Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies: Encyclopedia II - Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies - Reign

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies - Reign

Ferdinand's minority ended in 1767, and his first act was the expulsion of the Jesuits. The following year he married Marie Caroline, daughter of the empress Maria Theresa of Austria. 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. Beautiful, clever and proud, like her mother, but cruel and treacherous, her ambition was to raise the kingdom of Naples to the position of a great power; she soon came to exercise complete sway over her stupid and idle husband, and was the real ruler of the kingdom.

Tanucci, who attempted to thwart her, was dismissed in 1777, and the Englishman Sir John Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, succeeded in so completely winning the favour of Marie Caroline, by supporting her in her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence and securing a rapprochement with Austria and England, that he became practically and afterwards actually prime minister. Although not a mere grasping adventurer, he was largely responsible for reducing the internal administration of the country to a system of espionage, corruption and cruelty.

On the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 the Neapolitan court was not hostile to the movement, and the queen even sympathised with the revolutionary ideas of the day. But when the French monarchy was abolished and the king and queen (Marie Caroline's sister) executed, Ferdinand and Marie Caroline were seized with a feeling of fear and horror and joined the first coalition against France in 1793.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Reign", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki