Does anyone know when Ferdinand of Naples started having extra-marital affairs, that is at which point in their marriage?
Prior to his marriage, Ferdinand (according to Michel Lacour-Gayet in his biography 'Marie-Caroline - reine de Naples') did not have a regular mistress, preferring 'paysannes'. Catherine Bearne in 'A sister of Marie Antoinette' writes of the early married life of Caroline and Ferdinand that "the Queen, finding it useless to alter him, left him at liberty to follow his low pleasures and undignified amusements and
liaisons while she lead her own life..." and of his country life at Portici and Caserta, Bearne writes that here "he hunted, shot, and fished to his heart's content, and carried on the love intrigues which the Queen, unable to prevent, ignored to a certain extent when they concerned obscure persons not likely to give any trouble, but put an end to if the object of the King's fancy happened to be a woman of rank and education, likely to influence him or interfere in the slightest degree in political or social matters." Bearne also cites the Englishman Henry Swinbourne, writing of his travels in Italy in 1777, in which he "describes the King as boyish, good-natured, and boisterous, telling amusing stories and always carrying on intrigues with women - chiefly
contadine "[peasants]. Some aristocratic women attempted to become his mistress - for example, the Duchessa di Lucciana was suspected of this, and the Marchesa di San Marco was actively intriguing for it, but the Queen put a stop to any such goings-on.
Mrs Bearne, writing a hundred years ago, would no doubt have suppressed all mention of Ferdinand's philanderings had it been possible, but the evidence was so extensive she bravely decided to be modern and bold about Telling All. Lacour-Gayet and Bearne between them rather suggest that Ferdinand had continuous casual liasions before and during his marriage with Caroline and his last mistress and eventual wife, Laura Migliaccio, was one of a long, long line of women who were pretty much tolerated by her. As a noblewoman, Laura Migliaccio would no doubt have been a target of the Queen had she been still with Ferdinand, but in fact Laura was completely uninterested in politics – probably one of her great attractions for Ferdinand.