ferdinand of Austria, Maria di Grazia, Princess Imperial of Brazil, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, Prince Philip of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Prince Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.




Marriage


Ferdinand married Princess Maria Ludwiga Theresia of Bavaria, daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria on 31 May 1897. They had six children:

Princess Maria Antonietta (1898–1957)
Princess Maria Cristina (1899–1985), married in 1948 to Manuel Sotomayor-Luna, Vice President of Ecuador
Prince Ruggiero Maria, Duke of Noto (1901–1914)
Princess Barbara Maria Antonietta Luitpolda (1902–1927), married in 1922 to Count Franz Xaver zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
Princess Lucia Maria Raniera (1908–2001), married in 1938 to Prince Eugenio of Savoy, Duke of Ancona
Princess Urraca Maria Isabella Carolina Aldegonda (1913–1999)
Ferdinand and Maria lived for many years at Villa Amsee, Lindau. It was there that he died in 1960.




Disputed succession


Following Ferdinand's death, the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies was claimed by both his nephew Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, and his brother Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, and remains disputed between their descendants. The basis of Alfonso’s claim was that his late father, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1870–1949), had been Ferdinand's next oldest brother. But Henri, Count of Paris, upheld the claim of Ferdinand's younger brother, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro (1883–1973), contending that Carlos had renounced his rights of succession for himself and his descendants in 1901 when he married the Spanish heiress presumptive María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias. The Count of Paris was well aware that his own claim to the French throne depended on the validity of the renunciation in 1713 of Philip V of Spain, in favor of the junior House of Orléans.
In 1900, Prince Carlos had executed the Act of Cannes, in anticipation of his marriage to María de las Mercedes, and in 1901 he became a Spanish subject and accepted the title of Infante. The position of Ranieri was that by so doing Carlos had renounced any claim to the throne of the Two Sicilies. But Alfonso had a different interpretation, which was that the Act of Cannes would have taken effect only if Mercedes and Carlos had succeeded to the Spanish throne. He also argued that the Act of Cannes was invalid under the succession rules of the house of Two Sicilies. The dispute remains unresolved.




Military service



Ferdinand initially served in the Spanish Army, and after leaving service held the honorary rank of Comandante of the General Staff of the Spanish Army. On 1 March 1911, he was named Inhaber (honorary chief) of the Royal Bavarian 6th Field Artillery Regiment (Königlich Bayerisches 6. Feld-Artillerie-Regiment "Prinz Ferdinand von Bourbon, Herzog von Calabrien"), which was renamed in honor of him. He held the rank of Oberstleutnant à la suite of the Bavarian Army.
In World War I, he saw action initially in 1914 on the Western Front at Arras and La Bassée. On 27 May 1915, he was promoted to Oberst à la suite of the Army and on 6 June 1915 he was named Ordonnanzoffizier (aide-de-camp or orderly officer) on the staff of the newly-formed 11th Bavarian Infantry Division. The division saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts, and in Serbia and Romania.




Honours


House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies:
Order of Saint Januarius, Grand Master
Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit, Grand Master
Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, Grand Master
Royal Order of Francis I, Grand Master
Order of Saint George and Reunion, Grand Master
Kingdom of Bavaria:
Order of Saint Hubert, Knight
Jubilee Medal for the Bavarian Army
Military Merit Order, 3rd Class with Crown and Swords (3 September 1915)
Military Merit Order, Officer's Cross with and Swords (1 January 1918)
Kingdom of Spain:
Order of the Golden Fleece, Knight
Order of Charles III, Knight Grand Cross
Order of Military Merit, 1st Class
Military Order of Maria Christina, 1st Class
Regency Medal
Coronation Medal in Gold
Commemorative Medal
Campaign Commemorative Medal
Austria-Hungary:
Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration
Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, Grand Cross
Kingdom of Bulgaria:
Order of Saint Alexander, Grand Cross
Military Order for Bravery, 3rd Class, 1st Grade
House of Hohenzollern:
Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, Cross of Honor 1st Class
Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, Cross of Honor 1st Class with Swords (19 May 1916)
Kingdom of Italy: Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, Knight
Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion
Ottoman Empire:
Liakat Medal in Gold with Sabers
War Medal
Kingdom of Prussia: Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class
Papal States: Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Grand Cross
Tuscany: Order of Saint Joseph, Grand Cross




Arms



Heraldry of Prince Ferdinand Pius
















Ancestry






References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Wangsa Medici
• Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Castro
• Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
• Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro
• House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
• Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta
• Princess Urraca of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
• Capetian dynasty
• Duke of Castro
• Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
• Prince Ferdinand