The Pope Who Would Be King, page 41
25. Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, p. 219.
26. “Rome, Naples, and Sicily,” TL, September 17, 1849.
27. See Coppa’s (1990) biography of Antonelli, as well as Pirri (1958, p. 81); Martina (2004, pp. 194–96); Falconi (1983, p. 144); Aubert (1961, p. 2); and Hales (1962, pp. 157–58). The cigarette anecdote is given by Ward (1970, p. 98). It may well be apocryphal, but it is revealing of popular perceptions nonetheless. The bird of prey quote is from Adolph Mundt (Negro 1966, p. 161). Coppa (1990, p. 20) provides the information on the payment required for entering the prelature.
28. Mr. Petre to Sir George Hamilton, Rome, November 17, 1847, BFSP, vol. 36 (1861), pp. 1347–49; Minto to Palmerston, Rome, 18 November 1847, doc. 112 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 205–6; Florence Nightingale to W. E. Nightingale, Rome, November 16, 1847, letter X in Keele 1981, pp. 46–51; Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 18 novembre 1847, in Ideville 1887, pp. 172–75; Coppa 1990, p. 42; Francia 2012, pp. 62–63; Chantrel 1861, p. 33. Rossi’s report on the day to Guizot, dated November 18, 1847, is reproduced in Guizot 1872, pp. 389–92.
29. The pope, Rossi told the new secretary of state, showed great naïveté in telling the new body of laymen that they would have only consultative power: “It is too little. It might have been possible a year ago…when hopes were modest, and the rest of Italy had still not awakened. Today is something else. The time for illusions is over….The radicals are knocking on your door. You must stand up to them. You clergy cannot do it alone. You have to have the help of the laity.” He added, “It is now more than a year that I have said the same thing and I repeat: if you do not strengthen yourselves by calling laymen to positions that have nothing to do with religious or Church matters, everything will become impossible for you and all will become possible for the radicals. You will throw the Consultative Council into their arms.” Chantrel 1861, pp. 33–34; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 295–96.
30. Gabussi 1851–52, vol. 1, p. 57; Roncalli 1972, p. 93; Farini 1850–53, vol. 1, p. 279; Spada 1868–69, vol. 1, pp. 286–97.
31. Fuller, Rome, October 18, 1847, and December 17, 1847, letters XVII and XIX in Fuller 1856, pp. 242, 263–64.
32. Minto diary entry for December 19, 1847, in Curato 1970, vol. 2, pp. 242–48; Minto to Palmerston, Rome, 31 December 1847, doc. 160 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 282–86. Giacomo Martina (1974, p. 183), Pius IX’s great biographer, and himself a Jesuit, offers a different view of the pope’s attitude toward the Jesuits, arguing that he was in fact not well disposed to the order.
33. These tensions were now playing out in the new council. Members wanted their debates to be published, a measure the pope rejected. “I am convinced,” wrote Massimo d’Azeglio, council member from Bologna, in a letter barely a month after its first meeting, “and it hurts me terribly to have to say so, that Pius IX’s magic will not last. He is an angel, but he has to deal with demons who are too cunning. His state is disorganized, with many parts corrupt, and he will not be able to overcome the obstacles he faces.” Candeloro 1972, pp. 110–11. For an analysis of the pope’s plight at the time, see also Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 18 décembre 1847, n. 61, MAEN, RSS 409.
34. Metternich à Ficquelmont, à Milan, Vienne, 9 décembre 1847, in Metternich 1883, pp. 442–44; Coppa 2003, p. 675.
CHAPTER 4: PAPAL MAGIC
1. Minto to Palmerston, Rome, January 13, 1848, doc. 168 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 296–97; Minto diary entry, 8 January 1848, Curato 1970, vol. 2, pp. 290–92; “I primi due giorni del 1848 in Roma,” 1 e 2 gennaio 1848, BSMC, FS; De Cesare 1907, pp. 23–24.
2. Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 8 janvier 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Minto to Palmerston, Rome, 13 January 1848, doc. 168 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 296–98.
3. De Broglie 1938, pp. 176–77. Not all had the same impression of the procession as De Broglie. According to Margaret Fuller’s account, Pius “passed through the principal parts of the city, the people throwing themselves on their knees and crying out ‘Oh Holy Father, don’t desert us; don’t forget us, don’t listen to our enemies.’…The Pope wept often and replied, ‘Fear nothing, my people, my heart is yours.’ ” She concluded, “For the moment the difficulties are healed, as they long will be whenever the Pope directly shows himself to the people. Then his generous affectionate heart will always act and act on them, dissipating the clouds which others have been toiling to darken.” “The Pope and His People,” Rome, New Year’s Eve of 1847, dispatch 21, in Fuller 1991, p. 188. Worried about the rumors that were quickly spreading, the secretary of state sent a letter on January 4 to his nuncios. The pope, the secretary explained, had decided to prevent the usual New Year’s Day gathering partly because of the bad weather that had been plaguing Rome, and partly because the pope had been suffering from a bad cold. In explaining the subsequent papal procession, while admitting that some “hateful shouts” were heard along the way, he informed the nuncio that there had been no disturbance. On the contrary, he concluded, the people showed themselves as affectionate as ever to the pope. ASV, ANV, b. 329, ff. 2r–3r; ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 28r–29v.
