Parthenopean Republic

Parthenopean Republic (pär'thənōpē'ən) [from Parthenope, an ancient name of Naples], state set up in Naples in Jan., 1799, by the French Revolutionary army under General Championnet and by liberal Neapolitans after the flight of King Ferdinand IV (later Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies). In 1798, Ferdinand had joined the Second Coalition against the French Revolution (see French Revolutionary Wars). His army was unable to halt the French, and Naples was conquered. In February, Cardinal Ruffo, at the head of royalist troops, landed in Calabria and attempted to oust the French. Military reverses in N Italy prompted the evacuation by the French of Naples in May, and in June the republic fell. Admiral Horatio Nelson, whose role in the victory was crucial, ignored Cardinal Ruffo's generous convention with the surrendering revolutionists and started the brutal reprisals that were continued by the restored king. The executions and imprisonments brought to an end the 18th-century Englightenment in Naples.