most important wifely duty was to perpetuate the dynasty. In total, Maria Carolina bore Ferdinand eighteen children, of whom seven survived into adulthood including his successor, Francis I, the last Holy Roman Empress, a Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the last Queen of the French, and a Princess of Asturias. Fall of Tanucci Ferdinand, having received a lacklustre education from the Prince of San Nicandro, lacked the ability to rule, relying completely on his father Charles III of Spain's counsel, communicated by Bernardo Tanucci. Pursuant to Empress Maria Theresa's instructions, Maria Carolina gained Ferdinand's trust by feigning interest in his favourite activity—hunting. With it, she obtained a back door to the administration of the state, to be fully realised only by the birth of an heir in 1775, and her consequent admission to the Privy Council. Until then, Maria Carolina presided over the rejuvenation of Neapolitan court life, largely neglected since the advent of her husband's regency. Academics Gaetano Filangieri, Domenico Cirillo, and Giuseppe Maria Galanti frequented her salon, among others. Tanucci's fall from grace came about over an argument with Maria Carolina regarding Freemasonry, of which she was an adherent. Acting on orders from Charles III, Tanucci revived a law from 1751 banning Freemasonry in response to the discovery of a Masonic lodge among the royal regiment. Angered, the queen expressed to Charles III her opinion that Tanucci was ruining the country through the medium of a letter written by her husband, thus making it look as if it was his idea. Resigned to the queen's wishes, Ferdinand dismissed Tanucci in October 1776, causing a rift with his father. The appointment of Tanucci's successor, the Marquis of Sambuca, Maria Carolina's powerless puppet, represented the end of Spanish influence in Naples, hitherto virtually a province of that country. Maria Carolina proceeded to alienate large swaths of the nobility by replacing the influence of Spain with that of Austria. Her unpopularity among the nobility was increased by her attempts to curb their prerogative. Acton and the military Without Tanucci in government, the queen alone ruled Naples and Sicily, assisted by her French-born, English favourite, Sir John Acton, from 1778 onwards. Acting on her brother the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II's advice, Maria Carolina and Acton revamped the Neapolitan navy, then neglected, opening 4 marine colleges and commissioning 150 ships of various sizes. The merchant navy, too, was augmented by trade pacts with