Editing Parthenopean Republic

{{Short description|Republic of Naples of 1799}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|it|Repubblica Partenopea}}<br />{{native name|fr|République Parthénopéenne}}
| conventional_long_name = Parthenopean Republic
| common_name            = Parthenopean Republic
| common_languages       = {{ubl|[[Italian language|Italian]]|[[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]]}}
| life_span              = 1799
| era                    = [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
| status                 = [[Sister republic]]
| empire                 = the [[First French Republic]]
| status_text            = [[List of French client states|client state]] of [[French First Republic|France]]
| year_start             = 1799
| year_end               = 1799
| event_start            = [[France|French]] invasion
| date_start             = 21 January
| event_end              = [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicilian]] invasion
| date_end               = 13 June
| p1                     = Kingdom of Naples
| flag_p1                = Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg
| s1                     = Kingdom of Naples
| flag_s1                = Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816).svg
| image_flag             = Flag of the Parthenopaean Republic.svg
| image_flag2            = Flag of Parthenopaean Republic (1799).svg
| national_motto         = {{native name|it|Libertà e Uguaglianza}}
| englishmotto           = Freedom and Equality
| national_anthem        = ''La Nazionale''<br/>(Inno alla Repubblica Partenopea)<br/>"Hymn to the Parthenopean Republic"<br />{{center|[[File:Cimarosa Inno 1799.ogg]]}}
| flag_caption           = {{illm|Flag of Parthenopean|it|Bandiere del Regno di Napoli#Bandiera repubblicana|lt=Flag}}
| image_coat             = Emblem of the Parthenopean Republic.svg
| symbol_type            = {{illm|Emblem of Parthenopean|it|albero della libertà|lt=Emblem}}
| currency               = [[Tornesel]], {{ill|Neapolitan carlino|it|Carlino (moneta)}}
| image_map              = 03-Regno Napoli di qua dal Faro.jpg
| image_map2             = ParthenopR.png
| image_map_caption      = The Kingdom of Naples briefly became a Republic in 1799.
| map_caption2           = Map of Parthenopean Republic
| capital                = [[Naples]]
| government_type        = [[Provisional government|Provisional]] [[Directory (political)|directorial]] [[republic]]
| religion               = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| title_leader           = Director
| leader1                = Carlo Lauberg
| year_leader1           = 1799
| leader2                = {{interlanguage link|Ignazio Ciaia|it}}
| year_leader2           = 1799
| legislature            = [[Legislative Council]]
| footnotes              = <!--- Accepts wikilinks --->
| today                  = [[Italy]]
}}

The '''Parthenopean Republic''' ({{langx|it|Repubblica Partenopea}}, {{langx|fr|République Parthénopéenne}}) or '''Neapolitan Republic''' ({{langx|it|Repubblica Napoletana}}) was a short-lived, semi-autonomous [[republic]] located within the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and supported by the [[French First Republic]]. The republic emerged during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] after King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand IV]] fled before advancing French troops. The republic existed from 21 January to 13 June 1799, collapsing when Ferdinand returned to restore monarchial authority and forcibly subdued republican activities.{{sfn|Davis|2006}}

== Etymology ==

The Parthenopean Republic is named after [[Parthenope (Naples)|Parthenope]], an ancient Greek settlement now part of the city of [[Naples]].

==Origins of the Republic==

On the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] King [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand IV of Naples]] and Queen [[Maria Carolina of Austria|Maria Carolina]] did not at first actively oppose reform; but after the fall of the French monarchy they became violently opposed to it, and in 1793, joined the [[first coalition]] against France, instituting severe persecutions against all who were remotely suspected of French sympathies. [[Republicanism]], however, gained ground, especially among the [[aristocracy]].

In 1796, peace with France was concluded, but in 1798, during [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon's]] absence in [[Egypt]] and after [[Horatio Nelson|Nelson's]] victory at the [[Battle of the Nile]], Maria Carolina induced Ferdinand to go to war with France once more. Nelson himself arrived at [[Naples]] in September 1798, where he was enthusiastically received. The Neapolitan army had 70,000 men hastily summoned under the command of the [[Austria]]n general [[Karl Mack von Leiberich|Karl Mack]]. On 29 November, this army entered Rome,{{sfn|Acton|2009}} which had been evacuated by the French, wishing to restore [[Pope|Papal]] authority. However, after a sudden French counter-attack, his troops were forced to retreat and were eventually routed. A contemporary satirist said of the King's conquest of Rome: "He came, he saw, he fled".<ref>{{cite book|last=Astarita|first=Tommaso|title=Between Salt Water and Holy Water: a History of Southern Italy|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|year=2006|isbn=0-393-32867-8|page=250}}</ref>

The King hurried back to Naples. Although the ''[[Naples Lazzaroni|lazzaroni]]'' (the lowest class of the people) were devoted to the [[Bourbon house|Bourbon dynasty]] and ready to defend it, he embarked on Nelson's ''Vanguard'' and fled with his court to [[Palermo]] in a panic. Prince [[Francesco Pignatelli Strongoli]] took over the city and the fleet was burned.

