In the first part of the essay the author examines the law on nobility enacted in southern Italy during the French domination by linking it to measures taken by the Bourbon government in the second half of the Eighteenth Century. Two stages have been identified in French law: The first deprives the ancient nobility of the Kingdom of its legal privileges, maintaining only an honorary distinction; the second establishes a new nobility, which gave symbolic and material rewards to those who distinguished themselves for having served the State and the Dynasty. An advisory board -the Consiglio de´ majoraschi- was created and charged with carrying out the bureaucratic procedures provided for the establishment of the majoraschi. These were an essential requirement through which the titles conferred upon the new nobles became hereditary. In the second part, the author does a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the new nobility. The timing and the way in which the new nobility is composed are studied. Furthermore, the relationship between the old and new nobles of the Kingdom of Naples are investigated. The case of southern Italy is viewed in the broader context of Napoleonic Europe, and in particular the similarities and differences between the new nobility of the French Empire and the Kingdom of Italy are underlined.
La nobiltà nel Mezzogiorno d’Italia durante il Decennio francese: tra norme e prassi
PAPAGNA, Elena
2009-01-01
Abstract
In the first part of the essay the author examines the law on nobility enacted in southern Italy during the French domination by linking it to measures taken by the Bourbon government in the second half of the Eighteenth Century. Two stages have been identified in French law: The first deprives the ancient nobility of the Kingdom of its legal privileges, maintaining only an honorary distinction; the second establishes a new nobility, which gave symbolic and material rewards to those who distinguished themselves for having served the State and the Dynasty. An advisory board -the Consiglio de´ majoraschi- was created and charged with carrying out the bureaucratic procedures provided for the establishment of the majoraschi. These were an essential requirement through which the titles conferred upon the new nobles became hereditary. In the second part, the author does a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the new nobility. The timing and the way in which the new nobility is composed are studied. Furthermore, the relationship between the old and new nobles of the Kingdom of Naples are investigated. The case of southern Italy is viewed in the broader context of Napoleonic Europe, and in particular the similarities and differences between the new nobility of the French Empire and the Kingdom of Italy are underlined.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
