Carbonari
Encyclopedia
The Carbonari were groups of secret revolutionary societies
founded in early 19th-century Italy
. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in Spain, France, Portugal and possibly Russia. Although their goals often had a patriotic
and liberal
focus, they lacked a clear political agenda
. They were a focus for those unhappy with the political situation in Italy following 1815, especially in the south of the Italian Peninsula
. Members of the Carbonari, and those influenced by them did take part in important events in the process of Italian unification
(often referred to as the Risorgimento), especially the Revolution of 1820, and in the further development of Italian nationalism
.
In the north of Italy other groups, such as the Adelfia and the Filadelfia were more important.
, broken into small cells scattered across Italy. Although it is inappropriate to say that they had one unified mission, evidence suggests that despite regional variations, most of the membership sought the creation of a liberal, unified Italy.
Carbonari was the name of a secret political society that emerged during the nineteenth century in Italy. Although some of the society's documents claim that it originated in medieval France, and were under the sponsorship of Francis I of France
during the sixteenth-century, this claim is hard to substantiate. Although a plethora of theories have been advanced as to the origins of the Carbonari, the organization most likely emerged as an offshoot of Freemasonry, in reaction to the spread of liberal ideas from French Revolution
and first became influential in the Kingdom of Naples (under the control of Gioacchino Murat) and the Papal States.
The aim of Carbonari was the creation of a constitutional monarchy or a republic, they wanted also to defend the rights of people against all forms of absolutism. Carbonari, to achieve their purpose, were ready to commit assassinations and 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 being a Freemason on entry. Their initiation
rituals were structured around the trade of charcoal-selling, hence their name.
In 1814 the Carbonari wanted to obtain a constitution for the Kingdom of Naples by force.
Ferdinand I who was the lawful ruler was opposed to them.
Murat wanted to create a unit and independent Italy and when Ferdinand mounted the throne, Murat died .
In 1815 Ferdinand I found his kingdom swarming with them.
The society comprised nobles, officers of the army, small landlords, governments, peasents and even priests.
The society was dominated by the papacy.
On 15 August 1814, Cardinals Consalvi and Pacca issued an edict against secret societies, in which all were forbidden under severe penalties to become members of these secret associations, to attend their meetings, or to furnish a meeting-place for such.
In 1817 there was a revolt against Macerata, Ancona and other parts of the papal states which had been arranged by the Carbonari of Romagna and the Marches.
They published a lot, mostly pamphlets, several of them in England.
during the Napoleonic wars
.
, notably Joachim Murat
, the Bonapartist King of Naples. However, once the wars ended, they became a nationalist organisation with a marked anti-Austrian
tendency and were instrumental in organising revolution
in Italy in 1820–1821 and 1831. The 1820 revolution began in Naples against King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
, who was forced to make concessions and promise a constitutional monarchy. This success inspired Carbonari in the north of Italy to revolt too. In 1821, the Kingdom of Sardinia
obtained a constitutional monarchy as a result of Carbonari actions, as well as other reforms of liberalism. However, the Holy Alliance
would not tolerate this state of affairs and in February, 1821, sent an army to crush the revolution in Naples. The King of Sardinia also called for Austrian intervention. Faced with an enemy overwhelmingly superior in number, the Carbonari revolts collapsed and their leaders fled into exile.
The Carbonari passed for the first time from words to action in 1820 in Naples by organizing anti-absolutist and liberal constitution riots that took inspiration from the one made at Cadiz on 1 January of the same year: the two officers Michele Morelli and Joseph Silvati (which had the membership of former General Murat, as Guglielmo Pepe) on July 1, 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 in Turin, led by Santorre di Santarosa, marched toward the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and 12 March 1821 obtained the democratic constitution.
However, the Holy Alliance did not tolerate such behavior and since February 1821 sent an army that defeated the insurgents in the south, outnumbered and poorly equipped. Even in Piedmont, King Vittorio Emanuele I, undecided what to do, abdicated in favor of his brother Charles Felix of Sardinia, who asked Austria to intervene militarily: April 8, the Hapsburg army defeated the rebels and the uprisings of 1820 - 1821, triggered almost entirely by the Carbonari, ended up in a total failure.
On September 13, 1821 Pope Pius VII with the bull Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo condemned the Carbonari as a Freemason secret society, excommunicating its members.
Among the principal leaders of the Carbonari, Morelli and Silvati were sentenced to death; Pepe went into exile; Confalonieri, Pellico Maroncelli were imprisoned.
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, remained 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 and many others among its allies.
