(E.I. Game) Pope Issues Ultimatum to Naples

[Risban]

For several years now Ferdinand II of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had been ruling through a reign of terror, holding upwards of 40,000 citizens as political prisoners in Naples, treating them cruelly and harshly. In response to this abominable treatment of Italian civilians--which was beginning to annoy some people in both France and Britain--the Holy See issued an ultimatum.


To His Majesty Ferdinand II, King of Naples and Sicily,

The Holy See is disgusted by the gross treatment of at least 15,000 Italian political prisoners being held in Naples. The cruelty you exemplify towards them completely disregards them as fellow servants of Christ, as well as fellow countrymen.

The Holy See demands that the king mitigate his rigour and proclaim a complete and general amnesty for the prisoners being held.


In the Name of Our Lord,
His Holiness The Pope, Julius IV, Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pontifex Maximus of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Servant of the Servants of God, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the Roman State

[Fatstalin]

Napoléon III, Emperor of the French, although mindful of the current political debauchery within the Kingdom of Naples, advises His Holiness against any actions which may threaten the current stability of the Italian Peninsula. In time the situation shall be dealt with accordingly by the powers that be.

Upon the release of the Emperor's statement, the French Embassy in Naples recieved an extensive communiqué from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In it detailed Emperor's solution to the matter at hand. It was now up to the French Ambassador to consult this King Ferdinand and bring the matter to an end before things started to get out of hand.

[AaronH]

The Venetian Government hearing of the Popes statement on Naples releases their own statement.

The Kingdom of Lombardy - Illyria believes that the prisoners taken in the Two sicilies should be released without any hesitation if they are not the Kingdom of Lombardy- Illyria is willing to use military force to get rid of a government obviously corrupt as to imprison their own countrymen unlawfully.

He calls upon the Holy Father to support him in this.

[DGNT]

The Kingdom of Naples response was brief and to the point, taking the form of one hunded public executions. A brief letter to the Papal States indicated what the Pope could do with his demands.
The Sicilian army, such of it as was not dealing with peasant revolts, was drawn up in the North, within sight of the Papal border guards.

[Risban]

((Post forthcoming. I ask nobody post until I finish this up))

[AaronH]

The Illyrians shocked that the Napolese would confront the Pope begin to load thier troops aboard their transports to land in southern Italy. A total of 30,000 men are to be landed along the coast from Naples and a further force of 15,000 are to be dropped in Sicily. The troops moving to Naples are given an escort of 1 SOTL and half of the smaller ships. The same is sent with the troops sent to land in Naples.

To cover the loss from garrisons reserves of 30,000 are called up.

[Risban]

The Vatican City issued a direct statement to the Lombards ordering them to stand their troops down at once. It was reported that upon hearing the Lombards were planning to invade Naples-Sicily, the Pope became furious, but this was confirmed by no one.


Letter to the King of Lombardy-Venetia
By Decree of His Most Holy and Apostlic Pope, Julius IV, Sovereign of the Vatican City and the Papal States, Bishop of Rome, it is demanded that all forces of Lombardy stand down immediately and halt their invasion of southern Italy. The Holy Father sees no reason for the Lombards to be involved when the forces of the Holy See can take care of the incident themselves. The Holy Father does not feel threatened by the Neopolitan forces massing along his borders, given the recent military expansion of the guards, and will not in any way support Northerners invading Southern Italy.

The Swiss Guards and Roman Militia, as well as the Red Shirts, will be led by General Garibaldi to halt this insurrection. If the Lombards wish to assist the Holy Father in securing the coastlines, that will be sufficient. But Lombard armies will not be permitted into the Two Sicilies.

I remind you, good sir, that your neighbors to the west are watching your every move, and any massive military movements by your own kingdom will draw the immediate attention and repercussion of Victor Emmanuel II and his Count.

Your Servant in Christ,

Alfred Cardinal Montegery, Envoy of the Pope
Alexander Cardinal Pelias, Foreign Minister of the Papal States



Declaration of Excommunication

I, through the Will of God, hereby Excommunicate ab homine the man Ferdinand II, King of Naples and Sicily, from the Most Holy and Apostolic Roman Catholic Church for his crimes against the Peoples of Naples-Sicily and the deliberate insubordination to the Papal Decree issued declaring that these civilians be freed.

