Italian Republic (Napoleonic)
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Italian Republic Repubblica Italiana (Italian) | |||||||||||
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1802–1805 | |||||||||||
Napoleon Bonaparte | |||||||||||
Vice President | |||||||||||
• 1802–1805 | Francesco Melzi d'Eril | ||||||||||
Legislature | Legislative Body | ||||||||||
Historical era | Napoleonic Wars | ||||||||||
9 February 1801 | |||||||||||
• National Meetings in Lyon | 26 January 1802 | ||||||||||
• Monarchy proclaimed | 17 March 1805 | ||||||||||
Currency | Milanese scudo, lira, soldo and denaro | ||||||||||
ISO 3166 code | IT | ||||||||||
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History of Italy |
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Italy portal |
The Italian Republic (
.The republic
The Italian Republic was the successor of the
The republic had a territory of more than 42,500 square kilometers (16,400 sq mi), and a population of 3,840,000 in 12
The flag of the Italian Republic maintained the three Italian-Milanese
on 16 September 1803.The government created the National Guard of Italy, a National Gendarmerie, and a finance police; the metric system was introduced and a national currency was planned, although never minted during the Republican era.
In 1805, following Bonaparte's assumption of the title of Emperor of the French, the Italian Republic was transformed into the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia), with Napoleon as king and his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais as viceroy.
Institutional form
According to the Italian constitution of 1802, sovereignty resided in three electoral colleges of three to two hundred members: the College of Owners (il Collegio dei possidenti), the College of Scholars (il Collegio dei dotti), and the College of Traders (il Collegio dei mercanti), the first having its seat in Milan, the second in Bologna, and the third in Brescia. All the colleges elected a commission of control and supreme rule, called the Censorship (la Censura), composed of twenty-one members and based in Cremona.
The head of state was the president of the republic (il Presidente della repubblica),
The Consulta (la Consulta di Stato) was a commission of eight members led by the president of the republic and in charge of foreign policy. The commissioners were appointed by the Censorship upon nomination by the three colleges: many former members of the
The Legislative Council (il Consiglio legislativo) was a commission of at least ten members appointed by the president for three years. Its mission was to allow the president to submit legislation, helping him in the elaboration of laws and being present when they were discussed in parliament. The secretary of state (il segretario di Stato) was the chief of the public administration. He promulgated the laws, guarded the state's seal, and countersigned presidential acts. The first secretary was Diego Guicciardi, soon followed by Pellegrino Nobili and, finally, by Luigi Vaccari.
The government comprised seven ministers (i ministri). The
. To draw up its budgets, the government was assisted by a Commissionership for National Accountancy.The parliament of the republic was the Legislative Body (il Corpo Legislativo) with limited powers. It was composed of 75 members elected in each department by the three colleges. It was summoned by the president of the republic and could only approve or reject a law, the discussion being reserved to a more restricted Chamber of orators or Chamber of speakers (Camera degli oratori, a committee of fifteen speakers). First appointed at the Meetings of Lyon, one-third of the parliament had to be renewed every two years.
The tribunals were divided into tribunals of first instance (tribunali di prima istanza), courts of appeal (corti d'appello), courts of revision (corti di revisione), and a court of cassation (corte di cassazione). The judges of the first two were appointed by the Consulta, the latter two by the three colleges.
Local administration
Following the French system, The state was divided into 12
The departments were divided into districts (distretti) equivalent to the French
The districts were divided into
List of departments and districts
- Agogna (capital Novara)
- Crostolo (capital Reggio Emilia)
- Lario (capital Como)
- Lower Po (capital Ferrara)
- Mella (capital Brescia)
- Mincio (capital Mantua)
- Olona (capital Milan)
- Panaro (capital Modena)
- Reno (capital Bologna)
- Rubicone (capital Forlì)
- Serio (capital Bergamo)
- Upper Po (capital Cremona)
See also
- French client republic
- Cisalpine Republic