Former kingdom, Italy.
It united the southern part of the Italian peninsula with the island of Sicily . The region was conquered by the Normans in the 11th century; the two areas were divided in 1282 between the Angevin (French) dynasty on the mainland and the Aragonese (Spanish) dynasty on the island, both of which claimed the title of King of Sicily. In 1442 Alfonso V of Aragon reunited the two areas and took the title of King of the Two Sicilies. This title was sometimes used during the Spanish and Bourbon rule of the region in the 16th19th centuries; it became official in 1816, when the administration of both areas was combined and Sicily lost its autonomy. Conquered by Giuseppe de Garibaldi in 1860, the Two Sicilies became part of the Kingdom of Italy.