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The
Man and his Work
Schipa described Charles’ qualities in the page
he dedicated to him in the "Enciclopedia Italiana":
«frugality, religiousness,
good disposition, precision, purity of habits, love
for artistic works (…) Irreproachable in his
personal qualities. As king, he loved his people and
tried to do the good of the country….
Very religious, he did not submit to the Pope’s
directives although he never forgot «to
pay his respects to the Church as its devout son.
He did not like things that were not part of traditional
faith»  :
hence his strong condemnation and persecution of Freemasonry
according to Benedict XIV requests. However, he was
equally harsh against the excessive luxury in which
the clergy lived and especially against the Jesuits,
in particular in Spain, where he implemented the sensational
expulsion of their Order from the Reign and used their
assets to build up seminaries and cultural institutes.
He had a flawless behaviour, and was a faithful husband:
hunting was his only real hobby. He always had in
mind the good of his people (he did his best to assuage
the needs of the poorest, as you will easily read
here below) and this pushed him to start – especially
in the Kingdom of Naples – a policy of administrative,
social and also religious reforms that made famous
the Family of the Bourbon Two Sicilies.
Michelangelo Schipa and other historians support that
he did not accomplish the reforms he had starter,
which were implemented completely by his successors;
however, we must credit him the merit of starting
them and leaving this way of thinking to his successors,
too. Moreover, at a certain moment, he had to leave
Naples for Spain. In fact Schipa said that, thanks
to his government, Spain underwent a renewal after
decades of decline.
Here are the main activities he implemented or began:
to better see the wide range of initiatives and interests
he implemented for the sake of his subjects, we list
them as construction works.
Tournament in front
of the Royal Palace of Caserta
(Salvatore Fergola ) |
Starting
from civil building - to which the Sovereign
paid a great attention to stress by the luxury
and beauty of royal buildings the splendour
of his dynasty – we must first of all
mention the restoration of the Royal Palace
of Naples and the construction of the splendid
Royal Palace of Caserta (as real grandchild
of Louis XIV), second royal palace in the world
as for beauty and size; and then the Royal Palace
of Portici, the magnificent obelisk of St. Domenico
in Naples, the St. Charles Theatre, realized
in 270 days, the Casina of Persano, the Royal
Palace and the woods of Capodimonte, the Marinella
and Chiatamone roads, the pier and harbour,
Mercatello Square, Pizzofalcone district, the
obelisk of Conception at Gesù Nuovo,
the "Cavalleria della Maddalena" district,
the restoration of the harbours of Salerno,
Taranto and Molfetta, the construction of Girgenti
harbour, several roads, etc. |
As concerns military building, we mention the Granatello
Fort, the military barracks of Aversa, Nola and Nocera,
the restoration of many strongholds and the construction
of many others, the creation of a national army and
a fleet, the most important fleet in Italy and the
first at European level, the construction of military
factories that emancipated the kingdom from foreign
monopoly.
Carlo
Valli – View
of the "Shelter for the poor" |
As
concerns religious and charity building, the
King had always in mind the needs of the poor.
Here we have to mention the Immacolata Concezione
Shelter for Poor Girls, the Association "Vestire
gli ignudi", the Association "Collegio
delle Scuole Pie" in Palermo, the "Immacolatella",
the great Shelter for the Poor in Palermo, the
Monastery of St. Therese at Chiaia and Pontecorvo,
the two huge shelters for the poor of the kingdom
in Porto Nolano and S. Antonio Abate, S. Maria
Maddalena Retreat for repentant women, the Monastery
of Carmelite Nuns in Capua, the restoration
of the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation
in Naples, etc. |
As concerns cultural building, we mention the new
magnificent seat of the University, the excavations
at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Herculaneum Academy,
the Mosaic Factory, the establishment of new academies
and chairs all over the Kingdom, the Royal Library
that became the great National Library, and the National
Museum. The King called G.B. Vico to the Palace as
royal historiographer.
Among the commercial initiatives, to save the very
difficult economic condition of the kingdom, Charles
established a Trade Council, opened negotiations with
Turks, Swedish, French and Dutch, established an insurance
company and adopted measures to protect forests, tried
to exploit mining sources although he had to stop
this latter initiative due to a lack of funds; however
all these initiatives did not give the expected results,
at least not immediately.
The
Palace of Capodimonte
(from the "goose set of plates"
Capodimonte porcelain)
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The
most famous artistic and commercial initiative
was that of Capodimonte porcelains. Apart from
the very high costs, Valsecchi described this
initiative as follows: «it
was a magnificent creation, able to portray
an image of popular and aristocratic life in
Naples with an exquisite artistic taste and
talent».
He also established consular offices and wheat
shops, passed laws to enhance agriculture and
stock rearing. |
In
1741 he signed and agreement with Rome and started
to impose taxation on some properties of the Church,
then he updated the tax system; he improved the then
chaotic legislative situation by passing a new code
in 1752, although this code was not blindly applied,
and took care of the legal system, but without upsetting
the centuries-old social order of the State.
In 1759 Charles went to Madrid to ascend the Spanish
Throne. But he left a real Kingdom to his son, a new
kingdom, a kingdom directed on the road to reforms
and social and cultural progress, a kingdom loved
by its subjects. This is the most important richness
that his descent will inherit from him.
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