Looking back at Naples' sovereignty

To have a wide-ranging review of the political, civil, social and cultural history of Napolitania under the rule of the Royal House of Bourbon Two Sicilies (1734-1860) it can be useful to make a short summary of the main "supremacies" which marked in a deep way the Neapolitan and Sicilian civilisation and society in the second half of the eighteenth century and in the first half of the nineteenth.

In fact, this short summary will clearly show how positive and constructive were the works of the Bourbon sovereigns (Charles, Ferdinand and Ferdinand II in particular, as we saw) on one hand, and how misleading and often untruthful is the Risorgimento "vulgate" about the Bourbon rule in Italy.

INDUSTRY:

* At the Paris International Exhibition in 1856 it received the Prize for the third industrially developed country in the world (first in Italy);
* First iron suspended bridge (across the Garigliano river)
* First railroad and railway station in Italy (Napoli-Portici railroad);
* First gas-fuelled lighting system;
* First electric telegraph;
* First network of lighthouses with lenses system;
* Largest engineering industry in Italy, at Pietrarsa;
* Naples shipyard had the first masonry dry dock in Italy;
* First submarine telegraph in continental Europe.

ECONOMY:

* Reclamation of Terra di Lavoro;
* State revenue listed at 12% at Paris Stock Exchange;
* Lower discount rate (5%)
* First bank checks in the history of economics (policies on Credit Guarantees);
* First University Chair in Economics (Naples, A. Genovesi, 1754);
* First Goods Exchange and second Stock Exchange in continental Europe;
* Greatest number of Joint-Stock Companies in Italy;
* Best public finance in Italy; this was the pattern in 1860 (in million gold-lire) [See F.S. NITTI, La scienza delle finanze, quoted in H. ACTON, The Last Bourbons of Naples, (1962) Italian version edited by Giunti, Florence 1997, p. 2.] :
- Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: 443,2
- Lombardy: 8,1
- Venetia: 12,7
- Duchy of Modena: 0,4
- Parma and Piacenza: 1,2
- Pontifical State: 90,6
- Kingdom of Sardinia: 27
- Grand Duchy of Tuscany: 84,2

* First merchant fleet in Italy (third in the world);
* First cruising fleet in the Mediterranean;
* First Italian fleet to reach America and the Pacific Ocean;
* First Italian fleet to reach America and the Pacific Ocean;
* First pension system in Italy (with 2% deductions on salaries);
* Lower number of taxes in all Italian States.

JURISPRUDENCE - MILITARY ORGANISATION:

Inauguration ceremony of the Raddobbo Basin in the military harbour of Naples (15-8-1852), oil on canvas. second half of the nineteenth century, Naples, General Command of the South Tyrrhenian Maritime Military Department S. Fergola Inauguration ceremony of the Raddobbo Basin in
the military harbour of Naples (15-8-1852), oil on canvas.
second half of the nineteenth century, Naples, General Command
of the South Tyrrhenian Maritime Military Department
S. Fergola

* Promulgation of the first Maritime Code in Italy;
* First military code;
* Institutes of justification of judgements (G. Filangieri, 1774);
* Establishment of Military Colleges (Nunziatella);
* Fire Brigade.

SCIENCE AND CULTURE:

* Chair of Psychiatry;
* Chair of Obstetrics and surgery observations;
* Physics Laboratory of the King;
* Vesuvian seismologic observatory (first in the world), with its meteorologic station;
* Papyrus Factory in Herculaneum;
* Highest percentage of physicians per capita in Italy;
* Lowest infant mortality rate in Italy;
* First tourist agencies in Italy;
* Archaeological Excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum;

S. Carlo's theatre rebuilt after the fire of 1816 S. Carlo's theatre rebuilt
after the fire of 1816

* Posillipo painting school (among others, G. Gigante studied here);
* The very famous ceramic and porcelain manufactures, among which

Capodimonte manufactures;

* S. Carlo's Theatre (the first in the world), rebuild in just 270 days after a
fire;
* Neapolitan music school (Paisiello, Cimarosa, Scarlatti);
* World success (still now) of Neapolitan songs;
* The royal palaces.

