Administrative subdivisions of the Papal States from 1816 to 1870
The delegations as they existed in 1859
Between the
A delegation was known as a legation (legazione) when governed by a
Motu proprio of 1816
Between 1798 and 1800, and again between 1809 and 1814, the Papal State was occupied by French troops and the pope was in exile. After the restoration of the Papal State by the Congress of Vienna, Pius VII set about reforming its administration, assisted by Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi. The result was the motu prioprio of 6 July 1816 "on the organization of public administration".
The existing 12 provinces were abandoned in favour of 17 delegations, although
The new delegations were grouped into three classes. At the head of each delegation was a delegate (delegato) who was appointed by the pope through an act of the secretary of state and who was invariably a prelate. Only in case the prelate was a cardinal did he assume the title of legate (legato), and cardinals could only be appointed to the delegations of the first class. Each delegate or legate was assisted by two assessors appointed by the pope, one for civil law matters and one for penal law matters, and by a locally selected Governmental Congregation (Congregazione governativa ), the composition of which varied according to the class of the delegation:
- In those of the first class, there were four members: two selected from the capital city and two from the hinterland.
- In those of the second class, there were three members: two from the capital and one from the hinterland.
- In those of the third class, there were two members: one from the capital and one from the hinterland.
In each delegation, the administration of justice was devolved on a court of first instance (tribunale di prima istanza) for civil matters and a criminal court (tribunale criminale) for crimes. Some of the delegations were subdivided into districts, each headed by a governor. The arrangement created by the motu proprio of 1816 looked like this:
Delegation | Class | Capital | Districts |
---|---|---|---|
Legation of Bologna | 1st | Bologna | |
Legation of Ferrara | 1st | Ferrara | |
Legation of Forlì | 1st | Forlì | Cesena, Forlì, Rimini |
Legation of Ravenna | 1st | Ravenna | Faenza, Imola, Ravenna |
Delegation of Urbino e Pesaro | 1st | Urbino | Fano, Gubbio, Pesaro, Senigallia, Urbino |
Delegation of Ancona | 2nd | Ancona | Ancona, Jesi, Osimo |
Delegation of Fermo | 2nd | Fermo | |
Delegation of Frosinone | 2nd | Frosinone | Anagni, Frosinone, Pontecorvo, Terracina |
Delegation of Macerata | 2nd | Macerata | Fabriano, Loreto, Macerata, San Severino |
Delegation of Perugia | 2nd | Perugia | Città di Castello, Foligno, Perugia, Todi |
Delegation of Spoleto | 2nd | Spoleto | Norcia, Spoleto, Terni |
Delegation of Viterbo | 2nd | Viterbo | Orvieto, Viterbo |
Delegation of Ascoli | 3rd | Ascoli | Ascoli, Montalto |
Delegation of Benevento | 3rd | Benevento | |
Delegation of Camerino | 3rd | Camerino | |
Delegation of Civitavecchia | 3rd | Civitavecchia | |
Delegation of Rieti | 3rd | Rieti | Poggio Mirteto, Rieti |
Comarca of Roma | – | Rome | Rome, Subiaco, Tivoli |
Reforms
Provinces of 1820
In 1820, the delegations and the comarca of Rome were grouped into 11 provinces (province). The delegations of Camerino, Benevento, Bologna and Ferrara were their own provinces under those names. Rieti was its own province, called Sabina, and Urbino e Pesaro was synonymous with the province called Urbino. Rome was joined with Frosinone to form the province of Marittima e Campagna. Viterbo and Civitavecchia were joined to form the province of Patrimonio; Perugia and Spoleto the province of Umbria; Ancona, Ascoli, Fermo and Macerata the province of the Marche; and Forlì and Ravenna the province of Romagna.