In 1830, Carbonari took part in the July Revolution
in France. This gave them hope that a successful revolution might be staged in Italy. A bid in Modena
was an outright failure, but in February 1831, several cities in the Papal States
rose up and flew the Carbonari tricolour. A volunteer force marched on Rome but was destroyed by Austrian troops who had intervened at the request of Pope Gregory XVI
. After the failed uprisings of 1831, the governments of the various Italian states cracked down on the Carbonari, who now virtually ceased to exist. The more astute members realised they could never take on the Austrian army in open battle and joined a new movement, Giovane Italia ("Young Italy") led by the nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini
.
Independent from French Philadelphians were instead the homonymous carbonara group born in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia [3] and in the Cilento, between 1816 and 1828. In Cilento, in 1828, an insurrection of Philadelphia, who called for the restoration of the Neapolitan Constitution of 1820, was fiercely repressed by the director of the Bourbon police Francesco Saverio Del Carretto : among the interventions we remember the destruction of the village of Wood.
This defeat made them clear to many Carbonari that militarily, especially if alone, they could not compete with Austria, one of the greatest powers of the Old Continent: Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the most acute Carbonari. They founded a new secret society called the Young Italy in which many members would be channeled to the Carbonari, whole without supporters, practically ceased to exist, although the official history of this important company had continued wearily until 1848.
) was first founded in Portugal
in 1822 but was soon disbanded. A new organisation of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur Augusto Duarte da Luz de Almeida. This organisation was active in efforts to educate the people and was involved in various antimonarchist conspiracies. Most notably, Carbonari members were active in the assassination of King Carlos I of Portugal
and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza
in 1908. Carbonari members also played a part in the Republican 5 October 1910 revolution
. One commonality among them was their hostility to the Church and they contributed to the republic's anticlericalism.
) proceeded from the events that occurred at Naples
in 1820-21. One was the reorganization of the Carbonari, consequent upon the publicity given to the system 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 system 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 patents and their cards of membership.
In particular, the dispersion of the Carbonari leaders had, at the same time, effect of extending the system in France. General 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 Guglielmo Pepe
the idea of an international secret society, which would combine for a common purpose the advanced political reformers of all the European States.
and the encyclical Qui Pluribus
were directed against them. The controversial document, the Alta Vendita
, which called for a liberal or modernist takeover of the Catholic Church, was attributed to the Sicilia
n Carbonari.
by Stendhal
involved a hero in the Carbonari and a heroine who became obsessed by 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 (book) 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 organisation 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.
Anton Felix Schindler
's biography of Beethoven "Beethoven as I Knew Him" states that his close connection with the composer
was begun in 1815 when the latter requested an account of Schindler's involvement with a riot of Napoleon's supporters in Vienna
, who were agitating against the Carbonari uprisings. Schindler was arrested and lost a year at college. Beethoven was sympathetic and, as a result, became a close friend of Schindler.
The Carbonari are mentioned prominently in the Sherlock Holmes
short story "The Adventure of the Red Circle
" (1911), written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Carbonari are also mentioned briefly in the book "Resurrection Men
" by T. K. Welsh, in which the main character's father is a member of the secret organisation.
They feature in Tim Powers
' The Stress of Her Regard
as opponents of the vampire-backed Austrian Empire.
Grandfather of Mr. Settembrini in the novel The Magic Mountain
by Thomas Mann
is said to be Carbonari.
The Carbonari are mentioned in The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian, part of the Aubrey-Maturin series.
Umberto Eco
's The Cemetery of Prague mentions the carbonari, as his main character joins them at one point (as a spy)
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
founded in early 19th-century Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in Spain, France, Portugal and possibly Russia. Although their goals often had a patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
focus, they lacked a clear political agenda
Political agenda
A political agenda is a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate....
. They were a focus for those unhappy with the political situation in Italy following 1815, especially in the south of the Italian Peninsula
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
. Members of the Carbonari, and those influenced by them did take part in important events in the process of Italian unification
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
(often referred to as the Risorgimento), especially the Revolution of 1820, and in the further development of Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism
Italian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Italians or of Italian culture. It claims that Italians are the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic descendants of the ancient Romans who inhabited the Italian Peninsula for centuries. The origins of Italian nationalism have been traced to the...
.
In the north of Italy other groups, such as the Adelfia and the Filadelfia were more important.
Organization
They were organised in the fashion of FreemasonryFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, broken into small cells scattered across Italy. Although it is inappropriate to say that they had one unified mission, evidence suggests that despite regional variations, most of the membership sought the creation of a liberal, unified Italy.
