Former Political Prisoners and Exiles in the Roman Revolution of 1848
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1989 Between Two Amnesties: Former Political Prisoners and Exiles in the Roman Revolution of 1848 Leopold G. Glueckert Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Glueckert, Leopold G., "Between Two Amnesties: Former Political Prisoners and Exiles in the Roman Revolution of 1848" (1989). Dissertations. 2639. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2639 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1989 Leopold G. Glueckert BETWEEN TWO AMNESTIES: FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS AND EXILES IN THE ROMAN REVOLUTION OF 1848 by Leopold G. Glueckert, O.Carm. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 1989 Leopold G. Glueckert 1989 © All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As with any paper which has been under way for so long, many people have shared in this work and deserve thanks. Above all, I would like to thank my director, Dr. Anthony Cardoza, and the members of my committee, Dr. Walter Gray and Fr. Richard Costigan. Their patience and encourage ment have been every bit as important to me as their good advice and professionalism. Thanks are also due to the staff members of the Vatican and Roman State Archives. These resourceful men and women share their skills gen erously, as they make their way along labyrinthine paths where ordinary mortals dare not tread. Paolo Cherubini was especially helpful with his cheerful efficiency and enthusiastic support. The Schmitt Foundation provided valuable financial support for the essential research expenses and travel; their kindness is remembered fondly. Special thanks also to Sonya Carroll for her fine work on the maps. And much gratitude goes to the staff advisers of Loyola's Comput ing Center. Their calmness amid chaos merits great reward. ii VITA Leopold George Glueckert was born in Hammond, Indiana on the first of January, 1943. He has been a Carmelite friar since August of 1962. Except for one year at Mount Carmel High School, Chicago, his high school, college and theological studies were all completed within the Carmelite seminary system. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in June, 1965. He was granted a Bavhelor of Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian Univer sity, Rome, in June, 1969. He was awarded a Master of Arts in History in June, 1976 from DePaul University, Chicago. In January of 1982, Father Glueckert began a doctoral program at Loyola University of Chicago. He received teaching assistantships for two and one half years, while his course work was being completed. He was chosen to receive a Schmitt Academic Fellowship for the 1984-85 aca demic year, which greatly facilitated the research necessary for this dissertation. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii VITA .. iii CONTENTS OF APPENDICES vi INTRODUCTION vii Chapter I. THE PAPAL STATES TO 1846 .... 1 Society in the Papal States 2 Local Administration 11 Administration of Justice 18 The Political Opposition. 23 The Revolution of 1831 .. 27 Plots of the early 1840's 37 II. THE AMNESTY OF 1846 .... 44 Genesis of the Amnesty. 46 The Process of the Amnesty. 59 Profile of the Returnees 61 -by place of origin . 63 -by profession or social class 68 -by place of imprisonment or exile 72 III. THE REVOLUTIONARY AND REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENTS OF 1848-9 76 Pius IX as Reformer . 76 Early Reforms . 82 War against Austria and the Allocution 89 Reverses and Violence . 98 After the Flight to Gaeta 110 IV. THE RESTORATION OF PIUS IX 123 The Interim Period of the Red Triumvirate 126 The Second Amnesty . 136 The Political Trials of the Restoration 140 Legislators and Administrators. 142 Military Leaders . 146 Violent Crimes - General. 150 Violent Crimes - Specific 153 iv Bologna 154 Lugo 161 Ancona 167 Pesaro 174 Faenza 182 Non-violent Political Charges 187 Reflections 195 V. REBELS OR LOYAL CITIZENS? 197 Who Participated in the Revolution? 197 What Background Patterns Exist? . 199 -by place of origin . 199 -by profession or social class 201 -by place of imprisonment or exile 204 Does Background Explain the Crimes? 206 Legislators and Administrators 206 Military Leaders . 207 Murder and Other Violence . 208 Damage to Property and Society 208 Non-violent Political Charges 209 What Next? 210 BIBLIOGRAPHY 212 APPENDIX A 227 APPENDIX B 232 APPENDIX C 237 APPENDIX D 242 APPENDIX E 244 v .r .. -··· CONTENTS OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A . · 227 Breakdown by Place of Origin - Lazio & Umbria, Marches, Legations: Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna & Forli' 228 APPENDIX B .. 