4. Minto to Palmerston, Rome, 13 January 1848, doc. 168 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 296–98; Minto to Palmerston, Rome, 16 January 1848, doc. 178 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, pp. 309–10.
5. Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 8 janvier 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Curato 1970, vol. 1, p. 298; Martina 1974, p. 203; Viaene 2001, p. 475; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, p. 327.
6. Francia 2012, pp. 99–105; Ward 1970, pp. 122–23; Arcuno 1933, pp. 50–51; Scirocco 1996.
7. Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 18 janvier 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 28 janvier 1848, MAEN, RSS 409. Bofondi had a background in law and spent time in administration in the northern provinces of the Papal States, but he had no experience in central government or foreign affairs, and spoke no language other than Italian. Martina 2004, pp. 191–92; Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 29 janvier 1848, doc. VII in Liedekerke 1949, p. 9.
8. Fuller 1856, pp. 296, 300.
9. Francia 2012, pp. 108–9; Candeloro 1972, pp. 130–31; Quazza 1952, pp. xi–xxii; Martina 1974, pp. 197–98.
10. Ward 1970, p. 124; Martina 1974, p. 229. Insight into Metternich’s view of the granting of the Naples constitution can be seen in the lengthy report that the French ambassador to Vienna sent to Guizot on his conversations with the Austrian chancellor, a copy of which Guizot sent to Rossi in Rome. Ambassade de France à Vienne, à Guizot, Vienne, 5 février 1848, MAEN, RSS 273.
11. Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 8 février 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
12. Rossi à Guizot, Rome, 11 février 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Viaene 2001, p. 476.
13. A copy of “Pius Papa IX. Proclama rivolto ai romani” is found in BSMC, FS.
14. Rossi à M. le Président du Conseil, Rome, 14 février 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Saint-Albin 1870, p. 41; Farini 1850–53, vol. 1, pp. 340–43. Pius spoke, recalled Florence Nightingale, who stood in the crowd below, “with that voice which no one who has heard it can ever forget, it has a fervor of love and truth in it.” Florence Nightingale to Miss Nightingale, Embley, Rome, February 12, 1848, letter XLV in Keele 1981, pp. 234–39. Two days later the pope replaced three of the prelates who served as government ministers with laymen. Demonstrators greeted the news with renewed celebration. This time, along with many white-and-yellow papal flags, the tricolored Italian flag led the way as, an hour before sunset, the people flooded into the square facing the pope’s quarters. Long processions of soldiers, students, priests, women, and musical bands converged, with Ciceruacchio leading his own group of followers into the piazza. When the pope came out to bless the multitudes, shouts of “Viva Pio Nono!” were mixed with shouts of “Constitution!” and, in a tribute to the exiled, charismatic prophet of republicanism and Italian independence, “Viva Mazzini!” Pasolini 1887, pp. 77–79; Radice 1972, p. 26.
15. In his letter to Minto, the prime minister added, “But whether the Pope will be as wise as we are I much doubt. He surely might reserve his ecclesiastical and spiritual power, and yet have a constitution for his temporal government.” Russell, prime minister, to Minto, Downing Street, 12 February 1848; Palmerston to Minto, Foreign Office, 12 February 1848; Minto to Russell, Naples, 15 February 1848, docs. 250, 251, and 258 in Curato 1970, vol. 2, pp. 30–31, 43; Rossi à M. le Président du Conseil, Rome, 17 février 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
16. The pope, observed the Dutch ambassador, was a good man, his intentions pure. But, he added, the ability to govern was “entirely lacking in him.” Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 12 février 1848, doc. XI in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 13–15; Liedekerke 1949, pp. ix–xii.
17. Pasolini 1887, p. 83.
18. News of the French king’s flight and the proclamation of a French republic arrived in Rome in early March. Initial shock was followed by an outpouring of joy. Rossi got official word that he was to report to a new foreign minister, the poet and diplomat Alphonse de Lamartine. “Monsieur,” wrote the new minister, “you know of the events of Paris, the people’s victory, their heroism…France is Republican.” Lamartine à Rossi, Paris, 4 mars 1848, Choffat 2008, p. 95.
