Sicily (1648: Kingdom of the Three Sicilies)

The Kingdom of Sicily was a country in the Mediterranean that existed during the early modern period. It was not only composed of its namesake, but also Naples, Sardinia, the Illyrian coast and Malta (who were semi-independent duchies) for a brief period of ten years it also held the small African possession of a fort on the river Gambia, also it was retro-ceded back to Poland within a decade of the Purchase.

It was founded in 1648, under the terms of the Treaty of Westphalia. The newly created Kingdom was given to the French king’s younger brother, Philip. This was done more to get rid him out of France that out of love or affection. The was because he was a war hero and widely popular with the French people, as opposed to his brother Louis XIV. He was seen as an incompetent, lazy, spoiled puppet of the Cardinals and Nobles.

He first came to Sicily as leader of a French army sent there to help a rebellion against the Spanish during the 30 years war. Because of his training in tactics and combat maneuver, along with a hefty sum of Francs from the royal treasury, he was able to turn a rag-tag group of Neopolitan and Sicilian rebels (who were just as likely to kill each other than the Spanish) into a trained and deadly army. Philip was able to defeat the Spanish armies where ever they opposed him, and even occupied Sardinia.