These are just the “supremacies”. Our list do not include all activities carried out in the Kingdom and the success and progress reached in every sector, since we have already outlined them under the previous headings. We just mention here, as a further example, the tapestry weaving school.

To conclude, we think that to arouse controversies is out of place here. We just desire to stress three historical truths so manifest to be incontrovertible: after what described on this website,

1) can we still continue to believe in the Risorgimento “vulgate” presenting the Naples' sovereignty as the most hated and old-fashioned in Italy?
2)How to explain that before 1861 the phenomenon of migration did not exist at all and that after that date almost 20.000.000 desperate people had to migrate?
3) Can all this provide an explanation of the tragic as well as heroic phenomenon of the pro-Bourbon revolution of 1860-1865?

It is clear, now more than ever, that Italians must be informed about their history according to greater unbiased criteria. And this is not to arouse fruitless controversies, but to honour and serve historical truth.

And to serve the memory of the cultural and civil identity of all Italians.

Ferdinand II was surely the King of Naples most loved by his subjects, and for this reason still today he is the most calumniated by history, since history was written by those who stole the kingdom from his son through a treachery invasion of a peaceful and allied State, with a lawful monarch loved by his subjects. It is therefore clear that the winners could justify this action only by accusing the Bourbon Two Sicilies of a disqualified government. In short, to provide a possible historical justification to the assault of the peaceful, allied, lawful and seven-centuries old Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, they had to cast a blot on the memory of its Kings and in particular the best and more recent of them (since Francis II had just ascended the Throne and was still too young to be credibly calumniated).

In the next heading dedicated to Francis II and the historical events that led to the fall of the Kingdom, we will analyse in detail Cavour's policy, Garibaldi's expedition and the heroic Bourbon resistance. Here we just analyse the reformist policy carried out by Ferdinand II, since in this way it is possible to understand why he was the most loved King of Naples. His calumniators, those who directly or indirectly plotted for the fall of the Kingdom, presented his government as the "denial of God", and since then all schoolbooks of history (and not only them) repeat the same old calumnies. We, on the contrary, will leave the floor to some of the most famous old and new historians of the Risorgimento who do not pay a supine obedience to those lies so that they would describe the real character and work of this sovereign.

The historian of the Bourbon, Angelantonio Spagnoletti (A. SPAGNOLETTI, “Storia del Regno delle Due Sicilie”, Il Mulino, Bologna 1997, pp. 80-90) described the fame surrounding Ferdinand II among his subjects. He was surely the most loved Bourbon King of Naples; his constant concern was the easing of the suffering of his people when struck by earthquakes or outbreaks; he personally went to visit the places and was often present in Sicily to directly solve the ever present problems with the difficult local populations (even Louis Blanch acknowledged the love of these people to their sovereign and Niccolò Tommaseo described him as the best of the Italian Princes). While travelling, he lived with his subjects, was a witness to their weddings and baptisms, gave them money, etc. In short, he liked to be seen as a Father of his people, and they were his family. Spagnoletti wrote (p. 88): «Calumny seemed always present in the life and work of Ferdinand II; despite that, the pro-Bourbon environment knew that the King was virtuous and loyal, that he kept the valour, mercifulness and devotion of his ancestors, avoided any involvement of the Kingdom in the risings of 1830-31 and in so doing avoided dangerous foreign interferences, defended the national pride in the matter of sulphur and for this reason the whole population stood with him, a unique soul with their king».

On the innovations made by Ferdinand II, Carlo Alianello (C. ALIANELLO, “La conquista del Sud. Il Risorgimento nell'Italia meridionale” (1972), Rusconi, Milano 1998, pp. 121-126) wrote: «He made roads, harbours, drainages, hospices and banks; he could not put up with presumptuous and greedy middle classes, the so-called learned bourgeoisie, the "gentlemen". And this was his great "fault". He was a King, but not a "Bourgeois King” as it was the fashion in those times. He was a King who served the needs of his people and not the interest of the “intellectuals” who had opened the doors of the Kingdom to the French enemy and then praised Murat the invader. He tried to create a bourgeoisie with sound targets. He was not lucky, because there was no Neapolitan bourgeoisie other than that of professions and studies, “scribblers and students”, those who had thrown out his grandfather from Naples, inseparable from the foreigners due to ideological reasons that the King, as such, did not understand; and the greedy group of landowners».

