{"id":38104,"date":"2026-05-08T09:31:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.realcasadiborbone.it\/h-m-ferdinand-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:22:11","slug":"h-m-ferdinand-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/realcasadiborbone.it\/en\/h-m-ferdinand-i-king-of-the-two-sicilies\/","title":{"rendered":"H.M. Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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H.M. Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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H.M. Ferdinand I,
King of the Two Sicilies\n\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As we have seen in the entry dedicated to Charles of Bourbon, when he left the Throne of Naples for that of Madrid in 1759\u2014effectively establishing the definitive separation of the two Crowns\u2014he left his third son, Ferdinand, then an eight-year-old child, as heir in Naples. He entrusted him to a Regency Council of eight members, among whom the figures of Prime Minister Tanucci and Ferdinand’s uncle, the Prince of San Nicandro, stood out.<\/p>

The former was given the specific task of politically guiding the Kingdom, while the latter was tasked with educating the young boy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Born in Naples on January 12, 1751, to King Charles of Bourbon and Maria Amalia Walburga of Saxony, he would also die in Naples on January 4, 1825. His was one of the longest reigns in history, if one considers the dating from 1759 (66 years of reign). <\/p>\n

From the Prince of San Nicandro, he received an education aimed primarily at physical robustness and of a rather popular character (his traits and his speaking in dialect earned him the nickname\u2014not at all derogatory\u2014of the “Lazzarone King” [The term “Lazzari” or “Lazzaroni” referred to the common people of Naples who fought strenuously and heroically against Napoleonic soldiers and Jacobin republicans in 1799 in defense and in the name of Ferdinand, the monarchy, and the Church).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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H.M. Ferdinand IV (Portrait by Francesco Liani)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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While he was a minor, the Kingdom was effectively ruled by Tanucci, who continued Charles of Bourbon’s reformist policy without hesitation, in close agreement with the Throne of Madrid. These were the decades of the famous Bourbon reformism, which was later continued by Ferdinand until the years of the revolutionary storm. <\/p>

In 1768, he married Maria Carolina of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Habsburg, and thus sister of Emperors Joseph II and Leopold II and of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Ferdinand had 18 children with her, and the heir to the Throne was Francis, due to the premature death of the young Prince Charles Titus. <\/p>

Of the daughters, the eldest, Maria Theresa, married the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II; the second, Maria Louisa, married the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand III; Maria Christina married the King of Sardinia, Charles Felix; Maria Amalia married the King of the French, Louis Philippe; and Maria Antonia married the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Maria Carolina, who arrived in Naples at just sixteen, immediately gained great influence over Ferdinand’s political choices, especially after the birth of Francis. A clash with Tanucci was inevitable, as was the progressive break with Madrid, in which the Queen managed to involve Ferdinand (this was a cause of deep sorrow for the now elderly King of Spain, who saw himself losing not only political control but also, in a way, the person of his son Ferdinand). <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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H.M. Maria Carolina (Portrait by Francesco Liani)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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In 1775, Maria Carolina officially joined the Council of State; Tanucci first had to agree to a greatly reduced scope of action, and then resigned himself to leaving the scene in 1777.<\/p>

His place was taken two years later by the English minister, Prince John Acton, who over the years enjoyed the total trust of the Royals. This allowed him to shift the Kingdom from Spanish influence to British influence (confirmed, during the crucial years of the Napoleonic Wars, by the presence at Court of Horatio Nelson and various other English figures who had great influence on Maria Carolina’s decisions).<\/p>

However, Tanucci’s exit did not interrupt the reform process at all. After all, the parents of both monarchs (Charles of Bourbon and Maria Theresa of Habsburg) had both been reforming sovereigns and had shaped their children’s mindsets accordingly (as Joseph II in Vienna was demonstrating with excessive zeal!). <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The policy of reforms had to be interrupted, however, due to the weight of the revolutionary storm in the 1790s. The events in France, initially worrying but then tragically shocking (the fall of the Monarchy, the Jacobin Republic, the murder of the King and then the Queen and their young son, the civil war, the Terror, the Robespierrist dictatorship, hundreds of thousands of deaths, etc.), naturally changed the minds of the two Neapolitan sovereigns, who had been naively and sometimes uncritically open to political innovations. This was especially true after 1794, both because of the events in France and the discovery of a republican conspiracy in Naples. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ferdinand and Maria Carolina began to sense the true face hidden behind the reformers (as always happens in certain historical contexts or real-life situations, future traitors are always hidden among the closest and most constant praisers).<\/p>

The entire so-called Neapolitan intellectuality, composed mostly of aristocrats very close to the Royals and those benefited and honored by them, missed no opportunity to exalt Maria Carolina as the beacon of progress and civilization in Naples, and to present Ferdinand as the “new Titus.”<\/p>

It would be these very people who would found the Parthenopean Republic with the support of the Napoleonic invader’s arms, especially behind the Enlightenment and Masonic intellectuals (whom they had always supported until then).<\/p>

Furthermore, despite some attempts at conciliation with the newborn French Republic, Ferdinand effectively joined the international anti-revolutionary and anti-Napoleonic Coalitions, thus also remaining faithful to the Bourbon “Family Compact” and the alliance with the British.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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(The person depicted, previously thought to be Bernardo Tanucci, has recently been recognized as Domenico Cattaneo, educator of King Ferdinand IV)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The double loss and double reconquest of the continental Kingdom<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As is well known, starting in 1796, the young Napoleon Bonaparte gradually invaded and conquered most of the territories of the pre-unification Italian States, encountering everywhere, as the only fierce resistance, the spontaneous armed revolt of the Italian populations\u2014the counter-revolutionary insurgencies\u2014who rose up in defense of the Church and the Catholic religion and their legitimate secular sovereigns and governments (in short, against revolutionary aggression in defense of secular civilization, society, and traditional identity).<\/p>

In February 1798, revolutionary armies invaded the Papal States, causing Pius VI to flee and establishing the Jacobin Roman Republic. In November, Ferdinand, aware that the Napoleonics only lacked the Kingdom of Naples to complete the conquest of Italy, decided to wage war against the French, also with the aim of liberating Rome and allowing the Pope to return to his State. Command was entrusted to the Austrian General Mack, but the choice immediately proved wrong. He first entered Rome without firing a shot (moreover, the Neapolitans were welcomed in triumph by the Romans), but then, faced with the counterattack of the Napoleonic General Championnet, Mack fled miserably, and the Bourbon army disbanded in confusion. Naturally, Championnet now had the pretext to march on Naples. <\/p>

On December 8, 1798, Ferdinand issued a proclamation to all his subjects, officially inviting them to resist the invader with arms. Never was a proclamation more literally followed. Thousands, tens of thousands of men of every age and class, including women and the elderly, took up arms against the French, fighting strenuously for six months until the reconquest of the Kingdom. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Once the Republic was established in Naples, the Jacobins proceeded to “republicanize” the provinces, but with little effective result. In fact, popular discontent was evident everywhere, and feelings of loyalty to the dynasty manifested themselves every day in an increasingly clear and “threatening” manner. Towards the end of January, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo of the Princes of Scilla appeared at Court in Palermo with a very bold project: he asked the King for ships, men, and money to carry out a military expedition to reconquer the Kingdom of Naples with the support of the populations, which would surely not be lacking. <\/p>

The project was so bold that it left the Royals perplexed; in the end, given Ruffo’s insistence and seeing that there was not much better to do, Ferdinand yielded and granted the Cardinal only one ship with seven men (practically nothing), but the official title of Vicar of the King for the Kingdom of Naples (practically, everything!). Ruffo was satisfied, certain that the continental populations would follow him. <\/p>

And Ruffo was absolutely right! Having landed in his fiefs in Calabria, it was enough to spread word of his intentions and his new effective power that, within a few weeks, he found himself with an army of tens of thousands of volunteers who had come from every part of the Kingdom for the Bourbon cause, ready to die to drive out the Jacobin republicans. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ruffo thus founded the “Christian and Royal Army” in the name of Ferdinand IV (see the entry dedicated to counter-revolutionary insurgencies and Sanfedismo), which within three months reached Naples in triumph, restoring the Bourbon monarchy on June 13, 1799, the feast day of Saint Anthony, official protector of the “Army of the Holy Faith.”<\/p>

Ferdinand and Maria Carolina meanwhile reached Naples by sea, preceded by Nelson, who had orders to deal justice to the Jacobin traitors holed up in Castel S. Elmo, surrounded by the Sanfedista Army. Ruffo, aware that Nelson would massacre them all, offered them the possibility of escape by land; but they thought it better to trust a Protestant than a Catholic and surrendered to the English admiral, who promptly hanged 99 of them, with the approval of Maria Carolina more than Ferdinand. <\/p>

These are the famous Jacobins of the Parthenopean Republic, “victims of the Bourbons,” as all national historiography has always said and reiterated. This is not the place to open historiographical and ideological controversies. We allow ourselves one serene and evident consideration: certainly, beyond justice, greater clemency could also have been used. But historians have always wanted to forget the mandatory requirement of justice in a situation where the terms were clear: subjects\u2014many of whom were close to the Crown\u2014had been guilty of high treason by ousting the King and establishing a revolutionary republic not only founded on the foreign arms of the invader of the common homeland, but above all devoid of any concrete popular support; indeed, as history has unequivocally demonstrated, in clear and tragic conflict with the real will of the populations of the Kingdom, who were firmly loyal to the Bourbons. <\/p>

In short, the Neapolitan republicans (a few hundred individuals in all) had neither been voted for nor well-accepted by the millions of people who inhabited the Kingdom; on the contrary, they were fiercely fought by the populations, and their strength resided only in foreign arms, without any prestige or consensus.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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They were in all respects “traitors to the homeland” enslaved to the foreign invader and were responsible for a violent civil war, even if pro-Risorgimento historiography has always presented them as heroes and “martyrs”: but their act, in the eyes of the legitimate sovereign, could not go unpunished: common sense demonstrates this, and we can be certain that other sovereigns\u2014or Heads of State\u2014sometimes exalted would not have behaved very differently in such tragic circumstances.<\/p>

Ferdinand and Carolina returned to the Throne of Naples in triumph and with the full and complete consent of the populations who had fought spontaneously for them. They reigned in peace until 1805, but then the Napoleonic storm broke over them again. At the beginning of 1806, the Emperor of the French conquered the Kingdom of Naples and placed his brother Joseph on the Throne. Once again, the Royals and the court moved to Palermo, and once again the spontaneous Sanfedista guerrilla warfare began (even if there was no longer a new “Christian and Royal Army”), which lasted until 1810, and in Calabria especially until the Restoration. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Portrait of Ferdinand - Antonio Cal\u00ec (attr.)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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In 1808, Napoleon decreed from Paris that Joseph was to go to Madrid and placed his brother-in-law Joachim Murat on the Throne of Naples, where he would remain until 1815, the year of the European Restoration. Furthermore, in 1815, Murat, desperate over the definitive victory of the restoration forces, attempted everything by landing in Calabria and inviting the peasants to an armed insurrection against the Bourbons: he was shot at by the peasants themselves, arrested, and then executed. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The final years of his reign<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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With the definitive defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna, the whole of Europe entered a new phase of its history, known as the Restoration.<\/p>