The wildest confusion prevailed, and the ''lazzaroni'' massacred numbers of persons suspected of republican sympathies, while the nobility and the educated classes, finding themselves abandoned by their King, began to contemplate a [[republic]] under French auspices to avoid [[anarchy (word)|anarchy]]. On 12 January 1799, Pignatelli signed in [[Sparanise]] the surrender to the French general [[Jean Étienne Championnet]]. Pignatelli also fled to Palermo on 16 January 1799.

When the news of the surrender to the French reached Naples and the provinces, the ''lazzaroni'' rebelled. Though ill-armed and ill-disciplined, they resisted the enemy with desperate courage. In the meantime, the [[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobin]] and [[French Revolution|Republican]] parties of Naples surged, and civil war broke out. On 20 January 1799, the Republicans under General Championnet<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Italy |volume=15 |page=44 |first=John Holland |last=Rose}}</ref> conquered the fortress of [[Castel Sant'Elmo]], and the French entered the city the next day. The casualties were 8,000 Neapolitans and 1,000 French.

==Republic==

On 21 or 23<ref name=EB1911/> January 1799, the Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed. The name referred to an ancient [[Greek colony]] ''Parthenope'' on the site of the future city of Naples. The Republic had no real domestic constituency and existed solely due to the power of the French Army. The Republic's leaders were men of culture, high character and birth, such as [[Gennaro Serra]], Prince of [[Cassano Irpino]] but they were doctrinaire and impractical, and they knew very little of the lower classes of their own country. The new government soon found itself in financial difficulties, owing to Championnet's demands for money (he was later relieved for [[graft (politics)|graft]]); it failed to organise an army (and was therefore dependent on French protection) and met with little success in its attempts to "democratise" the provinces.

Meanwhile, the court at Palermo sent Cardinal [[Fabrizio Ruffo]], a wealthy and influential prelate, to [[Calabria]] to organize a counter-revolution. He succeeded beyond expectation with his "Christian army of the Holy Faith" (''[[Esercito Cristiano della Santa Fede]]''). A British squadron approached Naples and occupied the island of [[Procida]], but after a few engagements with the Republican fleet commanded by [[Francesco Caracciolo (naval officer)|Francesco Caracciolo]], an ex-officer in the Bourbon [[navy]], it was recalled to Palermo, as the Franco–Spanish fleet was expected.

Ruffo, supported by Russian and Turkish ships under the command of [[Admiral Ushakov]], now marched on the capital, whence the French, except for a small force under {{ill|Louis-Joseph Mejan|fr}}, withdrew. The scattered Republican detachments were defeated, only Naples and [[Pescara]] holding out.

On 13 June 1799. Ruffo and his troops reached Naples, and after a desperate battle at the [[Ponte della Maddalena, Naples|Ponte della Maddalena]], entered the city. For weeks the Calabresi and ''lazzaroni'' continued to pillage and massacre, and Ruffo was unable, even if willing, to restrain them. However, the Royalists were not masters of the city, for the French in [[Castel Sant'Elmo]] and the Republicans in [[Castel Nuovo]] and [[Castel dell'Ovo]] still held out and bombarded the streets, while the Franco-Spanish fleet might arrive at any moment. Consequently, Ruffo was desperately anxious to come to terms with the Republicans for the evacuation of the castles, in spite of the Queen's orders to make no terms with the rebels. After some negotiation, the parties concluded an armistice and agreed on capitulation (''onorevole capitolazione''), whereby the castles were to be evacuated, the hostages liberated and the garrisons free to remain in Naples unmolested or to sail for [[Toulon]]. The capitulation was signed by Ruffo, and British, Russian and Turkish officers, as well as, for the Republicans, the French commander.{{sfn|North|2018|p=304}}

