Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies

1751 – 1825 · Generation XVII · King of the Two Sicilies

Ferdinand (1751 – 1825). King of the Two Sicilies. Married Maria Carolina in 1768. Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily; husband of Maria Carolina. The third son of Charles VII, he became king at eight when his father left for the Spanish throne, and the ambitious regent Bernardo Tanucci deliberately neglected his education. He came of age in 1767 and promptly expelled the Jesuits. Under the terms of his marriage, Maria Carolina gained a say in the council of state on bearing a son, and she exploited it: Tanucci, who stood in her way, was dismissed in 1777, and the Englishman Sir John Acton won her favour. Twice driven from Naples — to Palermo aboard Nelson’s Vanguard in 1798, and by the French in 1806 — he ruled Sicily under British protection until his restoration in 1815. He then abolished the Sicilian constitution and in 1816 merged his realms as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Forced to accept a constitution by the revolt of 1820, he disowned it and let an Austrian army march in.

Place in the family

Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies married Maria Carolina of Austria, a daughter of Maria Theresa.

Partners

Married Maria Carolina of Austria (1752 – 1814) in 1768

Life

1751 — Born
1768 — Married Maria Carolina
1825 — Died