Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Sicilies

1804–1844

Born
24 Oct 1804, Portici
Country of birth
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, today Italy
Died
29 Jan 1844, Palace of the Infanta Carlota
facts
10
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Portici

    Birth, Portici

  2. Event · Member of the Board of Ladies of Honour and Merit

    Event

  3. Child born: Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz

    Birth, Aranjuez

  4. Child born: Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain

    Birth, Madrid

  5. Died · Palace of the Infanta Carlota

    Death, Palace of the Infanta Carlota

What was it like?

The world around Portici, 1804: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Princess was born the same year as Alfonso La Marmora, Cesare Cantù, and George Sand.

Known for

Titles held

  • Member of the Board of Ladies of Honour and Merit1819
Born the same year

  • Alfonso La Marmora

    Italian general and statesman (1804-1878)

  • Cesare Cantù

    Italian historian (1804-1895)

  • George Sand

    French novelist and memoirist (1804–1876)

  • Michael Glinka

    Russian composer (1804–1857)

  • Johann Strauss I

    Austrian Romantic composer

  • Franklin Pierce

    president of the United States from 1853 to 1857

Fashion

Cost of wedding attire

A wedding dress for an ordinary person usually cost up to 30 ducats, though wealthy families could spend up to 300 ducats on garments with gold and silver fabrics.

Traditional women's accessories

Women often wore lace-trimmed aprons and high-heeled pointed shoes, typically in pink or light blue, fastened with silver buckles. Their hair was usually braided and collected at the nape of the neck, often decorated with ribbons and pins.

Music

Instruments of home and street music

Guitars and violins were common in Neapolitan homes and were used by street musicians for serenades, especially after midnight. Musicians also sold small instruments like tambourines, guitars, and crotali at festivals.

Music during religious festival processions

Religious processions often featured musicians, including porters who danced while carrying heavy barrels of wine on their shoulders to the sound of a distant orchestra.

Getting around

The Lettiga: A Mule-Drawn Carriage

The lettiga, a national carriage suspended between two mules, was a common way to travel through regions lacking roads suitable for wheeled vehicles. It was notoriously fatiguing and slow, moving at an average speed of about three miles per hour.

Around 1775–1799

Extra animals for steep terrain

Travelers often needed extra horses or mules to navigate steep or sandy mountain terrain, paying extra fees for these additional animals.

Daily life

Gender-restricted education controlled by the Church

There was no compulsory schooling, and education was heavily influenced by the Church, with 30 articles regulating male education versus only 22 for females. While boys could study reading, writing, and arithmetic, girls' education was largely restricted to domestic arts, catechism, and religious duties.

Limited water and sanitation infrastructure

Public infrastructure for water was inadequate, leading households to rely on cisterns or local wells, with communities strictly distinguishing between water used for drinking and water used for animals or washing. In towns without sewer systems, private homes generally had no toilets.

Food

Common drinks and food prices

Drinking coffee became a general habit even among the lowest laborers, who consumed it in the morning as a digestive aid. By 1816, a liter of wine cost 3 grana, while a roll of bread weighing nearly a kilogram cost 6 grana.

Staple meals for working families

Working-class families often ate pasta, specifically a cheap, mixed-quality version called monnezzaglia, or relied on tavern food like the hearty minestra maritata soup made with meat and vegetables.

Prices and wages
Around 1775–1799

Fixed Price Bread in Florence

In Florence, the price of a loaf of bread was fixed at eight soldi for most of the eighteenth century, with authorities adjusting the loaf's weight rather than the price itself to manage market fluctuations.

Around 1775–1799

Self-Sufficiency and Rural Debt

Many rural families produced their own food and clothing instead of buying them, often paying artisans like cobblers or tailors with their own farm products rather than using money. In some areas, sharecropping families were frequently deeply indebted to their landlords, with average debts reaching 82 scudi.

Work

Common Jobs: Farming and Crafts

The most common occupations in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were agricultural laborers, followed by mechanics and craftsmen. In 1826, agricultural workers, including husbandmen and shepherds, accounted for over 1.5 million of the male population.

Pluriactivity Among Workers

Many workers engaged in multiple jobs simultaneously, such as a cobbler who also performed construction work, to ensure they had income throughout the year. Because of limited work availability, skilled artisans often had to diversify their trades to avoid periods of unemployment.

During their lifetime

  1. 1804

    Catastrophic mortality in Madrid in 1804

    In 1804, a severe economic and demographic crisis caused the death of more than 11,300 people in Madrid, doubling the previous year's mortality rate.

  2. 1808

    Outbreak of the War of Independence, 1808

    The Spanish War of Independence began in 1808, leading to massive destruction and an estimated death toll of up to 500,000 people.

  3. 1835

    Start of Mendizábal's ecclesiastical confiscations, 1835

    In 1835, the ecclesiastical confiscation, known as the desamortización, was initiated by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal to sell religious assets and pay off public debt.

  4. 1835

    Deadly cholera epidemic hits Italy in 1835

    A cholera epidemic struck Italy between 1835 and 1837, resulting in over 140,000 deaths, including nearly 20,000 in Naples alone. Poor sanitation in urban centers favored the spread of the disease, which disproportionately affected the poor.

  5. 1842

    First seaside medical hostel opens in 1842

    In 1842, a seaside hostel was opened in Viareggio, Tuscany, specifically for treating children suffering from tuberculosis. This was the first facility of its kind in Italy, marking an early attempt at marine therapy.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.