19. The French assistant to the ambassador, Albert de Broglie (1938, pp. 189–90), interpreted this as another example of the pope’s naïveté. Pius IX may also have been encouraged by the positive attitude of the French clergy to the new regime; Collins 1923, pp. 48–53. For Palmerston’s comments, see Palmerston to Minto, 24 February 1848, doc. 276 in Curato 1970, vol. 2, p. 76.
20. Nunzio Viale, Vienna, a Antonelli, Roma, 12 marzo 1848, 14 marzo 1848, and 18 marzo 1848, docs. 11, 12, and 16 in Lukács 1981, pp. 233–35, 235–237, and 242–44; Stearns 1974, pp. 95–98.
21. Pareto al Conte di S. Marzano, Roma, 10 marzo 1848, doc. 8 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 78–80. Antonelli was also someone who at the time seemed to have the people’s favor, for on the proclamation the people had presented the pope the previous month, they had placed Antonelli’s name alongside those of the laymen they had called on the pope to appoint to his government. Antonelli’s popularity would not last long.
22. Liedekerke au Comte, Rome, 18 mars 1848, doc. XVI in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 21–24. On March 29, Margaret Fuller lamented Rome’s weather that winter: “rain was constant, commonly falling in torrents from the 16th of December to the 19th of March. Nothing could surpass the dirt, the gloom, the desolation, of Rome. Immense mistake to come to Rome in winter. Glorious sun finally returned.” Letter XXIII in Fuller 1856, p. 303.
23. Candeloro 1972, pp. 174–76; Farini 1850–53, vol. 1, pp. 351–66. The text of the papal warning is given in Spada 1868–69, vol. 2, pp. 118–20.
24. Candeloro 1972, pp. 161–76; Ward 1970, pp. 166–73; Johnston 1901, pp. 115–17; Francia 2012, pp. 134–35.
25. Herzen 1996, pp. 114–15; DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 88–90; Fuller, March 29, 1848, Rome, letter XXIII in Fuller 1856, p. 306.
26. Cardinale Antonelli, “Circolare. Dalle stanze del Quirinale, 22 marzo 1848, a S.E. il Sig. Ministro Plenipot. di S.M. Sarda,” DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, p. 91; Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 24 mars 1849, doc. XVII in Liedekerke 1949, p. 24.
27. Palmerston to Minto, 29 October 1847, doc. 64 in Curato 1970, vol. 1, p. 128; Stroud 2000, p. 165; Giovagnoli 1894, pp. 28–29; Vecchi 1851, pp. 20–23.
28. Candeloro 1972, pp. 180–82, 204. The reference to Italy creating itself was added in part to discourage the Milanesi from turning to the new French Republic for help rather than to him.
29. Francia 2012, p. 144.
30. Ordini del Ministro delle Armi, 23 marzo 1848, doc. XI in Ovidi 1903, p. 307; Demarco 1947, pp. 62–63; Hales 1962, pp. 78–79. Domenico Pareto a Lorenzo Pareto, Roma, 24 marzo 1848, doc. 25 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 92–93; Agresti 1904, p. 29; Spada 1868–69, vol. 2, pp. 151–53. The text of the Inno a Pio Nono is found in the unpublished manuscript of Antonio Bonelli, Privato giornaletto d’un Legionario Romano nella campagna del Veneto della Militare Divisione Pontificia, MCRR, “Archivio Michelangelo Pinto,” b. 887, f. 33.
31. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 24 mars 1849, doc. XVII in Liedekerke 1949, p. 28; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, p. 362; Martina 1966, pp. 552–53. The pope’s secret instructions were dated March 25.
32. Spada 1868–69, vol. 2, pp. 141–42.
33. “Il Governo provvisorio di Milano alla santità di Papa Pio IX,” Milano, 25 marzo 1848, BSMC, FS.
34. Candeloro 1972, pp. 208–10; Martina 1974, p. 152.
35. Martina 1974, p. 183.
36. Boero 1850, pp. 82–83; Rocca 2011, pp. 75–78; Candeloro 1972, pp. 138, 211; Demarco 1947, p. 70; Martina 1974, p. 220; Engel-Janosi 1952, p. 18. The pope had a notice printed in the official government gazette on March 30 whose language offers insight into his bitterness at being forced to drive the Jesuits—described as “tireless collaborators in the Lord’s vineyards”—from Rome. Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, pp. 16–17. But at his December 8, 1846, meeting with Pellegrino Rossi, Pius, in justifying the moves he would be making against the Jesuits, explained, “Public opinion is a fact; one must accept it.” Engel-Janosi 1952, p. 8.