Res sacrae, ritus, communio, crypta, potestas, praedia sacra, forum, civilia jura vetantur.

Signed,

His Holiness The Pope, Julius IV, Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pontifex Maximus of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Servant of the Servants of God, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the Roman State



With the heretic king excommunicated for murdering and imprisoning scores of Christians, the Pope--now exercising his political clout--demanded that Giuseppe Garibaldi forcefully remove King Ferdinand from power. The great Garibaldi and his Red Shirts, coupled with several regiments of the Swiss Guard and the Roman Militia prepared to march, the total amount of forces numbering 16,000 men. Garibaldi--a master orator and skilled general--would move to dismantle Ferdinand's troops beneath the Flags of the Vatican and of the City of Rome, Papal Legates following his every move. The Holy Father had his foreign minister issue a statement.

Julius IV, Bishop of Rome and Sovereign of the Vatican City and the Papal States, Successor of Peter and the Apostles, has granted General Giuseppe Garibaldi, commander of the Roman Militia, Captain of the Red Shirts, and Protector of the Vatican, permission to remove the excommunicated and damned Ferdinando II from the Neopolitan throne.

His Holiness asks Vittorio Emmanuel, King of Piedmont-Sardinia, for 4,000 volunteers to aid in this Holy endeavour.
The Holy Father requests of the Lombard-Venetians the assistance of their naval forces to keep the coasts of the Two Sicilies at bay. General Garibaldi will lead the ground campaign.

The Holy Father asks for the prayers of all people. May God have mercy on the souls of those blindly following the heretic king, and may those being persecuted by the damned be delivered safely from evil.

~Alexander Cardinal Perkins, Foreign Minister of the Papal States~

Garibaldi was already nearing the Neopolitan forces along the Papal border.

[Mexico]

The Empire of Mexico agrees with the Pope's decision to rid the Kingdom of Naples of their heretical King and sends the prayers of all the nation to the glorious Papal cause.

[Fatstalin]

Official Statement from the Offices of His Excellency, Napoléon III, Emperor of the French
It is unfortunante the Papacy has chosen the qualms of war to resolve such crises. Although King Ferdinand certainly overstepped his bounds in regard to the treatment of his subjects, we French simply cannot stand by and let the soverignty of the Kingdom of Naples be so flagrantly violated without, at the very least, an extention of the possibility of peaceful abdication. Furthermore, it is equally as disturbing that the Lombards would march to war for the linear purpose of territoral expansion at the expense of her neighbors.

Thus, so as to maintain the current standing institutions of the Kingdom of Naples, the Empire of France will henceforth deploy its own military forces to occupy the Neopolitan capitol until the King of Naples has been taken into custody and the forces of both the Papacy and Lombardy are withdrawn.

Attempts to unlawfully annex any portion of the Kingdom in question, or engage any French occupation forces in the region will be regarded as a lawful cassius belli by the Empire of France and prosecuted as such. Let it be known that the French people will not tolerate such thieves among the flocks of Western Europe.

---

Hours after the release of the Emperor's statment, local garrisons, along with the Mediterranean Fleet in Marseilles recieved orders for their respective mobilization. As noted above, they would, upon their arrival in Naples, garrison the city to ensure its integrity not only against foreign powers, but against the emerging anarchy of the city.

In the event Ferdinand II had not vacated his post by the time French forces arrived (in roughly 6 days), he would be arrested for his crimes against Christendom and immedeately turned over to authorities in Rome.

Additional overtures were also privately dispatched to Moscow, Berlin, Madrid, and Munich, asking for support in this matter and reminding each of them of the calamities similar chaos and militarism had caused 5 decades ago. Hopefully, for the sake of peace and stability, the conflict would be diffused.

