Located in Pizzofalcone in via Generale Parisi, 16, it was a place of high military and civilian training since its foundation, and had among its teachers and students the likes of Francesco de Sanctis, Mariano d'Ayala, Carlo Pisacane, Guglielmo Pepe, Enrico Cosenz and even a king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III, and a Viceroy of Italian East Africa, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta.

Philosophy, patriotism, and experience would not have been able to conceive or carry more noble institution to form the temperament, reason, heart and all the knowledge required to military.The origins of the Nunziatella Military Academy should be traced back to the work of reorganization of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Naples, advocated by the statesman Bernardo Tanucci and implemented by Charles of Bourbon.

After a brief and not very profitable experience of a military school, located in the Maddalena town district, it was founded the Academy of Artillery (1745), for whose organization was called the mathematician Nicola Antonio De Martino, who was serving in Spain as Embassy secretary.

The departure of Charles for Spain, to ascend the throne of that kingdom after the death of Philip V, prevented him from continuing in his harmonizer plan, and therefore it became a responsibility of Tanucci to assist the young King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon in the progressive construction of a well-trained military ruling class.

Although the scheme of studies was thick from the point of view of science, it was completely lacking in the humanities, and such deficiency began to be acutely felt in the educational environment, and would lead to the subsequent evolution of the Royal Military Academy.

The influence of Queen Maria Carolina was decisive for the arrival of the English admiral John Acton, who first assumed the post of Secretary of the Navy, and later, against the inertia of the Marquis della Sambuca, also that of prime minister.

Far from being simply the local interpretation of the organization and methods of instruction observed abroad, the draft Parisi contained strong elements of originality, which would characterize the Nunziatella and would determine the uniqueness of the educational model.

[15] The level of police awareness against Jacobins' activities sharply rose, while the latter increased their attempts to influence the Neapolitan Army's commanding personnel: their aim was, indeed, to make military to support a revolt and pull the king out of his throne for building a Republic like in France.

Two years later Poli managed to obtain the Nunziatella to be granted the status of "university", which opened the possibility reception of external students (elementary school children) to which he taught literature and mathematics, assisted by other officers and two Priests for the teaching of catechism.

Interior Minister André-François Miot asked the inspector general of artillery Giuseppe Fonseca Chavez to submit a project dedicated to that end: the plan, presented May 10, 1806, proposed Nunziatella to be the only recruitment institute for the four Armies, like it was before 1799.

Accepted all suggestions, on the following 1 September Dumas wrote to Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples, to propose "the temporary formation of a military school with 4/500 ducats per month, being only to pay the full wages of the professors of the ancient academy that (they were already) at half wage. "

Dumas motivated further its proposal, emphasizing the need to train students for the armies of genius, artillery and Bridges' service and the opportunity offered from the building of the Nunziatella, which already housed a library and allowed the opening four days a week for both the French officers and the Neapolitans.

This had a profound influence on the students of the time (which included Carlo Pisacane, Enrico Cosenz, Giuseppe Virgili and Salvatore Medina), and was the channel through which Ayala transferred to them his own ideas about the necessity of Italian unification.

Among the alumni on the Bourbon side which died during the invasion by Piedmont has to be remembered Brigadier Matteo Negri, which fell during the Battle of Garigliano and was buried with a solemn ceremony in Cathedral of Saints Erasmus and Marciano and Santa Maria Assunta by order of the king Francis II.

Their presence on the front of the fire was a result of the events related to the departure of Francis II of Naples: the commander Muratti, immediately switched to the side of Garibaldi, and imposed the oath of allegiance to the students who wanted to remain in the institute.

This period was also of great importance for the history of the school, mainly as a result of the disastrous Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896: it was during this fight, in fact, that was assigned to a former student the first gold medal for military valor after the Italian unification.

Despite the presence in the body of teachers personality which included Camillo De Nardis, Michelangelo Schipa and Agesilao Greco, the number of applications for admission to the Nunziatella, like other military training institutions, experienced a steep fall.

If the first initiative did not produce significant results, the Depending served instead in order: in it for the first time abolished the requirement for students to pursue a career in the military academy and opened the possibility of attending civil university instead.

The first, as Commander in Chief of the 34th Division Alpini, was committed to the defense of the Asiago Plateau and fought in contrast to the Austro-Hungarian Strafexpedition; he blocked the enemy, and counter-attacked on the slopes of the Pasubio, thus marking decisively the tide of war.

In this regard, they have to be remembered general Gabriele Berardi, commander of the Sassari Brigade, Umberto Cerboni and Eduardo Suarez, whose names were immortalized on Mount Pasubio in the so-called Street of Heroes; the young Nicola Nisco and Maurizio De Vito Piscicelli and Filippo Zuccarello.

It bears the engraved inscription: "This bloody rock of Mount Grappa, mute, solemn witness of magnificent Italian feats, perpetuates the memory of those former cadets of the college, famous for glorious secular tradition, which fell fighting bravely in the war of liberation."

Among them it was particularly significant in the case of Alessandro De Mandato, the cadet sergeant: while he was still at the Nunziatella, he was reached by the news of the death of his father at the front and decided to avenge him as soon as possible; in March 1917, just awarded the baccalaureate, he left for the war, and fell in combat in the area of Dosso Faiti only two months later.

Of course, this approach did not admit any deformity in the opinions of those who had responsibility in the education of young students: the professor of literature and philosophy Floriano del Secolo, signatory of the Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, was dismissed from his post in 1925 for refusing to swear allegiance to the Fascist Party.

On 25 April 1934 the Prince of Piedmont Umberto of Savoy gave the Nunziatella the labarum, equalized to war flag; a few months later, on November 18, it was celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation, during a solemn ceremony that saw the participation of the king and the heir to the throne.

After the conclusion of World War II the conditions of surrender of the Kingdom of Italy had a strong impact on the armed forces of the country: these were, in fact, subject to a number of heavy layoffs and limitations, such as the prohibition of building aircraft carriers and demobilization of several departments.

Within the walls of the school have passed the presidents of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and Giorgio Napolitano, as Nobel Prize laureates as Rita Levi-Montalcini, captains of industry as Cesare Romiti, successful writers as Pino Aprile or sportsmen as Pietro Mennea.

"And as in all human things the facts explain better than any theory from which they come, we have to say that living by the rules expertly dictated by Parisi, it came out of those walls the most beautiful flower of noble youth, which, well accustomed to all manner of doctrine, came soon after with a reputation for bravery" (Mariano d'Ayala, Napoli militare, 1847) On 29 November 2007 to the Flag of the School was awarded the Bronze Medal of Army Valor with the following citation: "Prestigious training institute whose values are based on the ancient roots of more than two centuries of incessant activity, constantly working with the sublime spirit of sacrifice and honor never tarnished by the succession of historical events.

According to another interpretation, the choice of St. Crispin has literary origins and would refer to the special feeling of brotherhood and equality, regardless of social background, which is spread among the cadets: they allude to the fact that words William Shakespeare attributes in his historical drama to Henry V of England just before the battle of Agincourt.

In the Science Museum it is conserved an extensive collection of minerals and specimens of animals and plants, as well as a significant number of old instruments, originally purchased for the physics lab by meritorious teacher and commander of School Giuseppe Saverio Poli.

In addition to those already mentioned, notable are the inventor Francesco Sponzilli, one of the pioneers of radio; economist Enrico Barone, father of the theory of marginal productivity; the designer Mario Revelli di Beaumont; historian Angelo Gatti and engineer Gennaro De Matteis, builder of the Palazzo dei Marescialli.