Carbonari was the name of a secret political society that emerged during the nineteenth century in Italy. Although some of the society's documents claim that it originated in medieval France, and were under the sponsorship of Francis I of France
Francis I
Francis I may refer to:* Francesco I Gonzaga * Francis I, Duke of Brittany * Francis I, Duke of Lorraine * Francis I of France...
during the sixteenth-century, this claim is hard to substantiate. Although a plethora of theories have been advanced as to the origins of the Carbonari, the organization most likely emerged as an offshoot of Freemasonry, in reaction to the spread of liberal ideas from French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and first became influential in the Kingdom of Naples (under the control of Gioacchino Murat) and the Papal States.
Origins
As a secret society that was often targeted for persecution, the Carbonari operated largely in secret, and hence much of the work that has been done on the origins of the Carbonari depends upon a very small slice of documents. The name Carbonari came from “charcoal-burners” and the place where they met was called “baracca”, the members called themselves “good cousin” so people who did not belong to the Carbonari was “pagani”. There were special ceremonies to initiate the members.The aim of Carbonari was the creation of a constitutional monarchy or a republic, they wanted also to defend the rights of people against all forms of absolutism. Carbonari, to achieve their purpose, were ready to commit assassinations and 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 being a Freemason on entry. Their initiation
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
rituals were structured around the trade of charcoal-selling, hence their name.
In 1814 the Carbonari wanted to obtain a constitution for the Kingdom of Naples by force.
Ferdinand I who was the lawful ruler was opposed to them.
Murat wanted to create a unit and independent Italy and when Ferdinand mounted the throne, Murat died .
In 1815 Ferdinand I found his kingdom swarming with them.
The society comprised nobles, officers of the army, small landlords, governments, peasents and even priests.
The society was dominated by the papacy.
On 15 August 1814, Cardinals Consalvi and Pacca issued an edict against secret societies, in which all were forbidden under severe penalties to become members of these secret associations, to attend their meetings, or to furnish a meeting-place for such.
In 1817 there was a revolt against Macerata, Ancona and other parts of the papal states which had been arranged by the Carbonari of Romagna and the Marches.
They published a lot, mostly pamphlets, several of them in England.
History
Although it is not clear where they were originally established, they first came to prominence in the Kingdom of NaplesKingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
during the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Uprisings of 1820–1821
They began by resisting the French occupiersFirst French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
, notably Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
, the Bonapartist King of Naples. However, once the wars ended, they became a nationalist organisation with a marked anti-Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
tendency and were instrumental in organising revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
in Italy in 1820–1821 and 1831. The 1820 revolution began in Naples against King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
, who was forced to make concessions and promise a constitutional monarchy. This success inspired Carbonari in the north of Italy to revolt too. In 1821, the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
obtained a constitutional monarchy as a result of Carbonari actions, as well as other reforms of liberalism. However, the Holy Alliance
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia, signed by the three powers in Paris on September 26, 1815, in the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon.Ostensibly it was to instill the Christian values of...
would not tolerate this state of affairs and in February, 1821, sent an army to crush the revolution in Naples. The King of Sardinia also called for Austrian intervention. Faced with an enemy overwhelmingly superior in number, the Carbonari revolts collapsed and their leaders fled into exile.
The Carbonari passed for the first time from words to action in 1820 in Naples by organizing anti-absolutist and liberal constitution riots that took inspiration from the one made at Cadiz on 1 January of the same year: the two officers Michele Morelli and Joseph Silvati (which had the membership of former General Murat, as Guglielmo Pepe) on July 1, 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 in Turin, led by Santorre di Santarosa, marched toward the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and 12 March 1821 obtained the democratic constitution.
However, the Holy Alliance did not tolerate such behavior and since February 1821 sent an army that defeated the insurgents in the south, outnumbered and poorly equipped. Even in Piedmont, King Vittorio Emanuele I, undecided what to do, abdicated in favor of his brother Charles Felix of Sardinia, who asked Austria to intervene militarily: April 8, the Hapsburg army defeated the rebels and the uprisings of 1820 - 1821, triggered almost entirely by the Carbonari, ended up in a total failure.
On September 13, 1821 Pope Pius VII with the bull Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo condemned the Carbonari as a Freemason secret society, excommunicating its members.
Among the principal leaders of the Carbonari, Morelli and Silvati were sentenced to death; Pepe went into exile; Confalonieri, Pellico Maroncelli were imprisoned.
