The "Nunziatella" Military Academy was founded November 18, 1787 with the name of Royal Military Academy, by a special ordinance of king Ferdinand IV. This document contained guidelines for the education of the students, in particular calling on officers and instructors to attend to "... the knowledge of the temperaments, inclinations and aptitudes of the students in order to be able to stimulate curiosity and increase the attention, talents and faculties, and finally, instilling in them a capacity for judgment". Similarly, it was felt necessary to introduce students to "mathematics ... and to firm up philosophical reasoning in young people and prepare them for the professions of science and to train them in the consciousness of their duties and the social and political system."