Sicilian revolution of 1848

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Sicilian revolution of 1848
Part of
Kingdom of Two Sicilies
Result Revolution suppressed; more powers to the Sicilian local administration
Belligerents Sicilian rebels  
Spain
Commanders and leaders Ruggero Settimo
V. Fardella di Torrearsa
Francesco Crispi
Ludwik Mierosławski Ferdinand II
Carlo FilangieriUnits involved Sicilian rebels Army of the Two SiciliesStrength c. 20,000 UnknownCasualties and losses Unknown

The Sicilian revolution of independence of 1848 (Sicilian: Rivuluzzioni nnipinnintista siciliana dû 1848; Italian: Rivoluzione siciliana del 1848) which commenced on 12 January 1848 was the first of the numerous Revolutions of 1848 which swept acrosss Europe.[1] It was a popular rebellion against the rule of Ferdinand II of the House of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies. Three revolutions against the Bourbon ruled Kingdom of the Two Sicilies had previously occurred on the island of Sicily starting from 1800: this final one resulted in an independent state (the self-proclaimed Kingdom of Sicily) which survived for 16 months. The Sicilian Constitution of 1848 which survived the 16 months was advanced for its time in liberal democratic terms, as was the proposal of a unified Italian confederation of states.[2] It was in effect a curtain-raiser to the end of the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies, finally completed by Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand in 1860, the Siege of Gaeta of 1860–1861 and the proclamation of the unified Kingdom of Italy.

The revolution

Background

Allegorical print of the time depicting the expulsion of Neapolitan troops from Sicily at the beginning of the revolt

The former kingdoms of

Two Sicilies. Both geographic areas had previously formed the single Kingdom of Sicily created by the Normans in the 11th century, but split in two following the War of the Sicilian Vespers in 1302.[3]

The seeds of the revolution of 1848 were sown prior to the final defeat of

Ferdinand IV of Naples (and III of Sicily) immediately abolished the constitution upon returning the royal court to Naples.[4]

The hostility of the Sicilians towards

cholera epidemic which caused almost 70,000 deaths in Sicily and which increased the feelings of mistrust towards the royal government, accused of having voluntarily spread the pestilence by polluting water and air. Social tension erupted in a popular uprising that broke out in Syracuse and Catania.[5]

Political events after the revolution

Flag used by Sicilians during the revolution

The 1848 revolution was substantially organized from, and centered in, Palermo. The popular nature of the revolt is evident in the fact that posters and notices were being handed out a full three days before the substantive acts of the revolution occurred on 12 January 1848. The timing was deliberately planned to coincide with the birthday of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, himself born in Palermo in 1810 (during the Napoleonic period mentioned above).[6]

The Italian tricolour was a symbol of the revolutions of 1848.[7][8][9] The Provisional Government of Sicily, which then gave rise to the self-proclaimed Kingdom of Sicily, which lasted from 12 January 1848 to 15 May 1849 during the Sicilian revolution, adopted the Italian tricolour as flag, defaced with the trinacria, or triskelion.[10] The Sicilian insurgents used to sing, in Sicilian language, the popular song Lu dudici jnnaru 1848 (en. "The 12 January 1848"): [...] January 12th, day of valour, unfurl the tricolour, freedom, freedom. [...].[11]

The Sicilian revolution of 1848, which was characterised by a wide use of the Italian tricolour.[11] Fighting outside Palermo Cathedral

The Sicilian nobles were immediately able to resuscitate the constitution of 1812, which included the principles of representative democracy and the centrality of Parliament in the government of the state.

Garibaldi
’s attack on the island in 1860.

Ruggero Settimo

Thus, Sicily survived as a quasi-independent state for 16 months, with the Bourbon army taking back full control of the island on 15 May 1849 by force. The effective head of state during this period was Ruggero Settimo. On capitulating to the Bourbons, Settimo escaped to Malta where he was received with the full honours of a head of state, and remained exiled there for twelve years. Upon the formation of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1861, Settimo was offered the position of first President of the Senate of the newly created national parliament, and remained in that office until his death in 1863.[12]

The Revolution which began in Palermo was one of a series of such events in

Albertine Statute (the Albertine Statute later became the constitution of the unified Kingdom of Italy and remained in force, with changes, until 1948[13]
). In imitation of these events, riots and revolutions followed around Europe at the same time, and may be considered a taste of the socialist revolts to come.

