The essay focuses on the Calabrian radical group who had a leading role in the 1848 revolution in Naples, as one of the possible key to interpreting the Neapolitan revolution itself. Moving from the assumption that the subversive choice...
moreThe essay focuses on the Calabrian radical group who had a leading role in the 1848 revolution in Naples, as one of the possible key to interpreting the Neapolitan revolution itself. Moving from the assumption that the subversive choice and its specific contents resulted in more complex interactions, the investigation wants to track the social background, the ideological references, the cultural and literary influences of 25 patriots whose political experiences are detectable in the period considered and who would have been protagonist in the 1848 revolution from 1830 (when the patriot Benedetto Musolino began to develop the ideological base of the sect I figliuoli della Giovine Italia) until 1847. The analysis draws upon both edited documents written by the Calabrian patriots and the coeval memorialists, and the primary sources in the Central Museum of Risorgimento, the State Archive of Naples, the Private Archive of Domenico Mauro, the State Archive of Reggio Calabria. This article forms part of a wider research theme on the radical movement and the political mobilization in Naples during the 1848 revolution. My doctoral thesis researches have been conducted on the political demonstrations during the 1848 revolution in Naples. From this investigation it has clearly emerged how much the radical fringe of the liberal faction acquired and increased popular consensus in opposition to the various constitutional governments, as it succeeded in both managing new tools of communication than impressing political influence through demonstrations, newspapers and flyers, and also succeeded in spreading its propaganda among institutions and public spaces such as universities, public administrations, and the National Guard which was already agitated by internal conflicts that became more of political nature during the 1848 revolution. Therefore, to be able to deepen the origins of the 1848 radical propaganda in Naples and the reasons of its success among the different sections of city population, it is necessary to survey the long formation of the militant group that actually drove the actions in the streets during the 1848 riots – a group formed in prevalence by militants of Calabrian origins, coming from the provinces of Cosenza, Catanzaro, and Reggio Calabria. In that respect, I have identified 25 patriots, whose political story is in fact traced in the period 1831-1848, since their crucial actions took part in the cornerstone events of the southern political democratic process: the affiliation to the sect of "The sons of young Italy" founded by the Calabrian republican Benedetto Musolino from Pizzo Calabro; the participation in the insurrection attempts in Calabria, in the years 1837, 1843-44, and 1847; the contribution to the urban demonstrations in the capital city during the 1848 riots; the involvement in the Neapolitan events of May 15; and, finally, the support to the revolutionary committees that were formed in Calabrian cities between May and June of the same 1848. KEY WORDS: Naples 1848, European revolutions of 1848, revolution, Kingdom of two Sicilies, Calabrian radicals, republicanism, collective biography. Il saggio prende in esame il gruppo dei radicali calabresi che durante la rivoluzione del 1848 fu protagonista della mobilitazione a Napoli, come una delle possibili chiavi di interpretazione della rivoluzione stessa. Muovendo dall’assunto che la scelta eversiva e i suoi specifici contenuti furono risultato della complessa interazione di molteplici variabili, lo studio mira a ricostruire il profilo sociale, i riferimenti ideologici e le esperienze politico-culturali e letterarie di 25 militanti dal 1830 (anno in cui il patriota Benedetto Musolino formulava i riferimenti ideologici della setta I figliuoli della Giovine Italia) al 1847. L’analisi attinge sia alla documentazione edita prodotta dagli stessi calabresi e dai memorialisti coevi, sia dai carteggi privati e le fonti di polizia custoditi presso il Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, l’Archivio di Stato di Napoli, L’Archivio privato di Domenico Mauro e l’Archivio di Stato di Reggio Calabria. PAROLE CHIAVE: Parole chiave: Napoli 1848, rivoluzioni europee del 1848, rivoluzione, Regno delle Due Sicilie, radicali calabresi, repubblicanesimo, biografia collettiva.