The Carbonari: Hope of Unity

What better secret society for an Italian revolution than the Carbonari!

Providing the main source of opposition to the conservative regimes imposed on Italy by the victorious allies after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the ideals of the Carbonari helped set in motion the eventual unification of Italy in 1861.

Origins

Similar to the Freemasons and Illuminati, the Carbonari shared political aims, anticlerical ideals, and a vision of equality of governance for the people. According to historian R. John Rath, the Carbonari were "popular Freemasonry created by liberal anti-Napoleonic Masons to serve as a vehicle to arouse the educated masses in southern Italy against the French."

As opposition to French imperialism grew during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the Carbonari offered support to foster ideas, operating in scattered cells, using coded language, and recruiting from the nobility, military officers, and even members of the clergy.

Members were separated into two classes, apprentice and master. They communicated through an elaborate system of symbols drawn from nature: water, salt, and linen represented the organization's core values. Initiation ceremonies were run by the Grand Master of each lodge. Everything was coded, secret, and underpinned by one central goal: a free and unified Italy.

The Undelivered Promise

The rule in Italy was fragmented and volatile. The Carbonari, in their pursuit for free and unified Italy, sought to obtain a constitution for the Kingdom of Naples in 1814. The Bourbon King, Ferdinand I, opposed this idea and with the troubles ahead of Napoleon during this time, the Bourbon monarchy rejected the request and the promise of a constitution was abolished.

This defeat only fueled the fire within the Carbonari. The membership exploded. Lodges spread rapidly among those dissatisfied with the post-Napoleonic settlement. The Carbonari continued to fight the oppression of the Bourbon monarchy and Austrian forces. While they led a successful Neapolitan revolution in 1820, ultimately, by 1831 the movement collapsed.

While the Carbonari themselves fell, the spirit of the people carried on to other revolutionary organizations that eventually would carry the torch towards unification in 1861.

Their flame burned out. But the passion for independence and fair governance never went dark.

The Symbol: The Sacred Flame 🔥

The charcoal burners' fire was their central ritual symbol; the transformative power of flame that turns raw wood into something purified and useful. In their ceremonies, the fire represented the burning away of tyranny and the forging of a free nation. To tend the flame was to tend the revolution.

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Fun Facts

• The Carbonari's name translates to "charcoal burners". Their meeting places were called "forests" and members called each other "good cousins"

• Among their members were the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution, and Lord Byron, who apparently couldn't resist joining a secret revolutionary society while writing some of the greatest poetry in the English language

  
  

Continue Reading

• The Carbonari — Britannica

• Carbonari Rebellions — Victorian Web

• Unification of Italy

  
  

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