Violence towards Sicilians

King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies

By the evening of September 7 1848 the battle could be said to be practically over. Filangieri, however, dared not let his troops enter the set of alleys that then made up the historic center of Messina: although the regular Sicilian forces had been exterminated or forced to flee, the bombardment of the Bourbons continued on the defenseless city, that is, on the part that had not yet been occupied by the regi, for another seven hours.[14] The soldiers of the Bourbon army gave themselves up to the looting and violence against the inhabitants: "(The Swiss and the Napolitani marched only preceded by fires, followed by robberies, looting, murder, rape, etc.) Women were violated in churches, where they hoped for security, and then murdered, priests killed on altars, maidens cut to pieces, old and sick slaughtered in their own beds, whole families thrown from the windows or burned inside their homes, the Monti family of the loan looted, the sacred vases violated".[15]

During the days of September 1848 there were numerous cases of civilians who were intentionally killed by Bourbon troops, who in some cases raped women who took refuge in churches before murdering them, killed all the children and murdered sick people in their beds, as happened for example for the elderly farmer Francesco Bombace, octuagenarian, and for the daughter of Letterio Russo, who was beheaded and to whom the breasts were amputated.[16] Homes of foreigners living in Messina were also looted and destroyed, so much so that the English consul Barker reported the incident to his government writing that many English subjects living there were reduced to ruin and that even a diplomat, the consul of Greece and Bavaria M. G.M. Rillian, despite being in uniform, had been wounded by sabre, before his dwelling was also looted and burned down.[17] The Bourbon troops did not spare even the religious buildings from looting. For example, the church of San Domenico, rich in works of art, was first looted of its sacred objects, then burned down and totally destroyed.[18] Loss of life was incalculable. A Bourbon official wrote to his brother, immediately after the capture of Messina, stating that the Neapolitan departments had recaptured the city with a very intense fire and "trampling corpses in every step that progressed for the space of about two miles" and then commenting "What a horror! What a fire!"[19] British Admiral Parker also condemned the work of the Bourbons, and in particular the prolonged terrorist bombardment of the city even after the end of all resistance for eight hours: "The greatest ferocity was shown by the Neapolitans, whose fury was incessant for eight hours, after all resistance had ceased".[20]

During the siege of Messina, the last insurgents who resisted the attack of the Bourbons inside a convent, rather than hand themselves over, chose to throw themselves into a well, taking their tricolour flags with them.[21] Messina was also troubled by the work of common criminals sent by King Ferdinand II to Sicily against the insurgents and that after tormenting the Sicilians for months with brigand actions (crimes, violence, thefts, etc.) they gave themselves at the time of the fall of the city to its looting, arriving with small boats from Calabria to make loot.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "La primavera dei popoli. La rivoluzione siciliana del 1848" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. ^ "AUTONOMISMO E UNITÀ" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  3. S2CID 110273792
    .
  4. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand IV. of Naples". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–265.
  5. ^ a b "FERDINANDO II di Borbone, re delle Due Sicilie" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Il Regno siculo-partenopeo tra il 1821 ed il 1848" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  7. ^ Bellocchi 2008, p. 27.
  8. ^ Bellocchi 2008, p. 38.
  9. ^ Bellocchi 2008, p. 43.
  10. ^ Villa 2010, p. 23.
  11. ^ a b Bellocchi 2008, pp. 22–23.
  12. ^ "Discorso di Settimo al Senato del Regno d'Italia" (in Italian). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  13. ^ Mack Smith, Denis (1997). Modern Italy: A Political History. Yale University Press.
  14. ^ Luigi Tomeucci, Le cinque giornate di Messina nel '48, Ferrara, Messina, 1953.
  15. ^ Giuseppe La Farina, Storia della rivoluzione siciliana e delle sue relazioni coi governi italiani e stranieri. 1848–1849, Milano 1860, Vol. 1, p. 357, Vol. 2, p. 46.
  16. ^ P. Calvi, Memorie storiche e critiche della rivoluzione siciliana del 1848, Londra, 1861, pp. 24 and following.
  17. ^ P. Calvi, Memorie storiche e critiche della rivoluzione siciliana del 1848, Londra, 1861, p. 26.
  18. ^ “Archivio storico messinese. Atti della società storica messinese”, anno I, Messina 1900, p. 66.
  19. ^ Notiziario delle cose avvenute l'anno 1848 nella guerra siciliana, a cura di F. Azzolino, Napoli 1848.
  20. ^ L. Tomeucci, Messina nel Risorgimento, Milano 1963, p. 486.
  21. ^ Villa 2010, p. 22.
  22. ^ Carlo Gemelli, “Storia della siciliana rivoluzione del 1848–49”, Bologna, 1867, vol. II, pp. 35–36.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Revolutionary Spring: Fighting for a New World 1848–1849, Crown Publishing Group, Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0525575207
    .

External links
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