FERDINAND I 



2152 



FERDINAND V 



and are often used, especially in Europe, to 

 season sauces. The seeds also have a pleasing 

 odor and warm taste, and are used to give a 

 pleasant flavor to medicine. Although found 

 wild in the United States and Canada, the 

 fennel is popular in Europe as a garden plant. 

 This herb, with its small, yellow flowers and 

 finely-divided leaves, appears frequently in lit- 

 erature, in the early days, having been an 

 emblem of strength and valor. 



FER'DINAND I (1503-1564), and FERDI- 

 NAND II (1578-1637), two Holy Roman em- 

 perors (see HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE). Ferdinand 

 I was the son of Charles V of Germany, whom 

 he succeeded as emperor in 1556. Previously, 

 in 1526, he had been crowned king of Bohemia; 

 his claim to the throne of Hungary was as- 

 sured only after several years of warfare (see 

 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY). His rule as emperor was 

 mild and just, and was notable for his reform 

 of the currency in Germany. 



Ferdinand II, grandson of Ferdinand I, suc- 

 ceeded his uncle Matthias as emperor in 1619. 

 Two years before this he was chosen king of 

 Bohemia, and in 1618, king of Hungary. As 

 he was Roman Catholic in his sympathies, 

 his Protestant subjects in Bohemia rose in 

 revolt against him, bringing on the terrible 

 religious struggle known as the Thirty Years' 

 War (which see). With the increase of power 

 resulting from his election to the office of em- 

 peror, he was able without great difficulty to 

 crush the Bohemian insurrection. His reign 

 was almost wholly occupied with the Thirty 

 Years' War, the completion of which he did 

 not live to see. 



FERDINAND II (1810-1859), king of Naples 

 and Sicily, known as the Two Sicilies. He 

 was nicknamed "King Bomba," and was the 

 son of Francis I. In early life he was popular 

 with the idlers of Naples. In 1830, when he 

 succeeded his father, he promised his subjects 

 to "give his most anxious attention to the im- 

 partial administration of justice," but he made 

 only slight concessions, for the burden of tax- 

 ation was lightened but little and he quickly 

 established a despotism worse than that of his 

 father and gave no heed to the welfare of his 

 people. 



In 1832 he married the daughter of Victor 

 Emmanuel and four years after her death mar- 

 ried Maria Theresa of Austria. His nickname 

 of "Bomba" arose from his bombardment of 

 Palermo ffom the forts commanding it. In 

 1848 a revolution against him spread over his 

 kingdom; he granted a constitution, but a 



dispute arose as to the nature of the oath for 

 his deputies and he dissolved Parliament in 

 March, 1849. Despotism was again estab- 

 lished, and he died just after France and Pied- 

 mont, a province in Italy, had declared war 

 against Austria; this struggle resulted in the 

 downfall of his kingdom. 



FERDINAND IV (1751-1825), king of Naples, 

 known also as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. 

 His reign was more of a burden than of a 

 blessing to his country. When his father be- 

 came king of Spain in 1759 as Charles III 

 Ferdinand succeeded him as ruler of Naples. 

 A regency was established, and the young 

 king's education was purposely neglected in 

 order that he might more completely be dom- 

 inated. In 1768 he married the masterful 

 Maria Carolina, daughter of the empress Maria 

 Theresa, and she set about making Naples a 

 great power. When the French monarchy fell 

 during the Revolution (see FRENCH REVOLU- 

 TION), the king and queen joined the union 

 against France and ordered wholesale execu- 

 tions and arrests, which continued until the 

 king was forced to agree to a treaty. When 

 war broke out between Austria and France in 

 1805 he signed a treaty with France, but soon 

 after formed an alliance with Austria. After 

 Napoleon made his brother Joseph king over 

 Naples, the queen was exiled to Austria, where 

 she died. Ferdinand returned to Naples after 

 the fall of Napoleon, but repudiated his oath 

 after he had twice sworn to maintain the new 

 constitution, thils provoking the enmity of the 

 party which had planned to reestablish him in 

 power. 



FERDINAND V (1452-1516), king of Aragon, 

 who with his wife Isabella deserves some credit 

 in connection with the discovery of America, 

 was born in Sos, Aragon, Spain. He was the 

 son of John II of Aragon, and through his 

 marriage in 1469 to his cousin Isabella, queen 

 of Castile, heiress of her brother, Henry IV, 

 the two kingdoms were united. After a ten 

 years' war it was possible to expel the Moors 

 from Granada and end their rule in Europe. 

 For this act the Pope gave him the title of 

 The Catholic. Ferdinand and Isabella played 

 a leading part in Europe; the king, supreme 

 in Aragon, aimed at great political power; the 

 queen continued at the head of the government 

 of her own kingdom. 



The discovery of America was the most mo- 

 mentous event of their reign. Ferdinand was 

 indifferent when Columbus first pleaded his 

 cause, but Isabella declared she would under- 



