The Secretary of State of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily was the Prime Minister of these two Kingdoms from 1734 to 1804, when both were under Spanish Bourbon rule in a personal union.
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Role
The office of Secretary of State involved the exercise of executive power for the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily (two autonomous kingdoms in personal union). Formally, the Secretary of State was appointed by the King, who, concentrating all the powers of an absolute monarch, had the right to replace him whenever he deemed it appropriate.
The Secretariat of State of Naples and Sicily was modeled on the Spanish "Secretaría del Despacho Universal" and, therefore, usually consisted of four ministers:
Secretary of State;
Secretary of Finance;
Secretary of Justice;
Secretary of War and Navy.
In Sicily, there were also the executive offices of:
Viceroy of Sicily;
President of the Kingdom, who presided over the Sicilian Parliament.
The post of Secretary of State was abolished under pressure of France, shortly before Naples was conquered in 1806, and the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples was established.
After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a new function, similar to that held by the Secretaries of State, was created in 1816 called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
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List of secretaries
The following is a list of the seven Secretaries of State of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily :