Ferdinand I (Italian:Ferdinando I; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) wasKing of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759,King of Naples asFerdinand IV andKing of Sicily asFerdinand III. He was deposed twice from the throne of Naples: once by the revolutionaryParthenopean Republic for six months in 1799, and again by aFrench invasion in 1806, before being restored in 1815 at the end of theNapoleonic Wars.
Ferdinand was born in Naples as the third son ofKing Charles VII andQueen Maria Amalia. In August 1759, Charles succeeded his half-brotherFerdinand VI of Spain as King Charles III, but treaty provisions made him ineligible to hold all three crowns. On 6 October, he abdicated his Neapolitan and Sicilian titles in favour of his third son, Ferdinand, because his eldest sonPhilip had been excluded from succession due to intellectual disability and his second sonCharles was heir-apparent to the Spanish throne. Ferdinand was the founder of the cadetHouse of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.
Ferdinand was born inNaples and grew up amidst many of the monuments erected there by his father which can be seen today; the Palaces ofPortici,Caserta andCapodimonte.
Ferdinand was his parents' third son; his elder brotherCharles was expected to inherit Naples and Sicily. When his father ascended the Spanish throne in 1759, he abdicated the thrones of Naples and Sicily in Ferdinand's favour in accordance with the treaties forbidding the union of the two crowns. Aregency council presided over by the TuscanBernardo Tanucci was set up. Tanucci, an able, ambitious man, wishing to keep the government as much as possible in his own hands, purposely neglected the young king's education, and encouraged him in his love of pleasure, his idleness and his excessive devotion tooutdoor sports.[1][2]
Ferdinand's minority/childhood ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of theJesuits. The following year he marriedArchduchess Maria Carolina, daughter ofEmpress Maria Theresa. By the marriage contract, the queen was to have a voice in the council of state after the birth of her first son, and she was not slow to avail herself of this means of political influence.[2]
Tanucci, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777. The Englishman SirJohn Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, won Maria Carolina's favour by supporting her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence, securingrapprochement with theArchduchy of Austria and theKingdom of Great Britain. He became practically and afterward actually prime minister. Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was largely responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system ofespionage,corruption andcruelty.[2]
Although peace was made with France in 1796, the demands of theFrench Directory, whose troops occupied Rome, alarmed Ferdinand once more. At his wife's instigation, he took advantage ofNapoleon's absence in theFrench campaign in Egypt and Syria and ofHoratio Nelson's victories to go to war. Ferdinand marched with his army against the French and entered Rome (29 November). On the defeat of some of his columns, Ferdinand hurried back to Naples. On the approach of the French, Ferdinand fled on 23 December 1798 aboard Nelson's shipHMS Vanguard toPalermo, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy.[3][2] The weather was extremely stormy and the king's 6-year-old younger sonPrince Alberto died of exhaustion during the voyage, in the arms ofEmma, Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress.[4]
The French entered the city despite the fierce resistance of thelazzaroni, and with the aid of the nobles and bourgeoisie, established theParthenopean Republic in January 1799. A few weeks later, when the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force underFabrizio Cardinal Ruffo to reconquer the mainland kingdom. Ruffo, with the support of British artillery, the Church, and the pro-Bourbon aristocracy, succeeded in reaching Naples in May 1799, and the Parthenopean Republic collapsed.[2] After some months, King Ferdinand returned to the throne.
The king and the queen were anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executedMarie Antoinette) made use of Lady Hamilton to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.[2]
The king returned to Naples soon afterwards, and ordered the execution of several hundred Frenchcollaborators. This stopped only when the French successes forced him to agree to a treaty which included amnesty for members of the French party. When theWar of the Third Coalition broke out between France and theAustrian Empire in 1805, Ferdinand signed a treaty of neutrality with the former. A few days later, Ferdinand allied himself with Austria and allowed anAnglo-Russian force to land at Naples.[2]
The French victory at theBattle of Austerlitz on 2 December enabled Napoleon to launch aninvasion of the Kingdom of Naples. Ferdinand fled toPalermo on 23 January 1806, followed soon after by his wife and son, and on 14 February 1806 the French again entered Naples. Napoleon declared that theBourbon dynasty had forfeited the crown, and proclaimed his brotherJoseph King of Naples and Sicily. But Ferdinand continued to reign over the latter kingdom (becoming the first King of Sicily in centuries to actually reside there) under British protection.[2]
Parliamentary institutions of a feudal type had long existed on the island, andLord William Bentinck, the British minister, insisted on a reform of the constitution on English and French lines. The king indeed practicallyabdicated his power, appointing his son Francis as regent, and the queen, at Bentinck's insistence, wasexiled to Austria, where she died in 1814.[2]
After the fall of Napoleon,Joachim Murat, who had succeeded Joseph Bonaparte as king of Naples in 1808, was dethroned in theNeapolitan War in 1815, and Ferdinand returned to Naples. By a secret treaty he had bound himself not to advance further in a constitutional direction than Austria should at any time approve; but, though on the whole he acted in accordance withMetternich's policy of preserving thestatus quo, and maintained with but slight change Murat's laws and administrative system. Ferdinand took advantage of the situation to abolish the Sicilian constitution, in violation of his oath, and to proclaim the union of the two states into theKingdom of the Two Sicilies (12 December 1816).[2]
Ferdinand was now completely subservient to Austria, an Austrian,Count Nugent, being even made commander-in-chief of the army. For the next four years, Ferdinand reigned as anabsolute monarch within his domain, granting no constitutional reforms.
The suppression of liberal opinion caused an alarming spread of the influence and activity of the secret society of theCarbonari, which in time affected a large part of the army.[2] In July 1820, a military revolt broke out under GeneralGuglielmo Pepe, and Ferdinand was terrorised into signing a constitution on the model of theSpanish Constitution of 1812. On the other hand, a revolt inSicily, in favour of the recovery of its independence, was suppressed by Neapolitan troops.
The success of the military revolution at Naples seriously alarmed the powers of theHoly Alliance, who feared that it might spread to other Italian states and so lead to a general European conflagration. TheTroppau Protocol of 1820 was signed by Austria,Prussia and Russia, although an invitation to Ferdinand to attend the adjournedCongress of Laibach (1821) was issued at which he failed to distinguish himself. He had twice sworn to maintain the new constitution but was hardly out of Naples before he repudiated his oaths and, in letters addressed to all the sovereigns of Europe, declared his acts to have been null and void. Metternich had no difficulty in persuading the king to allow an Austrian army to march into Naples "to restore order".[2]
The Neapolitans, commanded by General Pepe, made no attempt to defend the difficultdefiles of theAbruzzi,[2] and were defeated atBattle of Rieti (7 March 1821). The Austrians entered Naples.
Following the Austrian victory, the Parliament was dismissed and Ferdinand suppressed the Liberals and Carbonari. The victory was used by Austria to force its grasp over Naples' domestic and foreign policies.Count Charles-Louis de Ficquelmont was appointed as the Austrianambassador to Naples, practically administering the country as well as managing the occupation and strengthening Austrian influence over Neapolitan elites.
Ferdinand died in Naples on 4 January 1825. He was the last surviving child of Charles III.
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| Children of Ferdinand I | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Picture | Birth | Death | Notes |
| By Maria Carolina of Austria (Vienna, 13 August 1752 – Vienna, 8 September 1814) | ||||
| Maria Teresa Carolina Giuseppina |  | 6 June 1772 | 13 April 1807 | Named after her maternal grandmother,Maria Theresa of Austria, she married her first cousinFrancis II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1790; had issue. |
| Maria Luisa Amelia Teresa | _von_Neapel-Sizilien_(1773-1802)%2c_Gemahlin_von_Ferdinand_III._von_Toskana%2c_an_einem_Tisch_sitzend%2c_Kniest%25C3%25BCck.jpg) | Royal Palace of Naples, 27 July 1773 | Hofburg Imperial Palace, 19 September 1802 | Married her first cousinFerdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and had issue. |
| Carlo Tito Francesco Giuseppe |  | Naples, 6 January 1775 | 17 December 1778 | Died ofsmallpox. |
| Maria Anna Giuseppa Antonietta Francesca Gaetana Teresa |  | 23 November 1775 | 22 February 1780 | Died of smallpox. |
| Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe Saverio Giovanni Battista |  | Naples, 14 August 1777 | Naples, 8 November 1830 | Married his cousinArchduchess Maria Clementina of Austria in 1797 and had issue; married another cousinInfanta Maria Isabella of Spain in 1802 and had issue; was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830. |
| Maria Cristina Teresa |  | Caserta Palace, 17 January 1779 | Savona, 11 March 1849 | MarriedCharles Felix of Sardinia in 1807; had no issue; it was she who ordered the excavations ofTusculum. |
| Maria Cristina Amelia | Caserta Palace, 17 January 1779 | Caserta Palace, 26 February 1783 | Died of smallpox. Died in childhood. | |
| Gennaro Carlo Francesco |  | Naples 12 April 1780 | 2 January 1789 | Died of smallpox. |
| Giuseppe Carlo Gennaro |  | Naples, 18 June 1781 | 19 February 1783 | Died of smallpox. |
| Maria Amelia Teresa |  | Caserta Palace, 26 April 1782 | Claremont House, 24 March 1866 | Married in 1809Louis Philippe I,Duke of Orleans, King of the French and had issue. |
| Maria Cristina | Caserta Palace, 19 July 1783 | Caserta Palace, 19 July 1783 | Stillborn. | |
| Maria Antonietta Teresa Amelia Giovanna Battista Francesca Gaetana Maria Anna Lucia |  | Caserta Palace, 14 December 1784 | Royal Palace of Aranjuez, 21 May 1806 | Married her cousinInfante Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias; died from tuberculosis; had no issue. |
| Maria Clotilde Teresa Amelia Antonietta Giovanna Battista Anna Gaetana Polcheria | Caserta Palace, 18 February 1786 | 10 September 1792 | Died of smallpox. | |
| Maria Enrichetta Carmela | Naples, 31 July 1787 | Naples, 20 September 1792 | Died of smallpox. | |
| Carlo Gennaro | Naples, 26 August 1788 | Caserta Palace, 1 February 1789 | Died of smallpox. Died aged 5 months. | |
| Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Michele of Naples |  | Naples, 2 July 1790 | Naples, 10 March 1851 | Married his nieceArchduchess Clementina of Austria and had issue. |
| Alberto Lodovico Maria Filipo Gaetano | .jpg) | 2 May 1792 | Died on boardHMS Vanguard, 25 December 1798 | Died in childhood (died of exhaustion on board HMSVanguard). |
| Maria Isabella |  | Naples, 2 December 1793 | 23 April 1801 | Died in childhood. |
| Ancestors of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![Coat of arms as King of Naples (1759–1799 / 1799–1806 /1814–1816)[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGreater_Coat_of_Arms_of_Ferdinand_IV_of_Naples.svg)
![Coat of arms as King of Sicily (1759–1816)[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCoat_of_Arms_of_Ferdinand_III_of_Sicily.svg)
![Coat of arms as King of the Two Sicilies (1816–1825)[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGreat_Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Two_Sicilies.svg)
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand IV. of Naples".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–265.Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies Cadet branch of theHouse of Bourbon Born: 12 January 1751 Died: 4 January 1825 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Naples (as Ferdinand IV) 6 October 1759 – 23 January 1799 | Parthenopaean Republic |
| King of Sicily (as Ferdinand III) 6 October 1759 – 12 December 1816 | Himself as King of the Two Sicilies | |
| Preceded by | King of Naples (as Ferdinand IV) 22 May 1815 – 12 December 1816 | |
| Parthenopaean Republic | King of Naples (as Ferdinand IV) 13 June 1799 – 30 March 1806 | Succeeded by |
| Union of the crowns | King of the Two Sicilies (as Ferdinand I) 12 December 1816 – 4 January 1825 | Succeeded by |
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