The Pope Who Would Be King, page 42
There are conflicting accounts of the destruction of the ghetto gates, with many later chroniclers and historians claiming that Ciceruacchio and his Christian compatriots took on the task as the Jews looked on. A contemporaneous observer’s account, however, records that it was the Jews of the ghetto themselves who tore down the gates. Carlo Gilardi a Rosmini, 19 aprile 1848, doc. VIII/4 in Rosmini 1998, pp. 194–85.
9. “Le porte di ghetto in Roma gettate a terra,” BSMC, FS, s.d., but April 18, 1848. Lamartine à Forbin Janson, chargé d’affaires, 1 mai 1848, MAEN, RSS 273. For a history of the demonization of the Jews in Italy in the nineteenth century, see Kertzer 2001.
10. The document is reproduced in Paoli 1880, pp. 375–78. At the same time, the Sardinian ambassador also met with the pope to discuss his upcoming allocution. What was important that the pope could bring to the battle, argued the ambassador, was not so much his material resources as his moral authority. His support could prove decisive. The ambassador was eager not only to get the pope to back the war against the Austrians but also to encourage the Lombards and Venetians to cast their lot with the Sardinian king and not try to go their own way. D. Pareto a L. Pareto, Roma, 24 aprile 1848 and 25 aprile 1848, docs. 50 and 51, DRS, vol. 2, pp. 119–21; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 368–71.
11. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 28 avril 1848, doc. XXII in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 38–39.
12. Martina 1966, p. 547; Pasolini 1887, p. 101; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 371–72. That Antonelli, however, realized that a papal statement opposing the war with Austria would trigger disorders is clear from his remark in a letter he wrote to the nuncio in Paris at the time, warning him that they should expect “a rapid reaction and one not without unfortunate consequences.” Martina 1966, p. 566.
13. I here use the official British foreign ministry English translation of the pope’s allocution. Johnston 1901, pp. 357–61.
14. The quote is from Carlo Cattaneo. Giovagnoli 1894, p. 48.
15. Martina 1966, pp. 558–59.
16. Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 372–73.
17. Leti 1913, p. 36; Spada 1868–69, vol. 1, p. 301.
18. These events are described in detail in a dispatch sent by Cardinal Orioli to the nuncios. ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 95r–98r. See also Ventura 1848, pp. 353–55; Pasolini 1887, pp. 104–5; Gennarelli 1863, pp. xix–xxii; Gabussi 1851–52, vol. 1, pp. 236–39; Koelman 1963, vol. 1, pp. 143–45; Annuario 1847, pp. 46–47. The pope’s allocution came as a blow to King Charles Albert as well. Not only might he now not get reinforcements from the pope’s army, but he had been casting the battle with the Austrians as a holy crusade, blessed by the pope. His ambassador sent a strong note of protest to Cardinal Antonelli: “The presence of [the pope’s] troops on the battlefield and the words full of unequivocal expressions by his chief general Durando…could not give rise to even most remote suspicion on the nature of his frank and loyal intentions as befitting a Regenerator of the Peninsula.” The letter was also signed by Bargagli, the Tuscan ambassador to the Holy See. Pareto e Bargagli al Cardinale Antonelli Segretario di Stato, Roma, 30 aprile 1848, doc. 56 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 128–29.
19. “Our flag is the flag of PIUS IX, and glory and triumph will follow it always,” the guardsmen had proclaimed in a printed address to their families as they had marched northward on April 2. “Pius IX’s blessing has spread over all of Italy….Long live Italy! Long live Pius IX!” “Indirizzo dei Civici partiti da Roma alle loro famiglie,” BSMC, FS.
20. Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 376–77.
21. Pasolini 1887, p. 106; Minghetti 1889, vol. 1, pp. 379–81.
22. “Oh Lord,” concluded the pope’s message, “save your Rome from so many evils; enlighten those who do not want to listen to the voice of your Vicar, bring them all to heed sager advice.” Text in Paoli 1880, pp. 383–85.