CHAPTER 5: THE TIDE TURNS
1. “Ordine del Giorno al Corpo d’Operazione,” Durando, Bologna, 5 aprile 1848, BSMC, FS. The rather literary language of the general’s orders may be attributed to the fact that they were drafted by Massimo d’Azeglio. Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, p. 364. That the men under Durando viewed their venture in the same way is evident from a statement put out by the Civic Guard units, whose address to their families was plastered across the walls of Rome in early April: “Parents, wives, brothers! Have no fear….Our flag is the flag of PIO IX, and glory and victory will always follow it….If the hated enemy dares to confront us…One shout alone will come from our lips: Viva Pio Nono!” It concluded: “Viva l’Italia, viva Pio IX, long live a Free Lombardy!” “Indirizzo dei Civici partiti da Roma alle loro famiglie,” da Fuligno, 2 aprile 1848, BSMC, FS; Zeller 1879, pp. 73–74; Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, p. 57; Ward 1970, p. 119; Demarco 1947, pp. 62–63.
2. Antonelli a Viale Prelà, Roma, 4 aprile 1848, doc. 1 in Martina 1967a, p. 42.
3. Viale a Antonelli, Vienna, 4 aprile 1848, and 5 aprile 1848, docs. 19 and 21 in Lukács 1981, pp. 250–52, 253–54; Giovagnoli 1894, p. 514.
4. Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 366–67. On the same day as the pope’s statement appeared in the Official Gazette, Durando issued new marching orders. His men were to go into battle on the pope’s behalf: “Soldiers! I remain certain that on this occasion, as always, you will show yourselves worthy of the name of soldiers of PIUS IX, and of the holy cause of Italian independence.” Candeloro 1972, pp. 216–17; “Ordine del Giorno del General Durando,” Bologna, 10 aprile 1848, BSMC, FS.
“Here we have our dear Pope,” remarked the Austrian ambassador to Paris, “who is a real Anti-Christ. He will also receive his due…he will lose everything in the war waged against us in Italy.” Count Rudolf Apponyi, Paris, April 13, 1848, in Lukács 1981, p. 50. While news of the spreading anger in Austria nagged at the pope, he was also bombarded with requests from Piedmontese moderates to more explicitly take their side. The alternative to having the Piedmontese and the pope drive the Austrians from Lombardy, they argued, was allowing the radical movement—the republicans who would overthrow all of Italy’s monarchs and ruling families—to have the field to itself. An April 11 letter from the Sardinian foreign minister to his ambassador in Rome complains of the “inaction” of Durando’s troops. Doc. 5 in DRS, vol. 2, p. 7. See also the ambassador’s account of his attempts to convince the pope in his April 15 letter, doc. 6, pp. 7–8. King 1911, p. 116.
5. Bargagli, 20 aprile 1848, in Martina 1966, pp. 543–45.
6. “Interrogativi proposti alla Commissione Cardinalizia, sulle ragioni pro e contro l’intervento pontificio,” s.d., doc. III in Martina 1966, pp. 563–65; see also pp. 541–42. The pope had much on his mind at the time, for not only did he face momentous questions of war and peace, but it was the start of Holy Week. It would be a week dense with rituals at which he was at the center, from the blessing of the palms at St. Peter’s to the conducting of several masses and solemn processions, to the rite of the washing of the feet of twelve men, recalling Jesus’s washing of the feet of his twelve apostles.
A less than sympathetic account of these Holy Week ceremonies is given by the American artist William Story, who recounted his experience in Rome in a letter to James Lowell. “I have seen the Pope wash the feet of twelve fellows in white foolscaps, and at peril of my life have obtained over the heads of a garlic-smelling, fetid crowd a sight of the same august person serving at the apostles’ table twelve fat fellows who eat away like mad….It was with difficulty that the Pope himself could keep his countenance while he was performing this solemn farce.” Story to J. R. Lowell, Rome, April 28, 1848, in James 1903, pp. 99–100.
7. It is notable that the minister who refused the Jews’ request was the prominent liberal Luigi Carlo Farini, future Italian prime minister.
8. The request of the secretary of the Jewish community of Rome to publish King Charles Albert’s emancipation decree was sent by Salvatore Betti to Farini on April 9, 1848. Betti, who had been one of the official Papal States censors of the press the previous year, was a liberal and had been a member of the Consultative Council. He urged Farini to approve publication, arguing that “the absolute civil emancipation of all religious dissidents among us is a great act of justice.” Betti a Farini, Roma, 9 aprile 1848, doc. LXXV in Giovagnoli 1894, p. 514. On Betti, see Giovagnoli 1894, pp. 154, 229, 366n3.