Ferdinand preferred this time to officially assume the title of “King of the Two Sicilies” [During his reign in Palermo, the British at Court had favored Sicilian autonomism, forcing him to grant the Constitution of 1812 and to have Maria Carolina leave the island, who then died in 1814 in exile.] (he thus became “I” in numbering) and wanted to implement a policy of national pacification, perhaps even too generous. In fact, not only did he leave Murat’s collaborators substantially unpunished, but he often confirmed their offices, roles, and privileges acquired under the Napoleonic regime; and this was especially true with military officers, something he soon had cause to regret. <\/p>

At Court, a clash took place between the Minister de’ Medici, pro-liberal and Mason, and the Minister of Police Antonio Capece Minotolo, Prince of Canosa, an intransigent Catholic, counter-revolutionary and Bourbon loyalist, a bitter enemy of Masonic sects and every revolutionary tendency. Ferdinand, however, let de’ Medici prevail, and this led in 1820 to another revolution, of a constitutionalist nature, organized and implemented by the Masonic sect of the Carboneria. <\/p>

Ferdinand initially agreed to grant the constitution; but times had changed, and he well knew that, by the principle of legitimacy established at the Congress of Vienna and the pacts of the Holy Alliance, Metternich would soon intervene against the revolutionaries. And indeed, so it happened. There was a Congress of the Holy Alliance in Ljubljana, where intervention against Naples was decided. The Neapolitan parliament sent Ferdinand himself to Ljubljana to plead the constitutionalist cause; but naturally, once there, Ferdinand asked Metternich for intervention against the Neapolitan revolutionaries, which promptly took place. <\/p>

Ferdinand was thus able to restore absolutism and live in peace during the very last years of his long and troubled reign.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Sovereign of Italian reformism<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Ferdinand can certainly be considered the Sovereign who par excellence in Italy embodied the criteria of enlightened reformism, continuing and completing what his father had begun. It is not possible here to delve, even in broad terms, into a discussion of fundamental historical importance, much treated by the historiography of recent decades. We therefore limit ourselves to listing one after another the most important reforms and works carried out by his will or inspiration. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Royal Site of San Leucio<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Royal Site of San Leucio<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Civil engineering:<\/h3>
  • On 4\/IX\/1762, construction began in Naples of the first cemetery in Italy; he later built one in Palermo;<\/li>
  • he had roads in Naples built and widened, such as Foria;<\/li>
  • he restored the Royal Palace of Naples;<\/li>
  • in 1779, he erected the Fabbrica de’ Granili;<\/li>
  • in 1780, he began the Villa Reale;he built three theaters: de’ Fiorentini, del Fondo, and San Ferdinando;<\/li>
  • he built:
    • the Botanical Garden in Palermo,<\/li>
    • the English Villa of Caserta,<\/li>
    • the Shipyard of Castellammare,<\/li>
    • the small port of Naples,<\/li>
    • the works of the Emissary of Claudius,<\/li>
    • the Royal Palace of Cardito;<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
    • he built more than a thousand miles of roads to connect Naples with the provinces;<\/li>
    • he restored bridges, built new ones, drained marshes, embanked rivers, etc.; in 1790, he reclaimed the Bay of Naples;<\/li>
    • he finished the constructions started by his father (Palaces of Caserta and Portici);<\/li>
    • he began new ones: Favorita in Palermo, Church of S. Francesco di Paola in Naples, etc.<\/li><\/ul>

      Military measures:<\/h3>
      • He founded several military colleges, an academy for technical arms, and reorganized the army;<\/li>
      • he reorganized the navy, and when in 1790 the vessel Ruggiero under construction at Castellammare caught fire, the subjects spontaneously offered the Sovereign a collection of one million ducats for the reconstruction of the vessel;<\/li>
      • he published the Military Penal Code.<\/li><\/ul>

        Cultural institutions and initiatives:<\/h3>

        in 1768, he established a free school for every Municipality of the Kingdom and for both sexes, ordering that the same be done in religious houses; he also established a college to educate youth in every province, all without supplementary taxes;<\/p>

