Carlo Filangieri
Encyclopedia
Carlo Filangieri prince of Satriano, was a Neapolitan
soldier and statesman. He was the son of Gaetano Filangieri
, a celebrated philosopher and jurist
.
, near Salerno
, at the age of fifteen Filangieri decided on a military career, and having obtained an introduction to Napoleon Bonaparte, then first consul, was admitted to the Military Academy at Paris
. In 1803 he received a commission in an infantry regiment, and took part in the campaign of 1805 under General Davout
, first in the Low Countries
, and later at Ulm
, Maria Zell and Austerlitz
, where he fought with distinction, was wounded several times and promoted.
He returned to Naples as captain on Masséna
's staff to fight the Bourbons and the Austrians in 1806, and subsequently went to Spain
, where he followed Joseph Bonaparte
in his retreat from Madrid
. In consequence of having slain a man in a duel
he was sent back to Naples; there he served under Joachim Murat
with the rank of general, and fought against the Anglo-Sicilian forces in Calabria
and at Messina. On the fall of Napoleon he took part in Murat's campaign against Eugène de Beauharnais
, and later in that against Austria, and was severely wounded at the battle of the Panaro
(1815).
On the restoration of the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV (I)
, Filangieri retained his rank and command, but found the army utterly disorganized and impregnated with Carbonari
sm. In the disturbances of 1820 he adhered to the Constitutionalist party, and fought under General Pepe
against the Austrians. On the re-establishment of the autocracy he was dismissed from the service, and retired to Calabria where he had inherited the princely title and estates of Satriano.
In 1831 he was recalled by Ferdinand II
and entrusted with various military reforms. On the outbreak of the troubles of 1848 Filangieri advised the king to grant the constitution, which he did in February 1848, but when the Sicilians formally seceded from the Neapolitan kingdom Filangieri was given the command of an armed force with which to reduce the island to obedience. On September 3 he landed near Messina, and after very severe fighting captured the city. He then advanced southwards, besieged and took Catania
, where his troops committed many atrocities, and by May 1849 he had conquered the whole of Sicily, though not without much bloodshed.
He remained in Sicily as governor (the exact Italian title was Luogotenente generale dei reali domini al di là del Faro
, meaning Lieutenant-general of the royal domains beyond the Lighthouse) until 1855, when he retired into private life, as he could not carry out the reforms he desired owing to the hostility of Giovanni Cassisi, the minister for Sicily. On the death of Ferdinand II (May 22, 1859) the new king Francis II
appointed Filangieri premier and minister of war. He promoted good relations with France, then lighting with Piedmont against the Austrians in Lombardy
, and strongly urged on the king the necessity of an alliance with Piedmont and a constitution as the only means whereby the dynasty might be saved. These proposals being rejected, Filangieri resigned office.
In May 1860, Francis at last promulgated the constitution, but it was too late, for Garibaldi was in Sicily and Naples was seething with rebellion. On the advice of Liborio Romano, the new prefect of police, Filangieri was ordered to leave Naples. He went to Marseilles with his wife and subsequently to Florence
, where at the instance of General La Marmora
he undertook to write an account of the Italian army. Although he adhered to the new government he refused to accept any dignity at its hands, and died at his villa of San Giorgio a Cremano near Naples on the 9th of October 1867.
Filangieri was a very distinguished soldier, and a man of great ability; although he changed sides several times he became really attached to the Bourbon dynasty, which he hoped to save by freeing it from its reactionary tendencies and infusing a new spirit into it. His conduct in Sicily was severe and harsh, but he was not without feelings of humanity, and he was an honest man and a good administrator.
His biography has been written by his daughter Teresa Filangieri Fieschi-Ravaschieri, Il Generale Carlo Filangieri (Milan, 1902), an interesting, although somewhat too laudatory volume based on the general's own unpublished memoirs; for the Sicilian expedition see V Finocchiaro, La Révoluzione siciliana del 1848-49 (Catania, 1906, with bibliography), in which Filangieri is highly criticised.
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...
soldier and statesman. He was the son of Gaetano Filangieri
Gaetano Filangieri
Gaetano Filangieri , Italian jurist and philosopher, was born in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, a country near Naples....
, a celebrated philosopher and jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
.
Biography
Born at Cava de' TirreniCava de' Tirreni
Cava de’ Tirreni is a city and comune in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 10 km northwest of the town of Salerno...
, near Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
, at the age of fifteen Filangieri decided on a military career, and having obtained an introduction to Napoleon Bonaparte, then first consul, was admitted to the Military Academy at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1803 he received a commission in an infantry regiment, and took part in the campaign of 1805 under General Davout
Louis Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...