23. Spada 1868–69, vol. 2, pp. 297–300; Candeloro 1972, pp. 223–24, 311–12; Brancati 2007.
24. “We appeal to your piety and religion,” wrote the pope, “and exhort you with paternal affection to put a halt to the arms of a war that, without being able to regain the spirits of the Lombards and the Venetians for the Empire, brings with it a disastrous series of calamities.” Text in Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, pp. 120–21. In late May the pope sent a special envoy, Archbishop Carlo Morichini, to Vienna, to communicate his peaceful intentions to the emperor. Card. Orioli a Monsig. Delegato Apostolico, Madrid, Roma, 26 maggio 1848, ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 115r–115v.
25. Text in Paoli 1880, pp. 386–87. “I will be very happy to see a good end to the armed struggle of King Charles Albert, and the enlargement of his territories,” wrote the pope to his confidant, Cardinal Amat, in early May. Still stung by the dramatic shift in the Romans’ feelings for him, he added, “It is false that I condemned Italian nationalism and called the present war unjust. I pronounced not a word nor a judgment on this question, but unfortunately some have claimed to find both the one and the other in my allocution.” Martina 1974, pp. 246–47n.
With the protesters shouting death threats to Cardinal Antonelli, widely suspected of having persuaded the pope to betray the Italian cause, Pius decided he also needed a new secretary of state, his fifth in less than two years. That the man he appointed, a sixty-nine-year-old monk, Antonio Orioli, was not up to the task would be apparent soon enough—he would last only a month. Martina 2004, pp. 192–93.
26. Martina 1974, pp. 248–49.
27. The pope’s audience was with Giuseppe Tabboni. Bianchi 1869, vol. 5, pp. 239–40.
28. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 28 mai 1848, doc. XXVIII in Liedekerke 1949, p. 51.
29. Martina 1974, pp. 247–48.
30. “Notizie della mattina,” Roma 17 maggio 1848, BSMC, FS.
31. Curiously, Pius had a word of advice of his own for the Milanese count. Rather than try to get the Lombards to embrace the Savoyard king in Piedmont, wouldn’t it be better, he asked, for them to find a monarch of their own? “Estratto di una conversazione avuta dal Conte Luigi Litta con Sua Santità nell’udienza del 13 maggio 1848,” doc. 75 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 147–48.
32. Viale Prelà a Orioli, Vienna, 13 maggio 1848, doc. 25 in Lukács 1981, pp. 313–14.
33. Stearns 1974, pp. 102–15.
34. “Proclama di S.M. Il Re Ferdinando II. Napoli 9 Aprile,” BSMC, FS; Francia 2012, pp. 230–31; Di Rienzio 2012, p. 43; Rossi 2001, pp. 32–34; Ward 1970, pp. 186–87.
35. Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, pp. 144–45; Demarco 1947, pp. 77–79; Patuelli 1998, pp. 27–32, 38–39.
36. Datelined Rome, December 2, 1848, letter XXV in Fuller 1856, p. 328; Fuller to Elizabeth Cranch, Rome, 14 May 1848, letter 718 in Fuller 1988, p. 65. The reference to Lot’s wife is from Genesis 19:26. Fuller’s December 2 report was her first from Rome in six months. Having become pregnant as a result of her romance with a Roman man, she had gone into seclusion to escape notice while she prepared to bear her child. Leaving her infant son with a wet nurse shortly after his birth, she returned to Rome and resumed her reporting.
37. “In pronouncing that allocution,” the pope told the Dutch ambassador, “which has now unleashed against me so much passion, I was simply responding to the voice of my conscience. Ah well! If it must come at the cost of my temporal power, let God’s will be done.” Liedekerke à Monsieur le Comte, Rome, 8 mai 1848, doc. XXV in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 42–44.