The uprisings of 1831 and the end of the Carbonari
The Carbonari were defeated but not beaten, part in the revolution of July 1830 that supported the liberal policy of King Louis Philippe of France on the wings of victory for the uprising in Paris, even the Italian Carbonari took up arms against some states in central and northern And particularly the Papal States and Modena.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, remained 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 and many others among its allies.
Aftermath
In 1820, the Neapolitan Carbonari once more took up arms, in order to wring a constitution from King Ferdinand I. They advanced against the capital from Nola under a military officer and the 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 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 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 ventes. 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 spread rapidly through the country, and it was the cause of several mutinies among the troops. The movement lost its importance after several conspirators had been executed, especially as quarrels broke out among the leaders. The Charbonnerie took part in the Revolution, 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 were also to be found in Spain, but their numbers and importance were more limited than in the other Romance countries.In 1830, Carbonari took part in the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
in France. This gave them hope that a successful revolution might be staged in Italy. A bid in Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
was an outright failure, but in February 1831, several cities in the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
rose up and flew the Carbonari tricolour. A volunteer force marched on Rome but was destroyed by Austrian troops who had intervened at the request of Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
. After the failed uprisings of 1831, the governments of the various Italian states cracked down on the Carbonari, who now virtually ceased to exist. The more astute members realised they could never take on the Austrian army in open battle and joined a new movement, Giovane Italia ("Young Italy") led by the nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
.
Independent from French Philadelphians were instead the homonymous carbonara group born in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia [3] and in the Cilento, between 1816 and 1828. In Cilento, in 1828, an insurrection of Philadelphia, who called for the restoration of the Neapolitan Constitution of 1820, was fiercely repressed by the director of the Bourbon police Francesco Saverio Del Carretto : among the interventions we remember the destruction of the village of Wood.
This defeat made them clear to many Carbonari that militarily, especially if alone, they could not compete with Austria, one of the greatest powers of the Old Continent: Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the most acute Carbonari. They founded a new secret society called the Young Italy in which many members would be channeled to the Carbonari, whole without supporters, practically ceased to exist, although the official history of this important company had continued wearily until 1848.
In Portugal
The Carbonari (CarbonáriaCarbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
) was first founded in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1822 but was soon disbanded. A new organisation of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur Augusto Duarte da Luz de Almeida. This organisation was active in efforts to educate the people and was involved in various antimonarchist conspiracies. Most notably, Carbonari members were active in the assassination of King Carlos I of Portugal
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza
Luís Filipe, Duke of Braganza
-Titles and Styles:*21 March 1887-19 October 1889 - His Royal Highness The Prince of Beira, Duke of Barcelos*19 October 1889-1 February 1908 - His Royal Highness The Prince Royal of Portugal, Duke of Braganza-Arms:...
in 1908. Carbonari members also played a part in the Republican 5 October 1910 revolution
5 October 1910 revolution
The revolution of 1910 was a republican coup d'état that occurred in Portugal on 5 October 1910, which deposed King Manuel II and established the Portuguese First Republic....
. One commonality among them was their hostility to the Church and they contributed to the republic's anticlericalism.
From the European Point of View
Two results of great importance in the progress of the European Revolution (Revolutions of 1848Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
) proceeded from the events that occurred at Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1820-21. One was the reorganization of the Carbonari, consequent upon the publicity given to the system 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 system beyond the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. When the Neapolitan revolution had been effected, the Carbonari emerged from their mystery, published their constitution statutes, and ceased to conceal their patents and their cards of membership.
In particular, the dispersion of the Carbonari leaders had, at the same time, effect of extending the system in France. General 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 Guglielmo Pepe
Guglielmo Pepe
Guglielmo Pepe was an Italian general and patriot. He was brother to Florestano Pepe and cousin to Gabriele Pepe. He married to Marianne Coventry, a Scottish woman.-Biography:Pepe was born at Squillace in Calabria....
the idea of an international secret society, which would combine for a common purpose the advanced political reformers of all the European States.
Relations with the Catholic Church
The Carbonari were anti-clerical in both their philosophy and programme. The Papal constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu ChristoEcclesiam a Jesu Christo
Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo was a Papal constitution promulgated by Pius VII in 1821.It stated that Freemasons must be excommunicated for their oath bound secrecy of the society and conspiracies against church and state....
and the encyclical Qui Pluribus
Qui Pluribus
Qui Pluribus - was an encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius IX in 1846. It disputed the belief that reason should be put above faith.It singled out the free gift of anti-Catholic Bibles...
were directed against them. The controversial document, the Alta Vendita
Alta Vendita
The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita is a document, originally published in Italian in the 19th century, purportedly produced by the highest lodge of the Italian Carbonari....
