Naples, 1781-1785 New Evidence of Queenship at Court
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QUEENSHIP AND POWER THE DIARY OF QUEEN MARIA CAROLINA OF NAPLES, 1781-1785 New Evidence of Queenship at Court Cinzia Recca Queenship and Power Series Editors Charles Beem University of North Carolina, Pembroke Pembroke , USA Carole Levin University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln , USA Aims of the Series This series focuses on works specializing in gender analysis, women's studies, literary interpretation, and cultural, political, constitutional, and diplomatic history. It aims to broaden our understanding of the strategies that queens-both consorts and regnants, as well as female regents-pursued in order to wield political power within the structures of male-dominant societies. The works describe queenship in Europe as well as many other parts of the world, including East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Islamic civilization. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14523 Cinzia Recca The Diary of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples, 1781–1785 New Evidence of Queenship at Court Cinzia Recca University of Catania Catania , Italy Queenship and Power ISBN 978-3-319-31986-5 ISBN 978-3-319-31987-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31987-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947974 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image © Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland PREF ACE This study focuses on the presentation and examination of the Journal of Queen Maria Carolina which recounts private events that occurred between the years 1781 and 1785. It is housed at the State Archives of Naples, Bourbon Archives, Folder 96. With the purpose of highlighting little-known aspects of the Queen’s personality, we conducted a thorough survey of her diary and took into account the following components: con- tent, historical and topographical indications (place and date of writing) and peculiarities of rhetorical and formal order (language used in writing, the way she opened and closed her entries as well as the length, and the hierarchical arrangement of topics). We focused on the analysis and enhancement of the Queen’s public, political, social and cultural roles, while at the same time discussing the many aspects of her intimate life. In the pursuit of this goal, we focused on the moments in which the Queen’s public and private sectors are dis- cussed, in which her social–political commitments are connected to those of her familial setting. In this regard, we have revealed numerous refer- ences in the Journal to be particularly interesting: hearings, meetings with prominent members of the political world, the diplomatic environment, the clergy and the scientifi c and artistic milieux. We have therefore correlated the specifi c theme of our analysis in a his- torical context for reference, connected directly to the Kingdom of Naples and including a chronological arc between 1776 (the year Maria Carolina joined the State Council) and 1785 (when the current pro-Spanish diplo- mats, led by the Marquis of Sambuca, conspired against the Royal couple and Mr Acton). There is no hint in the Journal about this event, which v vi PREFACE takes on crucial importance in relation to the public image and the regency of Maria Carolina. Instead, in the correspondence between the Queen of Naples and her brother, Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold, in episto- lary material housed at the State Archives of Vienna, we found testimonies by the two corresponding relatives which discuss the attempt to sabotage the reform policy pursued by various rulers and Acton. The year 1785 is also the last year in which the diary pages were currently available to us and thus examined at the State Archive of Naples. Comparing the testimony found in the diary with musings that Maria Carolina elaborated elsewhere, and looking at the broad picture of the political situation of the 1780s, we tried to reconsider some issues taken for granted in historiography. In this regard, the ability to correlate the diary to the letters written in the same period, which the Queen sent to her beloved Peter Leopold, appears to be of great importance. In fact, the cross-comparison of two handwritten sources (both poorly studied, even today) allows one to shed new light on the dramatic circumstances sur- rounding the ongoing political struggle at Court in those years. Therefore, one must ask the age-old question of the role played by Maria Carolina in the political involvement of the Bourbon dynasty. Catania , Italy Cinzia Recca ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While preparing the edition for publication, I would like to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude towards many persons, institutions, and to all those who extended their helping hands towards me in various ways during the completion of this work. First, my sincere thanks to the Staff at the Archive of State of Vienna and Naples who provided an effi cient support throughout, in particular in Naples, I am very grateful to the Director, Dr. Imma Ascione, and Dr. Barbara Orciouli. It was in March 2012 that, during an International Conference “The Royal Body” at the Royal Holloway University, I met for the fi rst time Elena Woodacre who, curious and fascinated by my research, suggested writing this work in English. Since that time we started to collaborate together in the Royal Studies Network and Journal that Ellie has greatly created. So I am deeply grateful to Ellie for much moral support and for many years of intellectual exchange and friendship. I am also especially grateful to Prof. Andrew Brayley for his corrections and suggestions, which helped in overcoming the hurdles in the comple- tion of the translation of Maria Carolina’s diary. In addition, I am greatly thankful to the team of Palgrave Macmillan for their professionalism and support, especially Charles Beem and Carole Levin for having believed in my early proposal for the Queenship and Power series. My sincere thanks to the commitments, patience and astute comments of my editors Kristin Purdy and Michelle Smith. The insightful and anonymous reviewers have proved invaluable in pro- ducing the fi nal work. vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Last, but most important, thanks to my family and friends for their unfailing love, sacrifi ce, support and encouragement and, above all, to my husband Francesco and my sons, Antonio and Emilio. Any omission in this brief acknowledgement does not mean lack of gratitude. CONTENTS 1 Maria Carolina: Sovereign and Mother 1 2 Structural Physiognomy, Historical Value of Diaries and the Daily Routine of the Queen 19 3 Complex Interdependence Between Public and Private Moments: Queenly Audiences, Meetings and Precouncil 43 4 The Reformist Impulse of John Acton: an Essential Expert in the Service of the Court 63 5 1785: Conspiracies and Attempts to Overthrow the Queen 79 6 Between Praise and Condemnation: A Look at the Historical Debate 97 Editorial Criteria 109 Journal from 1 November 1781 until 27 December 1781 113 ix x CONTENTS Journal from 10 September 1782 until the end of December 1782 128 Journal 1783 165 Journal 1784 248 Journal 1785 322 Author Index 391 Name Index 395 CHAPTER 1 Maria Carolina: Sovereign and Mother Writing about Queen Maria Carolina implicitly involves writing about the history of the Kingdom of Naples during the turbulent revolutionary period and the Napoleonic wars. The reason for this is given by the over- whelming infl uence that the Queen had over the affairs of her husband’s reign, in controlling the fate of the Two Sicilies for almost half a century. It was an era in which women had a dominant role in the affairs of many nations, but few possessed a power as real and as vast as that of the Queen of Naples. 1 Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine was born in Vienna on 13 August 1752 in Schönbrunn castle. 2 She was the 13th daughter of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and of Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. 3 Among all the sisters, she was especially close to Marie Antoinette, the future Queen of France, with whom she shared her childhood and early education under the aegis of the same governess, Countess Lerchenfeld. Their bond was so strong that when one of them was sick the other also fell ill immediately. But the idyllic situation between the two girls soon ended. By August 1767, they had been separated by their mother, for when the two prin- cesses were together they became so unruly and restless that they behaved below their rank.