38. Martina 1966, p. 559. Giuseppe Tabboni’s account of his papal audience is in Bianchi 1869, vol. 5, pp. 239–40.
CHAPTER 6: FENDING OFF DISASTER
1. Mount Edgcumbe 1850, pp. 8–9; Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, p. 203; Johnston 1901, p. 164; Candeloro 1972, p. 205.
2. Soglia a Mons. Brunelli, delegato apostolico, Madrid, Roma, 17 giugno 1848, ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 57r–58r; Panigada 1937, p. 1795.
3. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Baron, Rome, 7 juin 1848, doc. XXX in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 57–58; Candeloro 1972, pp. 312–13; Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, p. 145; Martina 2004, pp. 193–94. “Here,” wrote one deputy from Rome on June 23, “things couldn’t be going worse. The Minister Mamiani is an incompetent nonentity.” Panigada 1937, p. 1795.
4. Ghisalberti 1958, p. 73n; Engel-Janosi 1950, pp. 139–40; Leflon 1963, p. 385n; Liedekerke 1949, pp. 72–73.
5. Harcourt à Bastide, Rome, 28 juin 1848, n. 2, MAEC, CP, Rome, vol. 988, ff. 65r–67r; Agulhon 1983, p. 61; Milza 2004, p. 147; Chantrel 1861, p. 55. The nuncio in Paris offered his own account of the fighting in a letter to the nuncio in Madrid, describing the archbishop as “a true victim of his pastoral zeal, sacrificed to the cannibals’ fury.” ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 55r. It appears that the archbishop was hit by a stray bullet. Collins 1923, pp. 128–31.
6. The letter quoted is by F. Mayr al cugino, 8 luglio 1848, doc. IV in Panigada 1937, p. 1798. Mayr adds, “The Pope is not with us.”
7. To this could be added the description left by Marco Minghetti, then a fellow deputy, and no admirer of the prince: “He had in his face—and also in the intonation of his voice—something of the characteristics of the Bonaparte family….He was fat, ruddy, and showy. He busied himself in and made a great din about everything. He was a man of acute intelligence, highly cultured, indeed a scholar of natural history, lively and facetious in conversation, but his character was ugly, and all the more repugnant the greater were the advantages of his intelligence and his class.”
For attitudes in the Chamber to Charles Napoleon, see Panigada 1937, p. 1796; Zucconi 2011, p. 112; Giovagnoli 1894, pp. 218–19; Bartoccini 1969. Minghetti (1889, vol. 1, pp. 203–4) observed that so great was the prince of Canino’s reputation for lying that telling a great falsehood in Rome came to be referred to as telling a “caninata.”
8. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Baron, Rome, 7 juillet 1848, doc. XXXV in Liedekerke 1949, p. 72.
9. Harcourt à Bastide, Rome, 14 juillet 1848, MAEC, CP, Rome, vol. 988, ff. 73r–74r; Quazza 1952, p. lxxiii.
10. The pope’s quote is from D. Pareto al Ministro L. Pareto, Roma, 17 luglio 1848, doc. 133 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, p. 201. The quotes from the Dutch ambassador are found in Liedekerke 1949, p. 80. These events are also described in Harcourt à Bastide, 18 juillet 1848, MAEC, CP, Rome, vol. 988, ff. 80r–80v; Pasolini 1887, pp. 116–18; Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, pp. 264–70; Candeloro 1972, p. 314. The letter of protest was signed by the secretary of state.
11. Roncalli 1972, p. 303; Ward 1970, pp. 205–8; Mack Smith 1994, p. 62; Francia 2012, pp. 188–89.
12. Chantrel 1861, p. 55; Card. Soglia al nunzio a Madrid, 29 luglio 1848, ASV, ANM, b. 312, ff. 71r–72r. Pásztor (1966, p. 334) cites the copy of this circular sent to the Vienna nuncio.