, which called for a liberal or modernist takeover of the Catholic Church, was attributed to the Sicilia
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
n Carbonari.
Prominent Carbonari
Prominent members of the Carbonari included:- Amand BazardAmand BazardSaint-Amand Bazard was a French socialist, the founder of a secret society in France corresponding to the Carbonari of Italy....
- Silvio PellicoSilvio PellicoSilvio Pellico was an Italian writer, poet, dramatist and patriot.-Biography:Silvio Pellico was born at Saluzzo . He spent the earlier portion of his life at Pinerolo and Turin, under the tuition of a priest named Manavella. At the age of ten he composed a tragedy inspired by a translation of the...
(1788–1854) and Pietro Maroncelli (1795–1846)
- both were imprisoned by the Austrians for years, many of which they spent in Spielberg fortress in BrnoBrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, Southern MoraviaMoraviaMoravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. After his release, Pellico wrote a 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 MazziniGiuseppe MazziniGiuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
, - Marquis de Lafayette (hero of the American and French Revolutions),
- Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (the future French emperor Napoleon III)
- French revolutionary Blanqui.
- Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Byron, 6th Baron ByronGeorge Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...
- Giuseppe Garibaldi
- Giuseppe Mazzini
In literature
The story Vanina VaniniVanina Vanini
Vanina Vanini is the title of a story by Stendhal , the nom de plume of Marie-Henri Beyle. Set in 1830s during the early Risorgimento, when Italy was under Austrian control, it concerns the love affair of a young Roman princess and a revolutionary carbonaro.-Synopsis:Vanina Vanini, the...
by Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
involved a hero in the Carbonari and a heroine who became obsessed by this. It was made into a film in 1961.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's story "The Pavilion on the Links
The Pavilion on the Links
"The Pavilion on the Links" is a short-story by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was first published in Cornhill Magazine 42-43 . A revised version was included in The New Arabian Nights ....
" features the Carbonari as the villains of the plot.
Katherine Neville's novel The Fire (book) features the Carbonari as part of a plot involving a mystical chess service.
In Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
' "The Woman in White
The Woman in White
The Woman in White can refer to:*The Woman in White , an 1859 novel written by Wilkie Collins*The Woman in White , a 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the novel...
" the character of Professor Pesca is a member of 'The Brotherhood', an organisation placed contemporaneously with, and similarly featured as, the Carbonari. Clyde Hyder suspects that the model for Prof. Pesca was Gabriele Rossetti
Gabriele Rossetti
Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti was an Italian poet and scholar who emigrated to England.Born in Vasto in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the original family of his ancestors was Della Guardia...
, who was a member of the Carbonari, as well as an Italian teacher resident in London during the 1840s.
Anton Felix Schindler
Anton Felix Schindler
Anton Felix Schindler was an associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven.His Life of Beethoven was first published in 1840 and, in its subsequently expanded form , had a great deal of influence on later Beethoven biography...
's biography of Beethoven "Beethoven as I Knew Him" states that his close connection with the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
was begun in 1815 when the latter requested an account of Schindler's involvement with a riot of Napoleon's supporters in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, who were agitating against the Carbonari uprisings. Schindler was arrested and lost a year at college. Beethoven was sympathetic and, as a result, became a close friend of Schindler.
The Carbonari are mentioned prominently in the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
short story "The Adventure of the Red Circle
The Adventure of the Red Circle
"The Adventure of the Red Circle" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. It is included in the anthology His Last Bow.-Synopsis:...
" (1911), written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Carbonari are also mentioned briefly in the book "Resurrection Men
Resurrection Men
Resurrection Men is a 2002 novel by Ian Rankin. It is the thirteenth of the Inspector Rebus novels.-Plot summary:Detective Inspector John Rebus is thrown off a murder inquiry, just days after the brutal death of an Edinburgh art dealer, for throwing a cup of tea at DCS Gill Templer...
" by T. K. Welsh, in which the main character's father is a member of the secret organisation.
They feature in Tim Powers
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
' The Stress of Her Regard
The Stress of Her Regard
The Stress of Her Regard is a 1989 horror/fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was nominated for the 1990 World Fantasy and Locus Awards in 1990, and won a Mythopoeic Award...
as opponents of the vampire-backed Austrian Empire.
Grandfather of Mr. Settembrini in the novel The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
by Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
is said to be Carbonari.
The Carbonari are mentioned in The Hundred Days by Patrick O'Brian, part of the Aubrey-Maturin series.
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
's The Cemetery of Prague mentions the carbonari, as his main character joins them at one point (as a spy)