        • in 1779, he transformed the Jesuit House in Naples into a College for noble youths, called the Ferdinandeo, and gave a Conservatory for the education of poor orphans;<\/li>
        • in 1778, the University of Cattaneo was created, and the following year that of Palermo with an anatomical theater, chemical laboratory, and physics cabinet;<\/li>
        • he established an astronomical section in the Royal Palace of Palermo, where Piazzi worked; he founded another observatory on the Tower of San Gaudioso in Naples;<\/li>
        • in Sicily alone, he founded 4 high schools, 18 colleges, and many normal schools;<\/li>
        • he founded a nautical seminary in Palermo for the training of sailors;he established a deputation to oversee all the Colleges of the Kingdom;<\/li>
        • in 1778, he established the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts in Naples;<\/li>
        • he opened a library in Palermo;<\/li>
        • he reorganized the three Universities of the Kingdom, creating new chairs: for the first time in hospitals, those of obstetrics and surgical observations were seen;<\/li>
        • he chose the best minds as teachers, regardless of their political opinions, such as Genovesi, Palmieri, Galanti, Troja, Cavalieri, Serrao, Gagliardi, etc.;<\/li>
        • he honored the geniuses of musical art, such as Cimarosa and Paisiello, whom he appointed as master to the Crown Prince; furthermore, he provided the means for many young artists to perfect themselves in Rome;<\/li>
        • he enriched the Museum of Naples and the Library;<\/li>
        • he continued the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii.<\/li><\/ul>

          Economic measures:<\/h3>
          • He founded the Stock Exchange and started many new trades, such as coral fishing;<\/li>
          • he leased and provided excellent laws for the Tavoliere della Puglia, causing many colonies to arise, exempting farmers who populated, cultivated, and increased those hitherto abandoned areas from many taxes for 40 years; in this regard, he founded grain banks (Monti frumentari);<\/li>
          • he significantly decreased taxes for citizens (especially those to be paid to the barons), both direct and indirect, such as those on food supplies, the allogati, tobacco, tolls, and in some provinces that on silk.<\/li><\/ul>

            Civil, social, and charitable measures:<\/h3>
            • he populated the islands of Ustica and Lampedusa, driving out the Barbary pirates and building fortresses;<\/li>
            • he founded the Fund for military orphans, providing it with an annual income of 30,000 ducats, to educate the children of deceased military personnel and for the dowries of their daughters;<\/li>
            • the Albanians and Greeks of the Kingdom were gathered into colonies, and he founded seminaries and schools for them, also giving them a place for trade in Brindisi;<\/li>
            • furthermore, he established a bishopric of the Greek Catholic rite;<\/li>
            • when there was a popular collection in Naples for the marriage of the Crown Prince, he accepted only a small part (70,000 ducats) which he paid entirely to the poor of the city;<\/li>
            • he created the colony of San Leucio for silk processing following criteria of social equality;<\/li>
            • before the French Revolution, he was firm in defending state prerogatives against the Church;<\/li>
            • after 1815, he was more generous, although he always maintained the choice of bishops with the Concordat of 1818;<\/li>
            • in 1818, the first Italian steamship set sail from Naples and crossed the Mediterranean;<\/li>
            • he introduced the obligation for magistrates to justify their sentences.<\/li><\/ul>

              This is the King that the national historiographical “vulgata” has always presented as vulgar, ignorant, fanatical, and reactionary. A “Lazzarone” King, a “man of the people”; and indeed, the true people were always with him. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              H.M. Ferdinand I, King of the Two Sicilies H.M. Ferdinand I,King of the Two Sicilies As we have seen in the entry dedicated to Charles of Bourbon, when he left the Throne of Naples for that of Madrid in 1759\u2014effectively establishing the definitive separation of the two Crowns\u2014he left his third son, Ferdinand, then an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38105,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38104","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nH.M. Ferdinand I King of the Two Sicilies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover the history of H.M. 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