Carbonari
Piero Maroncelli |
The Carbonari (lit. '
Organization
The Carbonari were a
History
Origins
Although it is not clear where they were established,
As a secret society that was often targeted for suppression by conservative governments, the Carbonari operated largely in secret. The name Carbonari identified the members as rural “charcoal-burners”; the place where they met was called a “Barack”, the members called themselves “good cousins” while people who did not belong to the Carbonari were “Pagani”. There were special ceremonies to initiate the members.[1]
The aim of the Carbonari was the creation of a constitutional monarchy or a republic; they wanted also to defend the rights of common people against all forms of absolutism.[8] Carbonari, to achieve their purpose, talked of fomenting armed revolts.
The membership was separated into two classes—apprentice and master. There were two ways to become a master: through serving as an apprentice for at least six months or by already being a Freemason upon entry.[6] Their initiation rituals were structured around the trade of charcoal-selling, suiting their name.
In 1814 the Carbonari wanted to obtain a constitution for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by force. The Bourbon king, Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, was opposed to them. The Bonapartist Joachim Murat had wanted to create a united and independent Italy. In 1815 Ferdinand I found his kingdom swarming with them. Society in the Regno comprised nobles, officers of the army, small landlords, government officials, peasants, and priests, with a small urban middle class. Society was dominated by the Papacy.[9] On 15 August 1814, Cardinals Ercole Consalvi and Bartolomeo Pacca issued an edict forbidding all secret societies, to become members of these secret associations, to attend their meetings, or to furnish a meeting-place for such, under severe penalties.[8]
1820 and 1821 uprisings
The Carbonari first arose during the resistance to the
The 1820 revolution began in Naples against King Ferdinand I. Riots, inspired by events in Cádiz, Spain that same year, took place in Naples, bandying anti-absolutist goals and demanding a liberal constitution. On 1 July, two officers, Michele Morelli and Joseph Silvati (who had been part of the army of Murat under Guglielmo Pepe) marched towards the town of Nola in Campania at the head of their regiments of cavalry.
Worried about the protests, King Ferdinand agreed to grant a new constitution and the adoption of a parliament. The victory, albeit partial, illusory, and apparent, caused a lot of hope in the peninsula and local conspirators, led by Santore di Santarosa, marched toward
On 13 September 1821, Pope Pius VII with the bull Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo condemned the Carbonari as a Freemason secret society, excommunicating its members.[11]
Among the principal leaders of the Carbonari, Morelli and Silvati were sentenced to death; Pepe went into exile; Federico Confalonieri, Silvio Pellico and Piero Maroncelli were imprisoned.
1831 uprisings
The Carbonari were beaten but not defeated; they took part in the
Ciro Menotti was to take the reins of the initiative, trying to find the support of Duke Francis IV of Modena, who pretended to respond positively in return for granting the title of King of Italy, but the Duke made the double play and Menotti, virtually unarmed, was arrested the day before the date fixed for the uprising. Francis IV, at the suggestion of the Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, had condemned him to death, along with many others among Menotti's allies. This was the last major effort by the secret group.[13]
Aftermath
In 1820, the Neapolitan Carbonari once more took up arms, to wring a constitution from King Ferdinand I. They advanced against the capital from Nola under a military officer and Abbot Minichini. They were joined by General Pepe and many officers and government officials, and the king took an oath to observe the Spanish constitution in Naples. The movement spread to Piedmont, and Victor Emmanuel resigned from the throne in favour of his brother Charles Felix. It was only through the intervention of Austria. The Carbonari secretly continued their agitation against Austria and the governments in a friendly connection with it. They formed a Vendita. Pope Pius VII issued a general condemnation of the secret society of the Carbonari. The association lost its influence by degrees and was gradually absorbed into the new political organizations that sprang up in Italy; its members became affiliated especially with Mazzini's "Young Italy". From Italy, the organization was carried to France where it appeared as the Charbonnerie, which, was divided into verses. Members were especially numerous in Paris. The chief aim of the association in France also was political, namely, to obtain a constitution in which the conception of the sovereignty of the people could find expression. From Paris, the movement spread rapidly through the country, and it was the cause of several mutinies among the troops; it lost its importance after several conspirators were executed, especially as quarrels broke out among the leaders. The Charbonnerie took part in the Revolution of 1830; after the fall of the Bourbons, its influence rapidly declined. After this a Charbonnerie démocratique was formed among the French Republicans; after 1841, nothing more was heard of it. Carbonari was also to be found in Spain, but their numbers and importance were more limited than in the other Romance countries.[8]
