Editing Charles Felix of Sardinia (section)

== Revolution of 1821 ==
=== Origin ===
Following revolts in [[Cadiz]] in 1820, King [[Ferdinand VII]] of Spain was forced to restore the [[Spanish Constitution of 1812]] and the hope of obtaining similar concessions from their own sovereigns arose in many European states. Insurrections broke out in Naples and Palermo.
[[File:Ritratto di Carlo Felice - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Posthumous portrait by Francesco Marabotti, {{Circa|1851}}]]
The initial indications of the crisis were confirmed on 11 January 1821 when four students were stopped by the police at a theatre performance in Turin because they were wearing red caps with black bows, a symbol of the carboneria. The young men offered resistance and were arrested, provoking a large brawl.{{sfn|Montanelli|1971|p=300}}

The next day, all the students and many of their teachers protested, calling for the release of the youths and, when this was refused, they blockaded themselves in the university and the government was forced to call in the army. Although nobody was killed, the wounded were very numerous and the situation escalated.{{sfn|Montanelli|1971|p=301}}

A connection was made between the protestors and the secret society of the "Federati", whose leaders [[Annibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of Santarosa|Santorre di Rossi]], [[Giacinto Collegno]], Carlo Emanuele Asinari, and Guglielmo Moffa di Lisio Gribaldi (all soldiers, officials, or sons of ministers) and [[Roberto d'Azeglio]] met with Charles Albert on 6 March. They were ready to act, having identified the prince as a new man for the House of Savoy, who might be willing to break with the absolutist past.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|p=63}}</ref>

The goal of the conspirators was not to abolish the House of Savoy, but to induce it to enact political and social reforms and then undertake a war against Austria, which seemed possible in light of the deeply anti-Austrian sentiments of the Victor Emmanuel I.{{sfn|Montanelli|1971|p=302}}

In this, the conspirators took advantage of the absence of Charles Felix, who they thought would have been able to induce Victor Emmanuel to oppose their plans. They planned to raise the army, surround the royal residence at Moncalieri castle and force him to grant a constitution and declare war on Austria. The role of Charles Albert would have been to mediate between the conspirators and the king,<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|pp=65, 76}}</ref> but the following morning, he changed his mind and attempted to escape from the conspirators, although he did not disavow them.

=== Beginning of the revolt ===
The conspirators grew suspicious and prepared to cancel the insurrection which they had planned for the 10th. The same day, Charles Albert, completely penitent, raced to Moncalieri in order to confess everything to Victor Emmanuel and beg for pardon. In the night the garrison of [[Alessandria]], commanded by one of the conspirators, Guglielmo Ansaldi, rebelled and occupied the city. Although they had been abandoned by the Prince, the rest of the revolutionaries decided to act at this point.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|pp=75–79}}</ref>

=== Abdication of Victor Emmanuel and regency of Charles Albert ===
[[File:Bernero - Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia.jpg|thumb|[[Victor Emmanuel I]], who abdicated in favour of Charles Felix after the rebellion of 1821|296x296px]]
On Sunday 11 March 1821, King Victor Emmanuel I met with the Crown Council, of which Charles Albert was a member. As a result of the king's indecision, no action was taken.

On 12 March, the [[Citadel of Turin]] fell into the hands of the rebels. Victor Emmanuel encouraged Charles Albert and [[Cesare Balbo]] to negotiate with the Carbonari, who refused to listen to their messages. Thus, in the evening, in the face of the spreading military uprising, the king abdicated in favour of his brother Charles Felix. Since the latter was in [[Modena]] at the time, Charles Albert was appointed regent.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|pp=85–89, 98}}</ref>

The abdication of the king, which followed the dismissal of the ministers of state, led to chaos because it created a dynastic crisis which foreign powers would not ignore and because it split the army and bureaucracy, preventing every possibility of maintaining order.

The regent tried to take control by naming a new government (the lawyer, Ferdinando del Pozzo (1768-1843) as Minister of the Interior, general Emanuele Pes di Villamarina as minister of war, and Lodovico Sauli d'Igliano as minister of foreign affairs) and attempted to negotiate with the rebels, but he achieved nothing.

Given the impossibility of taking any decisions without the agreement of the new king, Charles Albert sent Charles Felix an account of the events, seeking instructions, but the letter took a very long time to reach its destination.

Fearful of becoming the object of popular anger, on the evening of 13 March 1821, Charles Albert signed a decree granting a constitution along the lines of the Spanish constitution of 1812, which would not become law until approved by the king.<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|pp=91–95}}</ref>

The next day, the regent decided to form a junta, which was to protect the parliament. Two days after that, he swore to observe the Spanish Constitution, in a Savoyard version which had been slightly altered according to the requests of Victor Emmanuel's consort, [[Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Sardinia|Maria Therese]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bertoldi|2000|pp=95–96}}</ref>

===Intervention of Charles Felix ===
At this point, Charles Felix, who had now received the letter from Charles Albert notifying him of his brother's abdication, decided to act. He told the messenger not to address him as "majesty", then asserted that since the abdication had been extracted through violence, it could not be considered valid. Finally, he said, "tell the Prince that, if there is still a drop of our royal blood in his veins, he should set out for [[Novara]] immediately and wait there for my orders."

[[File:Porträt des Karl Felix von Savoyen.png|thumb|left|Portrait of Prince Charles Felix, {{circa|1820}}]]

As for the Spanish constitution, he declared any sovereign acts taken after the abdication of his brother to be null and void, and then he issued the following proclamation, "Far from consenting to any change in the pre-existing form of government with the nominal abdication of the king, our beloved brother, we consider all the royal subjects who have aided or abetted the traitors or who have presumed to proclaim a constitution, to be rebels."

