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 to outdoor sports.

The Englishman Sir John Acton, who in 1779 was appointed director of marine, won Maria Carolina's favour by supporting her scheme to free Naples from Spanish influence, securing rapprochement with the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

On the approach of the French, Ferdinand fled on 23 December 1798 aboard Nelson's ship HMS Vanguard to Palermo, leaving his capital in a state of anarchy.

[3][2] The weather was extremely stormy and the king's 6-year-old younger son Prince Alberto died of exhaustion during the voyage, in the arms of Emma, Lady Hamilton, Nelson's mistress.

A few weeks later, when the French troops were recalled to northern Italy, Ferdinand sent a hastily assembled force under Fabrizio Cardinal Ruffo to reconquer the mainland kingdom.

The king and the queen were anxious that no mercy should be shown to the rebels, and Maria Carolina (a sister of the executed Marie Antoinette) made use of Lady Hamilton to induce Nelson to carry out her vengeance.

[2] Parliamentary institutions of a feudal type had long existed on the island, and Lord William Bentinck, the British minister, insisted on a reform of the constitution on English and French lines.

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 with Metternich's policy of preserving the status quo, and maintained with but slight change Murat's laws and administrative system.

The suppression of liberal opinion caused an alarming spread of the influence and activity of the secret society of the Carbonari, which in time affected a large part of the army.

The success of the military revolution at Naples seriously alarmed the powers of the Holy Alliance, who feared that it might spread to other Italian states and so lead to a general European conflagration.

The Troppau Protocol of 1820 was signed by Austria, Prussia and Russia, although an invitation to Ferdinand to attend the adjourned Congress of Laibach (1821) was issued at which he failed to distinguish himself.