In 1830, Carbonari took part in the
Holy protector
The members of Carboneria recognize Theobald of Provins as the patron saint of charcoal burners as well as tanners. In fact, for example, Felice Orsini's father, who belonged to Carboneria, wanted to give him the name of Orso Teobaldo Felice.[citation needed]
Prominent members
Prominent members of the Carbonari included:
- Gabriele Rossetti
- Amand Bazard
- Silvio Pellico (1788–1854) and Pietro Maroncelli (1795–1846)
- both were imprisoned by the Austrians for years, many of which they spent in . After his release, Pellico wrote the book Le mie prigioni, describing in detail his ten-year ordeal. Maroncelli lost one leg in prison and was instrumental in translating and editing of Pellico's book in Paris (1833).
- Giuseppe Mazzini
- Marquis de Lafayette(hero of the American and French Revolutions),
- Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (the future French emperor Napoleon III) Almost certain but highly disputed.
- French revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui.
- Lord Byron
- Giuseppe Garibaldi[citation needed]
Legacy
In Portugal
The Portuguese Carbonari (Carbonária) was first founded there in 1822 but was soon disbanded.
A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur Augusto Duarte da Luz de Almeida. This organization was active in efforts to educate the people and was involved in various antimonarchist conspiracies. Most notably, Carbonária members were active in the assassination of King
Elsewhere in Europe
Two results of great importance in the progress of the European Revolution (Revolutions of 1848) proceeded from the events that occurred at Naples in 1820-21. One was the reorganization of the Carbonari, consequent upon the publicity given to their organization when it had brought about the revolution (and the secrecy in which it had hitherto been enveloped was no longer deemed necessary); the other was the extension of the organization beyond the Alps. When the Neapolitan revolution had been effected, the Carbonari emerged from their mystery, published their constitution statutes, and ceased to conceal their program and their cards of membership.[16]
In particular, the dispersion of the Carbonari leaders had, at the same time, the effect of extending their influence in France. General Guglielmo Pepe proceeded to Barcelona when the counter-revolution was imminent at Naples and his life was no longer safe there; and to the same city went several of the Piedmontese revolutionists when the country was Austrianized after the same lawless fashion. The dispersion of Scalvini and Ugoni that took refuge at Geneva and others of the proscribed that proceeded to London added to the progress which Carbonarism was making in France, suggested to General Pepe the idea of an international secret society, which would combine for a common purpose the advanced political reformers of all the European States.[17]
South America
This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. In particular, the connection to Carbonari (if any exists) is to be clarified or this section is to be removed from the article. (July 2021) |
Giuseppe Garibaldi has been called the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in Brazil, Uruguay and Europe. In 1836, Garibaldi took up the cause of Republic of Rio Grande do Sul in its attempt to separate from the Empire of Brazil, joining the rebels known as the Ragamuffins in the Ragamuffin War (1835-1845). In 1841, Garibaldi moved to Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1842, he took command of the Uruguayan fleet and raised an "Italian Legion" of soldiers for the Uruguayan Civil War (1839-1851). He aligned his forces with a faction composed of the Uruguayan Colorados and the Argentine Unitarios. This faction received support from the French and British Empires in their struggle against the forces of the Uruguayan Government and Argentine Federales.
In literature
The story Vanina Vanini by Stendhal involved a hero in the Carbonari and a heroine who became obsessed with this. It was made into a film in 1961.
Robert Louis Stevenson's story "The Pavilion on the Links" features the Carbonari as the villains of the plot.
Katherine Neville's novel The Fire features the Carbonari as part of a plot involving a mystical chess service.