Charles Albert, deeply discouraged, did as Charles Felix commanded, went to Novara, and issued a proclamation renouncing the regency and calling on everyone to submit to Charles Felix. On the 29th, he received a letter from Charles Felix ordering him to depart with his family for Florence.

With Charles Albert out of the way, Charles Felix dispatched several letters to [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I of Austria]], asking him to send troops in order to suppress the revolt.

On 3 April, he issued a second proclamation which granted a pardon to the soldiers while applying strict sanctions to rebel officials, which ultimately, prevented any form of compromise. Chancellor [[Klemens von Metternich|Metternich]] himself said to [[Francis IV of Modena]] that this proclamation had been imprudent and was written "with animosity, passion, and hatred."

The rebels, realising that no other option remained for them, marched on Novara, where the forces loyal to Charles Felix were gathered under the command of [[Vittorio Sallier de La Tour]]. This, inevitably, convinced Metternich to intervene.

On 8 April there was a battle (Noara-Borgo Vercelli) with the troops of de La Tour and then with those of the Austrian general [[Ferdinand, Graf Bubna von Littitz|Ferdinand von Bubna]], who occupied [[Vercelli]] and [[Alessandria]] on 11 April, while de La Tour, who had received full powers from Charles Felix, occupied Turin on the 10th.

On 19 April, despite pressure from the emperors of Russia and Austria, Metternich, Charles Albert, Francis IV, and Charles Felix himself (who hated the idea of receiving the crown "thanks" to rebels), Victor Emmanuel reaffirmed his abdication. Thus, on 25 April, Charles Felix acceded to the throne.

===Suppression===
Once control of Turin was re-established, Charles Felix, who was still in Modena, entered into personal communication with the Emperor of Austria in order to obtain recognition from the [[Congress of Laibach]], which was then in session, that he would be able to assume full control of his possessions, as an absolute monarch, and that Austria would not be allowed to interfere in any way in his territories.

At the subsequent [[Congress of Verona]], Charles Felix feared pressure for constitutional changes and reiterated in his instructions to his ambassadors that the repression of the "revolutionary spirit" inspired by the Congress of Laibach belonged exclusively to him and that he was firmly convinced of the necessity of this obligation.

Having decided to remain at Modena, he appointed [[Ignazio Thaon di Revel]] as Lieutenant General of the Kingdom, and placed G. Piccono della Valle and G.C. Brignole in charge of foreign affairs and financial affairs respectively.

Finally, he began the suppression of opposition. The following extract from the work of [[Guido Astuti]] describes his actions:
{{blockquote|The new king, Charles Felix, let loose a reaction with arbitrary repressive methods, using extraordinary commissions to judge the rebels and establishing political investigators in order to purge the army and the bureaucracy|G. Astuti, ''Gli ordinamenti giuridici degli Stati sabaudi'', p. 544.}}

Finally, the king instituted three different jurisdictions: a mixed civil and military tribunal called the Royal Delegation with penal powers, a military commission for investigating the conduct of officers and non-commissioned officers, and a scrutiny commission for investigating the conduct of every employee of the kingdom.

The Royal Delegation sat from 7 May to early October, in which time it issued 71 death sentences, 5 sentences of life imprisonment, and 20 sentences of imprisonment for 5 to 20 years. After the delegation's dissolution, the senate issued a further 24 death sentences, 5 sentences of life imprisonment, and another 12 sentences of imprisonment for 15–20 years. By the end of October the military commission had dismissed 627 officers.<ref name= "Testedistoria" />

The scrutiny commission, divided into a superior tribunal and seven divisional boards of scrutiny, issued numerous dismissals and suspensions of civil servants and professors of every kind of school, whom it found particularly culpable.<ref name= "Testedistoria" />

On the instructions of the minister of the interior, Roget de Cholex, the University of Turin was closed and many professors received severe admonitions because, as the king wrote in a letter to his brother (9 May 1822): "everyone who has studied at the university is entirely corrupt: the professors are detestable, but there is no way to replace them... Thus the bad are all taught and the good are all ignorant.".<ref>Corrado Vivanti, Età Contemporanea, p. 41.</ref>

In any case, although an oppressive climate was established,{{sfn|Perrero|1889|pp=288–293}} accompanied by the habituation to accusations and the diversity of political ideas, offering a pretext for pursuing private vendettas,<ref>Rosario Romeo, ''Dal Piemonte sabaudo all'Italia liberale''. Torino, Einaudi, 1963, p.33</ref> the royal authority, especially the governor of Genoa, [[Giorgio Des Geneys]], did not prevent people from fleeing. Of all the people who were condemned, only two were executed.{{sfn|Montanelli|1971|p=344}}

Further, it is reported by a letter of the Count d'Agliè that Charles Felix never prevented anyone from secretly passing subsidies to condemned men who had gone into exile and [[Angelo Brofferio]] reports that when the king discovered that one of these subsidies was going to the family of one of the two individuals who had been executed in 1821, the king doubled the sum.{{sfn|Montanelli|1971|p=351}}

The suppression of opposition was terminated on 30 September 1821, when Charles Felix issued a pardon of all individuals who had been implicated in the revolt, excluding the leaders, the financiers and those who had been found guilty of homicide or extortion. A few days later, Charles Felix entered Turin.