[DGNT]

With the excommunication of Ferdinan, several things happened quite quickly.
First, Ferdinan ordered the remaining prisoners executed. This triggered a riot, which was followed by a number of prominient cities in Naples catching fire and burning to the ground.
In the chaos, Ferdinan the Second was seen leaving on less than sixteen Italian ports according to civilian reports, heading everywhere from Washington DC to Beijing.
Lacking any sort of leadership, the Sicilian army either disintigrated or declared various generals to be the new king. This resulted in a bloodbath amoung the army ranks in which Naples and Sicily went through approximatly fourty two kings in four days.
Several areas eventually solidified, but by that time half of Europe had armies landing on the shores. Most of the Sicilian soldiery encountered by the landing factions surrendered immidiatly, dragging out whichever officer had declared himself king in exchange for not being imprisoned, many where, in fact, eager to help the French restore some measure of order.
The Papal and Lombard troops met no such warm welcome though. Few would surrender to them, although they were not attacked, at least, not more than the French, but none were eager to help them. They were, in general, tolerated and nothing more. Most Sicilian townspeople closed their doors as the colums marched by.

[Risban]

To the Noble Emperor of the French, Servant of Jesus Christ,

I have granted permission to General Garibaldi to assume temporary control over the Kingdom of Naples to restore order. My bishops and cardinals throughout the region are turning their offices into headquarters, and the Church will be controlling things in Naples until we restore adequate stability and I crown a new king.

Sicily, however, is far from my reach, and I fear the Lombards and their men. I have asked the clergy of Sicily to protect their Churches and the faithful, but cannot spare adequate forces to help them in this endeavour. Thus I ask if the Emperor would be so willing to deploy troops in Sicily to halt a potential Venetian invasion and restore order. French troops will be able to use the offices and mansions of my bishops in Sicily as headquarters for the endeavour.

I will also ask if the the Emperor would be willing to dispatch bounty hunters or the like to find where Ferdinand II has cowered off to. The heretic will pay for his crimes, both in this life and the next. So long as he lives, he remains a threat, and an abomination to God.

I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Signed,
is Holiness The Pope, Julius IV, Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pontifex Maximus of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Servant of the Servants of God, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the Roman State


Giuseppe Garibaldi, by far the most charismatic man in Italy, began courting the people of Naples. He attempted to rally them behind an idea--an idea of a stronger Naples, and a future idea of a one day peaceful Italy--in an attempt to qualm any riots. His Red Shirts had started pacifying the city of Naples and cleaning up, while the Church gave out bread. Priests openned up their Churches for people to sleep in if they had lost their homes, and tried to heal the wounded and offer a return to faith.

The Holy Father sent down one of his most trusted Cardinals, however, to watch Garibaldi. Julius IV knew quite well the aspirations of the Italian hero, and of his friend Mazzinni, and would make sure that Garibaldi didn't get any bright ideas that would entice the Piedmontese or, worse, the French.

[AaronH]

The Lombard troops occupying Sicily begin to help to rebuild houses and distributing food among the people of Sicily hoping to win the support of the peope. The troops of Lombardy in Naples are withdrawn with another 5,000 shipped accross to Sicily and a large section of the Lombard navy guarding the coasts.

The King of Lombardy - Illyria suggests that a meeting is made in the city of Rome to discuss what will happen with the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

[NapoleonXIV]

The King of Spain issues a short proclamation. In it, he deplores the bloodshed taking place in Italy and extends the prayers and wishes of the Spanish people that both sides should immediately end hostilities and send their leaders or representatives to resolve the conflict peacefully. He offers the Castle of Santiago de Campostela, once almost famed as Jerusalem for Pilgrims, as neutral ground for such a meeting, promising full diplomatic status, rights and protections for all plenipotentiaries as shall be sent by any of the combatants and/or any other interested party.

[Risban]

The Pope has ordered that all Catholic leaders dispatch leaders or representatives to a summit in Rome. ((Please see "Pope Summons Catholic Leaders" topic)).

Meanwhile, pacification in Naples was going well. Garibaldi, ever the hero and charmer, was successfully wooing the Neopolitans, at least within metropolitan Naples. Thoose people in the countryside were either indifferent or annoyed with the events going on, but many welcomed the safety and waited for the Pope to proclaim a new leader of the Two Sicilies. The capital was secured, and Garibaldi's men were chasing down the last bit of those who had participated in the 1857 Neopolitan Massacre so that they could be tried for their crimes.

In Sicily, the Pope issued a statement with a stern warning to the Lombards not to dispatch any more troops whatsoever to Naples, and reaffirmed his position that the French could handle the pacification of the island.

[AaronH]

The Lombards happy to stay within Sicily begin to dispense money to those families hurt by the reign of Ferdinand II and the affects seem to go well with the people warming torwards the occupiers of much of Sicily.