F. Durelli said (F. DURELLI, “Cenno storico di Ferdinando II, Re del Regno delle Due Sicilie”, Stamperia Reale, Napoli 1859) that «In just four years, from 1850 to 1854, more than 108,950 modii of usurped land were restored into State Property and given to needy farmers»; Alianello wrote: «I quote from the 1854 Royal Almanac of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, after a long and detailed list of banks and charity institutes, the following remark: "Besides religious places etc., we count a total of 761 charity associations on continental dominions, more than 1131 wheat banks and other pawnbroker's, agrarian banks and kindergartens" (…) Upon the king's will, new roads were built and their extension increased from 1505 miles in 1828 to 4587 miles in 1855. And they were important roads...». The Amalfitana, Sorrentina, Frentana, whose construction was interrupted by the arrival of the “liberation army” and completed only a hundred years later. Then the Adriatic coastal road, the Sora-Roma, Appulo-sannitica, which connected Abruzzi and Capitanata, Aquilonia, connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic Sea, the Sannita, from Campobasso to Termoli. Durelli added: «In short, from '52 to '56, in just four years, 76 new royal, provincial or communal roads were built. And also many bridges, among which the one over the Garigliano river, suspended to iron chains, the first to use this structure in Italy and among the very first ones in Europe. And the drainages, the canalisation of the Pelino river, the banking up of the muddy lands of Salpi lake, the drainage of marshes in Campania (…) In 30 years, sailing vessels were doubled, steam ships created out of nothing and in 1855 the fleet had 472 ships and 108.543 tons, plus 6 paddle-steamers and 6,913 tons of other boats. And schools, nautical colleges, industries».

Marta Petrusewicz gave an overview of his kingdom and wrote: «(…) the population increases, the customs and taxation systems are better organised and the government is carrying out a clever intervention of construction of roads and railroads, royal factories and modern prisons» (M. PETRUSEWICZ, “Come il Meridione divenne una questione”, Rubbettino, Catanzaro 1998, p. 37).

To understand this King even better, let us read what the Irish Papal Zouave P.K. O’Clery wrote (out of his direct experience) in his famous work on Risorgimento (P.K. O' CLERY, “La Rivoluzione italiana. Come fu fatta l'unità della nazione”, (I ed. 1875, 1892), Ed. Ares, Milano 2000, pp. 95-96). Soon after ascending the Throne, Ferdinand II granted a general amnesty and behaved as follows: «To introduce economy criteria in finances, Ferdinand reduced by a great extent his appanage, abolished some useless offices and some royal prerogatives. He streamlined the procedures in Tribunals, replaced the unpopular viceroy of Sicily and appointed his brother to hold that position and, when he travelled across the kingdom, prohibited the municipalities to prepare costly accommodations and accepted the hospitality of residents or stopped at a village inn or a Franciscan monastery. We therefore must not get surprised by the fact that he was considered a popular King». We must also mention that in 1838 he joined the French and British agreements against the Negro slave trade and in that same year he set up very severe punishments (imprisonment and expulsion from Knighthood Orders) against duels, and the punishments included also the seconds. He granted amnesty to political prisoners in Sicily and great legal and administrative autonomy to that island; he personally followed the fight against feudatories. Economy experienced a continuous growth "despite its swinging, the Boubon economic policy showed a remarkable continuity" (PETRUSEWICZ, “op. cit.”, p. 72), and merchant navy a great development (CONIGLIO, “op. cit.”, pp. 340-342).

For example, let us see what Angela Pellicciari wrote (A. PELLICCIARI, “L'altro Risorgimento. Una guerra di religione dimenticata”, Ed. Piemme, Casal Monferrato 2000, pp. 181-182). In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the expected spending was higher that the real one; no succession duty, joint-venture and loan bank duties were paid; the national debt was low, as well as the land tax; Sicily was exempted from military service, salt tax and tobacco monopoly; moreover, Ferdinand, as reported by the magazine "L'Armonia", had «established wheat banks in the most important towns to provide farmers with wheat to sow and allow them to support their families and in so doing he also cut off usury».