232 Breakdown by Profession - General Summary, Subdivision of Urban Commoners: Bourgeois, Petty Bourgeois, Artisans, Unskilled 233 APPENDIX C . 237 Breakdown by Places of Exile and Imprisonment - Exiles in France, Iberia, Northern Europe, Italian States, Greece, Ottoman Empire and elsewhere; All Prisons 238 APPENDIX D . 242 Map of the Papal States in 1848 243 APPENDIX E ........ 244 of the Legations Showing Individual Provinces 245 vi INTRODUCTION The amnesty of 1846, the first political act of Pope Pius IX, created a sensation in its age. Today, however, it receives only perfunctory men tion in most histories, and very little attention beyond that. What originally looked like the new beginning of a "Liberal" Pope is now seen as just a false start for a famous conservative. This sudden change of opinion is no doubt strongly conditioned by the events of th~ Roman Revolution of 1848. It is fairly well known that some of the most visible leaders of that revolt had also received pardon for their previous offenses a mere 2 years before. It is even better known that the Pope himself, following his restoration, retreated from enlightened political reforms into religious conservatism and bit terness for the rest of his days. His subsequent unwillingness to con tinue political programs which had only recently made him the toast of the Italian nation appear to be rooted in suspicion and hurt - he acted on the belief that his own subjects had violated his kindness and trust. There were, to be sure, several recipients of the amnesty who had turned against their erstwhile benefactor. Among the best known were Pietro Sterbini, sincere democrat and arch-promoter of the Roman Repub lic, Giuseppe Galletti, a gentle Mazzinian, and the young firebrand Fel ice Orsini, who would later die for his attempt to assassinate Napoleon III. We can identify other names of high-profile plotters who came home in 1846 to continue their former activities: Pietro Beltrami, Raffaele vii Pasi, Livio Zambeccari, and several members of the Caldesi and Muratori families. Whatever each of these men intended in his inmost self, loyal or not, Pius certainly could not know. We can easily forgive him for concluding that they had been "poor risks" - that reconciliation for them was probably a bad idea. Thus we are left with the impression that the amnesty was an act of folly and political naivitee'. State of the Question Until now, those authors who mention the amnesty at all usually do so in some larger context; either of the Revolution of 1848, or of the person and reign of Pius IX. Hence the amnesty is typically treated as an iso lated event, and often a mistake at that. What I propose to do in this investigation is to focus on the valuable data generated by the amnesty itself. Two distinct archival fonts contain a rich lode of information on the individuals who first applied for it in 1846, as well as those who were later indicted for violating its conditions. This neglected information will clearly show that the amnesty was not only a just and generous political action, but that it was an act of mutual trust which was generally respected and honored by those who benefited from it. Even in the context of 1848, the amnesty and the Revolution which came after it are unique. Those who led and those who followed were cer tainly not cast in the mold of 1830. Those writers tend to follow several variations of a single theme. Pius IX represents an important element of the Old Regime, as he fights frantically to hold back the tide of the modern world, which is vari ously interpreted in terms of nationalism, liberalism or social justice. viii Writing within 20 years.of the event, authors like Alphonse Balla dier and Giuseppe Spada promoted the rather conservative image of a legitimate and moral government overthrown by mindless democrats, or by anarchists who threatened the very foundations of civilization. Luigi Carlo Farini moderated this vision somewhat: he saw Pius' regime as anachronistic, yet holding the middle ground between clerical reaction aries and qoctrinaire nationalists, and still fighting the same lost cause. At the opposite end of the spectrum are authors like Raffaele DeCesare, Gius~ppe Leti, and George M~ Trevelyan. Writing during the early decades of this century, they interpreted the revolution in terms of heroic patriots fighting to overthrow an outdated rule of supersti tion, clericalism, and medieval relics so that the New Italy could emerge. Still more recently, works of George F-H. Berkeley (1932-40), E. E. Y. Hales (1954-60), and Frank J. Coppa (1974-85) have presented a less stereotypical portrait of the Pope. Like Farini, they have shown Pius and his advisors as attempting to steer a middle course between extremists.