, first in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, and later at Ulm
Battle of Ulm
The Battle of Ulm was a series of minor skirmishes at the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's Ulm Campaign, culminating in the surrender of an entire Austrian army near Ulm in Württemberg....
, Maria Zell and Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
, where he fought with distinction, was wounded several times and promoted.
He returned to Naples as captain on Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's staff to fight the Bourbons and the Austrians in 1806, and subsequently went to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where he followed Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
in his retreat from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. In consequence of having slain a man in a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
he was sent back to Naples; there he served under 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...
with the rank of general, and fought against the Anglo-Sicilian forces in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
and at Messina. On the fall of Napoleon he took part in Murat's campaign against Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
, and later in that against Austria, and was severely wounded at the battle of the Panaro
Battle of the Panaro
The Battle of the Panaro was a victory for King Joachim Murat's Neopolitan forces over a smaller Austrian force under Frederick Bianchi on 3 April 1815 early in the Neapolitan War...
(1815).
On the restoration of the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV (I)
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...
, Filangieri retained his rank and command, but found the army utterly disorganized and impregnated with Carbonari
Carbonari
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...
sm. In the disturbances of 1820 he adhered to the Constitutionalist party, and fought under General 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....
against the Austrians. On the re-establishment of the autocracy he was dismissed from the service, and retired to Calabria where he had inherited the princely title and estates of Satriano.
In 1831 he was recalled by Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand II was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death.-Family:Ferdinand was born in Palermo, the son of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife and first cousin Maria Isabella of Spain.His paternal grandparents were King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Queen Marie...
and entrusted with various military reforms. On the outbreak of the troubles of 1848 Filangieri advised the king to grant the constitution, which he did in February 1848, but when the Sicilians formally seceded from the Neapolitan kingdom Filangieri was given the command of an armed force with which to reduce the island to obedience. On September 3 he landed near Messina, and after very severe fighting captured the city. He then advanced southwards, besieged and took Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, where his troops committed many atrocities, and by May 1849 he had conquered the whole of Sicily, though not without much bloodshed.
He remained in Sicily as governor (the exact Italian title was Luogotenente generale dei reali domini al di là del Faro
Luogotenente
The Italian word luogotenente , plural luogotenenti, is an etymological parallel to lieutenant, deriving from the Latin locum tenens "holding a place", i.e...
, meaning Lieutenant-general of the royal domains beyond the Lighthouse) until 1855, when he retired into private life, as he could not carry out the reforms he desired owing to the hostility of Giovanni Cassisi, the minister for Sicily. On the death of Ferdinand II (May 22, 1859) the new king Francis II
Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Francis II , was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as successive invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia ultimately brought an end to his rule, and marked the first major event of Italian unification...
appointed Filangieri premier and minister of war. He promoted good relations with France, then lighting with Piedmont against the Austrians in Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, and strongly urged on the king the necessity of an alliance with Piedmont and a constitution as the only means whereby the dynasty might be saved. These proposals being rejected, Filangieri resigned office.
In May 1860, Francis at last promulgated the constitution, but it was too late, for Garibaldi was in Sicily and Naples was seething with rebellion. On the advice of Liborio Romano, the new prefect of police, Filangieri was ordered to leave Naples. He went to Marseilles with his wife and subsequently to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, where at the instance of General La Marmora
Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora
Alfonso Ferrero, Cavaliere La Màrmora was an Italian general and statesman. His brother Alessandro La Marmora founded the branch of the Italian army now called the Bersaglieri.-Biography:...
he undertook to write an account of the Italian army. Although he adhered to the new government he refused to accept any dignity at its hands, and died at his villa of San Giorgio a Cremano near Naples on the 9th of October 1867.
Filangieri was a very distinguished soldier, and a man of great ability; although he changed sides several times he became really attached to the Bourbon dynasty, which he hoped to save by freeing it from its reactionary tendencies and infusing a new spirit into it. His conduct in Sicily was severe and harsh, but he was not without feelings of humanity, and he was an honest man and a good administrator.
His biography has been written by his daughter Teresa Filangieri Fieschi-Ravaschieri, Il Generale Carlo Filangieri (Milan, 1902), an interesting, although somewhat too laudatory volume based on the general's own unpublished memoirs; for the Sicilian expedition see V Finocchiaro, La Révoluzione siciliana del 1848-49 (Catania, 1906, with bibliography), in which Filangieri is highly criticised.