In Wilkie Collins' "The Woman in White" the character of Professor Pesca is a member of 'The Brotherhood', an organization placed contemporaneously with, and similarly featured as, the Carbonari. Clyde Hyder suspects that the model for Prof. Pesca was Gabriele Rossetti, who was a member of the Carbonari, as well as an Italian teacher resident in London during the 1840s.
The Carbonari are mentioned prominently in the
The Carbonari are also mentioned briefly in the book "
They feature in
Mr. Settembrini's grandfather in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain is said to be Carbonari.
The Carbonari are mentioned in The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian, part of the Aubrey-Maturin series.
In The Horseman on the Roof , the character of Angelo Pardi is a young Italian Carbonaro colonel of hussars
They also appear in Carmen Mola's novel La Bestia (2021).
Film adaptations
- Vanina Vanini, by Roberto Rossellini (1961), adaptation of Stendhal's novel of the same name.
- Nell'anno del Signore, by Luigi Magni(1969).
- Allonsanfan, by the Taviani brothers (1973).
- The Horseman on the Roof, by Jean-Paul Rappeneau (1995), adaptation of Jean Giono's novel of the same name.
See also
- Committee of Union and Progress
- Communist League
- Four Sergeants of La Rochelle
- League of the Just
- Secret society
- The Society of Seasons
Notes
- ^ a b c Galt 1994.
- ^ a b c Smith 1988.
- ^ a b Duggan 2008.
- ^ a b c Rath 1964.
- ^ Rambler 1854.
- ^ a b Kirsch 1908.
- ISBN 0-86304-020-9.)
- ^ a b c d Kirsch 1908.
- ^ Villari 1911, p. 307
- ^ George T. Romani, The Neapolitan revolution of 1820-1821 (Northwestern University Press, 1950).
- ^ Alan Reinerman, "Metternich and the Papal Condemnation of the" Carbonari", 1821." Catholic Historical Review 54#1 (1968): 55-69
- ^ Cornelia Shiver, "The Carbonari." Social Science (1964): 234-241.
- ISBN 9781135026691.
- ^ McCullagh 1910, p. [page needed].
- ^ Birmingham 2003.
- ^ Frost 2003, p. 1.
- ^ Frost 2003, p. 2.
References
- Birmingham, David (2003), A Concise History of Portugal, ISBN 9780521536868
- Daraul, Arkon (1961), "The Charcoal Burners", A History of Secret Societies, Secaucus NJ: Citadel Press, pp. 100–110, ISBN 0-8065-0857-4
- Duggan, Christopher (2008), The Force of Destiny
- Frost, Thomas (2003), Secret Societies of the European Revolution, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7661-5390-5
- Galt, Anthony (December 1994), "The Good Cousins' Domain of Belonging: Tropes in Southern Italian Secret Society Symbol and Ritual, 1810-1821", Man, New Series, vol. 29, Wiley, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, pp. 785–807, JSTOR 3033969
- McCullagh, Francis (1910), "Some Causes of the Portuguese Revolution", The Nineteenth Century and After, vol. LXVIII
- Rath, John (January 1964), "The Carbonari: Their Origins, Initiation Rites, and Aims", The American Historical Review, 69 (2): 353–370, JSTOR 1844987
- "The Life of a Conspirator", The Rambler, New Series, I, May 1854
- Reinerman, Alan. "Metternich and the Papal Condemnation of the" Carbonari", 1821." Catholic Historical Review 54#1 (1968): 55-69. in JSTOR
- Shiver, Cornelia. "The Carbonari." Social Science (1964): 234-241. in JSTOR
- Smith, Denis Mack (1988) [1958], The Making of Italy
- Spitzer, Alan Barrie. Old hatreds and young hopes: the French Carbonari against the Bourbon Restoration (Harvard University Press, 1971).
Attribution:
- public domain: Villari, Luigi (1911), "Carbonari", in Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 307 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Kirsch, Johann Peter (1908), "Carbonari", in Herbermann, Charles (ed.), Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, New York: Robert Appleton Company
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (9th ed.). 1878. pp. 88–89. .