While the vessels were being prepared for the voyage to Toulon all the hostages in the castles were liberated save four; but on 24 June 1799, Nelson arrived with his fleet, and on hearing of the capitulation he refused to recognise it except insofar as it concerned the French.{{sfn|North|2018|p=304}}
Cardinal Ruffo indignantly declared that once the treaty was signed, not only by himself but by the Russian and Turkish commandants and by the British captain [[Edward Foote]], it must be respected, and on Nelson's refusal, he said that he would not help him to capture the castles. On 26 June 1799, Nelson changed his attitude and authorised Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]], the British minister, to inform the cardinal that he (Nelson) would do nothing to break the armistice; while Captains Bell and Troubridge wrote that they had Nelson's authority to state that the latter would not oppose the embarcation of the Republicans. Although these expressions were equivocal, the Republicans were satisfied and embarked on the vessels prepared for them. However, on 28 June, Nelson received despatches from the court (in reply to his own), in consequence of which he had the vessels brought under the guns of his ships, and many of the Republicans were arrested.{{sfn|North|2018|p=304}} Caracciolo, who had been caught whilst attempting to escape from Naples, was tried by a court-martial of Royalist officers under Nelson's auspices on board the admiral's flagship, condemned to death and hanged at the yard arm. The last jacobin stronghold, [[Pescara]], surrendered on June 30.

==Aftermath==
[[File:Veduta_di_Santa_Lucia_(Largo_di_Palazzo)_e_San_Martino,_Napoli,1799.jpg|thumb|Painting of the Revolution of 1799 with blue-yellow-red tricolours]]
On 10 July 1799, King Ferdinand entered the [[Bay of Naples]] on a Neapolitan frigate, the ''Sirena''. At four o'clock that afternoon, he went aboard the British ''[[HMS Foudroyant (1798)|Foudroyant]]'', which was to be his headquarters for the next four weeks.{{sfn|Acton|2009}}

Of some 8,000 political prisoners, 99 were executed, including Prince [[Gennaro Serra]], who was publicly beheaded, the intellectual [[Francesco Mario Pagano|Mario Pagano]], who had written the republican constitution; the scientist, [[Domenico Cirillo]]; [[Luisa Sanfelice]]; {{ill|Gabriele Manthoné|it}}, the minister of war under the republic; Massa, the defender of Castel dell'Ovo; [[Ettore Carafa]], the defender of [[Pescara]], who had been captured by treachery; and [[Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel]], [[court-poet]] turned revolutionary and editor of ''il Monitore Napoletano'', the newspaper of the republican government. More than 500 other people were imprisoned (222 for life), 288 were [[deported]] and 67 [[exile]]d.{{sfn|Acton|2009}} The subsequent censorship and oppression of all political movement was far more debilitating for Naples.

After news of these events arrived in Britain, [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] statesman [[Charles James Fox]] made a speech in the [[House of Commons of Great Britain|British House of Commons]] on 3 February 1800 criticising what he alleged to be Britain's acquiescence to Ferdinand's repression of Neapolitan republicans.{{sfn|North|2018|p=304}}

==Gallery==

<gallery>
file:Flag of the Parthenopaean Republic.svg|{{FIAV|historical}} The flag of the Parthenopean Republic was the French [[Flag of France|tricolor]] with a yellow stripe in the place of the white one
file:Flag of Parthenopaean Republic (1799).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Variant flag.
file:Flag of the Parthenopean Republic (variant).svg|{{FIAV|historical}} Variant flag with emblem.
</gallery>

==See also==

{{div col}}
* [[Naples Lazzaroni]]
* [[Giuseppe Abbamonte]]
* [[Altamuran Revolution]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Acton |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Acton |title=The Bourbons of Naples (1731–1825) |orig-year=1957 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-571-24901-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Davis |first=John |title=Naples and Napoleon: Southern Italy and the European Revolutions, 1780–1860 |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-820755-7 |url={{GBurl|id=yWuH77qlSWEC}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Gregory |first=Desmond |title=Napoleon's Italy |location=London |publisher=Associated University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-8386-3884-8}}
* {{cite book |last=North |first=Jonathan |title=Nelson at Naples, Revolution and Retribution in 1799 |date=2018 |publisher=Amberley |location=Stroud |isbn=978-1-4456-7937-2}}

{{Client states of the Great French War}}
{{Former monarchies Italian peninsula}}{{Authority control}}
{{coord missing|Italy}}

[[Category:Parthenopean Republic| ]]
[[Category:Client states of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Italian states]]
[[Category:Former republics]]
[[Category:18th century in Naples]]
[[Category:History of Salerno]]
[[Category:Early modern history of Italy]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1799]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1799]]
[[Category:1799 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:1799 disestablishments in Italy]]
[[Category:1799 in Italy]]