Il ruolo dell’istruzione nautica nell’Italia meridionale dal Settecento a oggi

The Kingdom of Naples at the arrival of Charles of Bourbon (1734) regained its independence, inaugurating a period of reformism in the civil and social sphere. One of the main concerns of the new government was to reorganize the maritime sector by rebuilding the Royal navy and founding a Naval Academy on the Spanish model to train officers. When Charles became king of Spain, He left the Kingdom to his son Ferdinand, under the protection of a Regency of which one of main exponents was Bernardo Tanucci. He continued Carlo’s reforms, having the Academy reorganized. Other important reforms in the field of mathematics, navigation, and astronomy were promoted by the Admiral John Acton from the 1780s. In the same period, nautical schools for pilots were created, based on the same system. During the 19th century the school system was improved, especially after the introduction of steam navigation, when machinists had to be trained. After the unification of Italy (1861) there was a further reorganization, due to the new locomotion systems.