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Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa

1822–1855

Born
15 Nov 1822, Florence
Country of birth
Grand Duchy of Tuscany, today Italy
Died
10 Feb 1855, Turin
facts
8
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 · Florence

    Birth, Florence

  2. Child born: Margherita of Savoy

    Birth, Turin

  3. Died · Turin

    Death, Turin

What was it like?

The world around Florence, 1822: 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.

Prince was born the same year as Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, Archduchess Adelaide of Austria, and César Franck.

Born the same year

  • Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies

    Princess of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Empress of the Empire of Brazil (1822-1889)

  • Archduchess Adelaide of Austria

    Archduchess of Austria, queen consort of Sardinia

  • César Franck

    Belgian-French composer and organist (1822–1890)

  • Adelaide Ristori

    Italian actress (1822–1906)

  • Louis Pasteur

    French chemist and microbiologist (1822-1895)

  • Ulysses S. Grant

    president of the United States from 1869 to 1877

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
Around 1820–1820

Traveling the Difficult Southern Roads

In regions like Calabria, carriages were often impractical due to poor road conditions, forcing travelers to rely on mules or simple calessos for transport. A journey of roughly 500 km from southern Calabria to Naples was considered a major undertaking with no clear travel times advised.

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.

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 1816–1816

Food prices in 1816

In 1816, an 890-gram loaf of bread cost 6 grana, while beef cost 16 grana and a liter of wine cost 3 grana. Pasta was similarly priced to bread, with 890 grams of maccheroni costing 8 grana.

Around 1816–1816

Worker daily wages in 1816

In 1816, a laborer earned 15–20 grana per day, while specialized workers earned 55 grana and masters 80 grana. A daily food supplement of 10–15 grana was often provided if meals were not included at the workplace.

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.

News and letters
Around 1825–1840

Unpaid postal workers lived on hopes

Postal workers in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies often received no salary, living instead on hope or abusive practices, until reforms attempted to stabilize their income.

Around 1825–1849

Mail speed across the Italian Peninsula

In the early to mid-19th century, mail traveling from Austria through Rome and Naples to Sicily covering 1,200 kilometers took approximately 10 days.

During their lifetime

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 1847

    First telegraph line established in 1847

    The first Italian telegraph line connecting Florence, Pisa, and Livorno was established in 1847. This technology represented a major leap in communication speed across the region.

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.