Leo XII (1825) and Gregory XVI (1831–32)
In an edict issued on 5 July 1831, Leo XII's successor,
New legations of Pius IX
In 1848,
On 22 November 1850, Pius IX issued an edict grouping the 19 delegations into four new legations and a district (circondario, circle or circumscription) around Rome. Each of the new higher-level legations was entrusted to a cardinal.
Legation | Map | Capital | Delegations | Districts |
---|---|---|---|---|
I Legation (Romagna) |
Bologna | Bologna | Bologna | |
Ferrara | Ferrara, Lugo | |||
Forlì | Cesena, Forlì, Rimini | |||
Ravenna | Faenza, Imola, Ravenna | |||
II Legation (Marche) |
Ancona | Urbino e Pesaro | Fano, Gubbio, Pesaro, Senigallia, Urbino | |
Macerata | Fabriano, Loreto, Macerata, Recanati, San Severino | |||
Ancona | Ancona, Jesi, Osimo | |||
Fermo | Fermo | |||
Ascoli | Ascoli, Montalto | |||
Camerino | Camerino | |||
III Legation (Umbria) |
Perugia | Perugia | Città di Castello, Foligno, Perugia, Todi | |
Spoleto | Norcia, Spoleto, Terni | |||
Rieti | Poggio Mirteto, Rieti | |||
Marittima e Campagna )
|
Velletri | Velletri | Velletri | |
Frosinone | Frosinone, Pontecorvo | |||
Benevento | Benevento | |||
District of Rome (Lazio) |
Rome | Roma | Roma, Subiaco, Tivoli | |
Viterbo | Viterbo | |||
Civitavecchia | Civitavecchia | |||
Orvieto | Orvieto |
Local government
1816–47
Pius VII completely reformed the municipal administration. All municipal laws from before or during the Revolution were repealed and municipal government was made uniform across the Papal State.
Local governments were divided into those of the first class ("di primo ordine"), which were the larger cities, and those of the second ("di secondo"), which were all other
Pius VII introduced into each comune a council (consiglio) with deliberative functions and a magistracy (magistratura) with executive functions. The functions of the magistracy had previously belonged to the higher authorities. The original members of the councils were selected by the delegates, but subsequently new councilors were
The small rural villages of the comuni each had their own syndic (sindaco) or procurator (procuratore) subject to the communal gonfaloniere.
1847–70
On 1 October 1847, Pius IX issued the motu proprio "Sull'organizzazione del Consiglio e Senato di Roma e le sue attribuzioni",[b] which extended to Rome the laws applicable in the other municipalities. Rome thus received a council of 100 men: 96 laymen chosen through the census to represent various professions and 4 clergy chosen by the Cardinal Vicar. The Senator[c] was made gonfaloniere (mayor) and presided over an executive body (the magistracy) composed of eight conservators (conservatori).
The Roman revolution of 1848 interrupted the reforming process that had begun with Rome the previous year, but in an edict of 24 November 1850, in implementation of Pius IX's motu prioprio of 12 September 1849, Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli defined the new competences of the council and magistracy. The councils would now:
- nominate their own employees and those on their payroll
- run the school system
- maintain the roads and other communal infrastructure (bridges, aqueducts, fountains, etc.)
- operate the public utilities
- approve the annual tabella (budget)
The magistracy would now:
- execute the decisions of the council
- sign contracts on behalf of the council
- prepare the annual budget and accounting statements
The municipalities were divided into five classes based on population, which determined how many councilors they would get:
- > 20,000 inhabitants → first class → 36 councilors
- > 10,000 inhabitants → second class → 30 councilors
- > 5,000 inhabitants → third class → 24 councilors
- > 1,000 inhabitants → fourth class → 16 councilors
- < 1,000 inhabitants → fifth class → 10 councilors
The councilors were to be selected by the delegate and approved by the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacra Consulta. Rome's council was reduced from 100 to 48.
Notes
References
- Primary sources
- Secondary sources
- Berkeley, George Fitz-Hardinge (1968) [1932]. Italy in the Making, 1815 to 1846. Cambridge University Press.