Chronology of the Italian Risorgimento
A Timeline
The Italian Risorgimento (literally resurrection) begins with the creation of the Parthenopean Republic in 1799 in Florence. The revolutionary Carbonari, a secret society formed, to help organization revolutions against foreign monarchies in Italy.
The Carbonari
The secret society of the Carbonari was an offshoot of Freemasonry that formed in the late 18th century. The name means charcoal burners and refers to the black charcoal they smeared on their faces during secret rituals.
Napoleon became King of Italy in 1805
Napoleon invaded in Italy as a general in the French Republic in 1796. He established the Kingdom of Italy and joined it to the French Empire in 1805.
(Click on the picture)
Naples and the Revolution of 1799
William Hamilton (1730 – 1803) 1775 by David Allen
British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1764-1800
He was an archeologist and volcanologist. He married Emma Hart (Amy Lyon) who is know as Lady Emma Hamilton. In Naples, she became the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson.
Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) by Lemuel Francis Abbott, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK.
Nelson arrived in Naples during the republican Revolution of 1799 that established the Parthenopean Republic. He facilitated the escape of King Ferdinand and Queen Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies to their court at Palermo, Sicily with Lady Emma and William Hamilton. He became Lady Emma's lover.
Lady Emma Hamilton as a Bacchante (1765-1815) 1790-91 by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
Emma married William Hamilton after being brought to Naples by his nephew, her former lover. She became a close friend of the queen, Maria Carolina, and was know for performing her attitudes in costume; she modeled for numerous portraits by George Romney.
Important Events and Publications
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
Click on the picture above to find out more
Sir William Hamilton, Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, antiquarian and volcanologist
Napoleon I and Italy, 1795-1814
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
Portrait of Louise Stolberg, Countess of Albany and Vittorio Alfieri, 1796 by Xavier Francois Fabre
Click on the picture above to find out more
See Vernon Lee's biography of Louise Stolberg, The Countess of Albany, 1884
Byron and Shelley and the Revolutions of 1821
William Hamilton, Lady Emma Hamilton, Adm. Horatio Nelson in Naples
Byron and Shelley and the Revolutions of 1821
Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley traveled to Italy and wrote important poems about Italy and the Risorgimento. Byron wrote the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Shelley wrote "Ode to Naples"
Click on the picture above to find out more
Teresa Guiccioli, Lord Byron's Life in Italy, written by Byron's mistress (University of Delaware Press, 2005)
Central Museum of the Risorgimento, Rome
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Byron and Shelley and the Revolutions of 1821
Garabali's rebels defeated opposing forces on May 13, 1860 and he proclaimed himself dictator of Italy for King Victor Emmanuel after British forces intervened and an armistice was declared. The subsequent defeat of Naples by Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel assured the plan of Italian unification.
Allegory of Italy ,1861-70
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Caricature of the Post-Risorgimento: Italia Turrita at the centre points out to Enrico Cialdini (on the right) all her enemies around Napoleon III (turned into a tree): from the left, Pope Pius IX, Bourbons, clergy, and brigands. In the background, Garibaldi plows his farm.
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Ferdinand IV and his Family by Angelica Kaufmann
Click on the picture above to find out more about King Ferdinand IV and Queen Maria Carolina of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; Maria Carolina was sister of the French Queen, Marie Antoinette who was guillotined during the French Revolution. Ferdinand defeated the Parthenopean Republic with the help of the British and Adm. Horatio Nelson.