13. “Unfortunately,” the ambassador added, “the state of despondency in which the pope has now for some time found himself, deepened even further following the latest news, does not permit him to make use of those powerful moral means that he would have in his power, nor does he ever seem to be planning to use them.” D. Pareto al Ministro L. Pareto, Roma, 3 agosto 1848, 7 agosto 1848, docs. 148 and 152 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 217–18, 221; Liedekerke à Monsieur le Baron, 3 août 1848, doc. XLI in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 83–84.
14. Harcourt à Bastide, Rome, 11 août 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
15. Bastide à Harcourt, 18 août 1848, MAEN, RSS 273; D. Pareto al Marchese L. Pareto, Roma, 17 agosto 1848, doc. 164 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 230–31.
16. De Reiset 1903, pp. 167–70; DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, p. lxxvi.
17. Jacob L. Martin to James Buchanan, Rome, 20 August 1848, in Stock 1933, pp. 8–15; Rossi 1954, p. 62.
18. J. C. Hooker to James Buchanan, Rome, 26 [August] 1848, in Stock 1933, pp. 15–16; Marraro 1944, p. 490. Martin was buried in Rome’s Protestant cemetery. For a rich description of the impact of malaria in Rome around the time, see Desmarie 1860, pp. 51–58.
19. Bastide à Harcourt, Paris, 25 août 1848, MAEN, RSS 273.
20. Ministro a Marchese Pareto, 6 agosto 1848, doc. 18 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 18–19; Capograssi 1941, pp. 1–3; Radice 1972, pp. 60–65. The government’s instructions for Rosmini can be found in Rosmini 1998, pp. 12–14. “It would be difficult to say,” observed Luigi Carlo Farini, prominent patriotic member of the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, “which was greater,” Rosmini’s “religiosity, knowledge and intelligence, or his modesty, goodness, and love for Italy.” Farini 1850–53, vol. 2, p. 335.
21. “Most of the cardinals,” observed the Sardinian ambassador of Rossi in Rome in early August, “don’t hide their disapproval of him, and those who as a result of the positions they hold have to meet with him, complain loudly about the ambiguity of the way he works.” D. Pareto al Ministro L. Pareto, Roma, 4 agosto 1848, doc. 150 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, pp. 219–20.
22. Jules Bastide, the French foreign minister, whose response would arrive too late to do any good, called the notion of Rossi’s appointment “so extraordinary, it would be an act so gratuitously offensive to the French Republic and its Government…that I do not understand how the thought could have occurred to the Holy Father.” Harcourt à Bastide, 24 juillet 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Bastide à Harcourt, 3 août 1848, MAEN, RSS 273.
23. “I know how hard the task I have taken on is,” Rossi confided in a letter to a friend at the time. “I know that I will encounter obstacles and impediments even where I should find encouragement and aid. I will do all I can to satisfy my conscience as a man, as a citizen, and as an Italian.” Rossi a Vincenzo Salvagnoli, Roma, 10 settembre 1848, doc. C in Salvagnoli 1859, pp. 123–24.
24. If Harcourt now took a less belligerent attitude to his predecessor, it was because Rossi had been able to change his mind. The pope’s choice, Rossi argued, was a clear sign of his intention to look to France rather than to Austria for support. “The Holy Father,” explained the French ambassador, “has very good intentions, but he is weak and irresolute, and his entourage is in general despicable, which is to say, devoted to the Austrians and retrograde.” One could never be sure that what the pope promised one day he would do the next. Given all this, said Harcourt, France could only benefit by having Rossi appointed. “The greatest danger,” Harcourt concluded, “is that the situation has already become more than he can handle, and drags him down like all the rest.” Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, Rome, 4 septembre 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
25. Liedekerke à Monsieur le Baron, Rome, 15 septembre 1848 and 24 septembre 1848, docs. L and LII in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 102–3, 106–8; Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, Rome, 24 septembre 1848, n. 17, MAEC, CP, Rome, vol. 988, ff. 125r–125v; Cittadini 1989, pp. 134–35.
26. Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, Rome, 4 octobre 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
27. Rosmini al ministro degli affari esteri in Torino, Roma, 4 ottobre 1848, in Paoli 1880, pp. 401–3; Rosmini 1998, pp. 74–77.
28. Citoyen romain 1852, pp. 102–3; Comando generale della Guardia Civica, Roma, 23 ottobre 1848, doc. LVIII in Giovagnoli 1898, pp. 378–79.
29. Ferdinando Lefèvre, capitano a S. E. il Comandante generale della Guardia Civica, 28 ottobre 1848, doc. IX in Giovagnoli 1898, pp. 379–80; C. Terzi, capitano di guardia, rapporto, Guardia Civica, battaglione 5, 28 ottobre 1848, doc. XL in Giovagnoli 1898, pp. 394–95; Giovagnoli 1898, p. 243; Citoyen romain 1852, pp. 103–4.
30. Laras 1973, pp. 515–16. On allowing Jews into the Civic Guard, see ASCER, Co. 48, f2, Rb, 9 sup. 2, f. 3 for June and July 1848. Demarco 1947, pp. 70, 104; Capuzzo 1999, p. 273. A brief attempt to convince the pope to fully emancipate the Jews of his domains, which appears to date from these months, titled “Memoria sulla Emancipazione degli Ebrei negli Stati Pontifici considerata nel punto di vista dell’interesse della Chiesa Cattolica,” is found at ASCER, Co. 48, f2, Rb, 9 sup. 2, p1, f. 11.
31. Stearns 1974, pp. 119–21; Candeloro 1972, pp. 284–85; Roncalli 1972, p. 309; “Lettera di Giuseppe Mazzini, Insurrezione nazionale,” 29 ottobre 1848, BSMC, FS; Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, 4 novembre 1848, MAEN, RSS 409.
32. The quote is from Balleydier 1851, vol. 1, pp. 229–30. The text of the ministerial order establishing the first two telegraph lines in the Papal States, dated 29 settembre 1848, is found in Stato pontificio 1850–51, pp. 256–57. Typical of the hostility Rossi inspired was the reaction of Andrea Bonfigli, a prominent layman then responsible for the papal government in Rieti, north of Rome. Paying a visit to the capital in October, he went to introduce himself to the new minister. Rossi, he recalled in his diary, treated him as if he were a “vassal, with such a tone of arrogance and supremacy that I have myself never treated a prison guard.” His next meeting with Rossi was even more humiliating, as Bonfigli came to see him before leaving Rome. “He made me wait three hours in the antechamber, always standing, he never looked me in the face, and after a few brief questions he dismissed me.” From Bonfigli’s diary, in Cittadini 1989, pp. 134–35.
33. Rossi à Vincent Salvagnoli à Florence, doc. LXXII in Ledermann 1929, pp. 346–47; Trevelyan 1907, pp. 74–75.
34. Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, Rome, 14 octobre 1848, Harcourt au ministre des affaires étrangères, Rome, 4 novembre 1848, MAEN, RSS 409; Pareto a Perrone, Roma, 14 ottobre 1848, doc. 212 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, p. 273; Rossi a Cardinale Amat, Roma, 17 ottobre 1848, doc. LXXV in Ledermann 1929, pp. 349–50; Martina 1974, pp. 280, 287; Trevelyan 1907, pp. 74–75; Rossi 2001, p. 40. The meal is reported by the Sardinian ambassador in Rome, who noted that Rosmini was also invited. Pareto a Perrone, Roma, 14 ottobre 1848, doc. 212 in DRS 1949–51, vol. 2, p. 273.
35. Roncalli 1972, p. 312; Liedekerke à Monsieur le Baron, Rome, 11 novembre 1848, doc. LV in Liedekerke 1949, pp. 112–13; Lancellotti 1862, p. 7; Cittadini 1989, p. 138.