What above is confirmed also by what Giuseppe Paladino wrote about Ferdinand II in the “Enciclopedia Italiana” (Treccani): «He boosted constructions of public utility. The Naples-Portici was the first railroad inaugurated in Italy (1839). It was followed by the Naples-Capua railroad, always in the Kingdom. Under Ferdinand II the electric telegraph network was enlarged (…) The steam merchant navy registered a great increase; in 1848 it occupied the third place as concerned the number and rigging of ships. A series of trade agreements with England, France, Sardinia inaugurated an enlightened system of moderate protectionism (1841-1845). Finances were managed in an admirable way: Neapolitan taxpayers paid less than other Italians…».

As concerns the administration of justice, we must mention that after the revolution of 1848 no capital punishment was carried out in the Kingdom of Naples (apart from that of Agesilao Milano). Tribunals sentenced 42 capital punishments, but Ferdinand II changed 19 of them into life imprisonment, 11 into 30 years imprisonment and 12 into lesser terms of imprisonment (PETRUSEWICZ, “op. cit.”, p. 114 as "Many prisoners, among which De Sanctis and Dragonetti, after some years of imprisonment, were apparently deported to America, but the authorities knew very well that they were to be landed en route to Malta or England and would take refuge in some European country"). In those same years the King pardoned 2713 political convicts and 7181 normal prisoners, and from '48 the statistics showed a reduction of crimes in the Neapolitan kingdom. When the trial against Settembrini and Spaventa was held because they were charged of founding the secret society "Unità italiana", foreign observers, although opposing the Bourbon, had to admit that the trial was held in a fully correct way (M. PETRUSEWICZ, “op. cit.”, p. 107: in the events of '48 in Naples "The prevailing feeling, both in the government and in the public opinion, was nor republican nor anti-Bourbon. Apart from some convinced republicans such as Ricciardi, Saliceti and La Farina (the future strong supporter of Cavour), most leaders (…) thought that Ferdinand II was able to carry out this task"(.

However, here is how the French journalist Charles Garnier described the situation of the Kingdom in his “Memory on the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies” (Paris, 1866): «taxes were less burdening than in Piedmont and lower than in post-Unitarian Italy; Government’s credit was sound, the debt low, conscription more bearable; most tax income was used in agriculture and public work, among which we mention the first railroad and the first telegraph as well as the first suspension bridge and the first dioptric lights and the first steamer. Commerce was growing and factories were flourishing». Garnier also provided evidence of how the factories of the South were destroyed in the first years of the unification to favour those of the North.

In general, we can add to these already quoted opinions of historians that Ferdinand travelled a lot across his Kingdom to visit hospitals, prisons, farms etc., since he always wanted to personally meet the needs of his subjects; in order to save money and reduce taxes, besides a reduction of Court spending and his personal spending, he reduced the salary of Ministers and to fight against unemployment he ruled that the same person could not hold two public positions; many royal hunting parks were transformed in farming lands: he developed industry, especially textile industry, built roads and railroads as well as harbours, dockyards, bridges across rivers, cemeteries out of towns, hospitals, conservatories, orphanages, kindergartens for poor children, shelters for the mentally ill (he abolished begging), houses for girls, modern prisons and institutes for the deaf and dumb; in the cultural sector, he established chairs, opened libraries, boarding schools, girls boarding schools, agrarian gardens and free schools; he drained marshes and the island of S. Stefano facing Gaeta and introduced new cultivations in the Kingdom; he established institutes to foster commercial enterprises by rewarding the best ones with medals; on every occasion (royal weddings, special events, etc.) he made donations to the poor and wedding dowries to poor girls; in the event of cholera epidemics he personally visited hospitals and he did the same in the event of earthquakes and natural disasters, and personally and materially comforted the people; on the other hand, he also strengthened the army and military navy, which became one of the first navies in Europe. And we could add much more, but it is clear that Ferdinand II was the highest and most complete expression of that political and social reformism inaugurated by his great-grandfather Charles.