Ferdinand

(für'de-nand,) the name of many Europeau sovereigns, of whom the following are the most deserving of mention: -ARAGON: F. I., 2d son of Juan of Castile,became king of Aragon and Sicily, 1412-16.F. II. Same as FERDINAND V. OF CASTILE. AUSTRIA: F. I., B. 1793, s. his father, Francis I., in 1835, and abdicated in 1848, in favor of the present emperor, Francis Joseph. BOHEMIA: F. I., II., and III. Same as FERDINAND I., II., III., emperors of Germany. CASTILE: F. I. s. his father, Sancho III., in 1035. In 1038 he invaded Leon, and became the most powerful of the Spanish monarchs of his time. D. 1065.-F. III. (known as THE SAINT) became king of Castile, 1217, and s. his father, Alfonso IX., as king of Leon, 1230. D. 1252. -F. IV. s. his father, Sancho IV., on the throne of Castile and Leon, 1295. D. 1312.-F. V. of Castile and Leon, called THE CATHOLIC, B. 1452, was the son of Juan II. of Aragon, and married, in 1469, Isabella, heire of the Castilian throne. In 1479, F. and his wife ascended the united thrones as co-sovereigns. In 1480, the Inquisition was established in Spain, and in 1491 the Moorish kingdom of Granada conquered. In 1493, Columbus returned from his voyage of discovery of the New World. In 1495, war was carried on with France for the defence of Sicily, and F's army under Gonsalvo de Cordova gained brilliant victories, expelled the French from Italy, and re-established order in Sicily. In 1500, a treaty for the partition of Naples between F. and Louis XII. of France, led to a second war, one that firmly consolidated the Spanish power in Naples. In 1511, the battle of Ravenna proved the last blow to French influence in Italy, and, in 1513, F. conquered and annexed Navarre, whose king had allied himself with France. F. D. in 1516, leaving behind a reputation as distinguished for bravery and ability as for religious intolerance and cruelty. GERMANY: F. I., a younger brother of Charles V., R 1503, s. him in 1556 as emperor, and after reigning with prudence and liberality, D. in 1564.-F. II., B. 1578, was grandson of the foregoing. He ascended the throne of Bohemia, 1617, but his refusal to tolerate Protestant ism in that country lost him his crown, and inaugurated the bloody Thirty Years' War. Succeeding Matthias as Emperor of Germany, in 1619, his reign was one long struggle against the Protestant league arrayed against him. This able but bigoted tyrant D. in 1637.-F. III., B. 1608, s. the preceding monarch, his father, on the thrones of Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia. His reign was characterized by wars with the Swedes and the German Protestants, a isted by France-wars that were finally terminated by the Treaty of Westphalia, which secured to Protestants their full religious rights. D. 1657. NAPLES: F. I., son of Alfonso of Aragon, ascended the throne in 1458. He soon disgusted his subjects by his tyranny, whereupon they invited John of Anjou to become their king. A war ensued, in which F. gained a decisive victory over the French at Troia, 1462. D. 1494.-F. II., grandson of the last-mentioned prince, became king in 1495, and was obliged to call in the aid of the Spaniards to free his dominions from French invasion. D. 1496. TWO SICILIES: F. IV. of Naples, and I. of the Two Sicilies, B. 1751, was a son of Charles III. of Spain, and ascended the throne during his minority. His reign was marked by a continuous struggle against Napoleon, who, by placing Murat on the Neapolitan throne, forced F. to retire into Sicily till 1814, when he was restored. In 1816 he united the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily into one monarchy, under the title of the Two Sicilies. This tyrant, hated by his subjects, D. in 1825.- P. II. (surnamed BomBa), B. 1810, s. his father, Francis I., in 1830. His reign forms but a catalogue of intolerable acts of despotism and misgovernment, giving rise to popular revolts, which were quenched in blood-whence his nickname of Bomba. This odious sovereign D. in 1859, amid the exec rations of the civilized world. PORTUGAL: F. I., s. his father, Peter the Cruel, in 1367. He was a good and popular monarch, and D. in 1383.-F. II., B. 1838, s. his brother Dom Pedro V. in Nov. 1861, and married, in 1862, Maria Pia, daughter of Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy. [s. 360]