History of S. Italy.

Cue (NZERS), Issue 6, 31 August 1944, Page 19

History of S. Italy.

THE purpose of this article —the final of a series —is to give A a brief but accurate survey of Italy from Rome to all the land that lies to the south.

f, PERIOD OF FOREIGN DOMINATION, 1503 TO 1860. SPANISH VICEROYS, 1503 TO 1707. From then on Naples was merely an appendage of Spain. In 1519 Charles V, the last of the Emperors, inherited his vast bequest of most of German and Austrian > Europe and the Lowlands, as well as his heritage in Spain 'which included Sicily and .{Naples, or the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, as it was then called. The lot of Southern Italy was with Spain and its enormous empire. But things were not happy in the vast agglomeration of states. In the north, Luther (1517) was preaching against the Church, to be joined shortly by Henry VIII, of England. Princes were hungry for. the lands that might fall from its spoliation. The reaction took a repressive form. The Inquisition flourished and anybody who had heterodox in religion, politics or science, was persecuted vigorously. Philip 11, of Spain, was further embroiled by the great maritime struggle with England and Holland. He needed money and therefore bled his Italian territorities of their wealth, even to the extent of neglecting them and the country was ruined. « Extreme poverty and famine brought pestilence again and again. , Moslem pirates infested the seas and the coasts. Industry and trade languished, and in less than a century one of the richest countries in Europe was turned into one of the poorest.» ('The Remaking of Italy,’ by Pentab).

Just how great the Arab menace alone was may be judged by their raids on Sicily and Southern Italy in 1534, by the fact that they threatened to close- the Straits of Otranto, and by Suleiman the Great leaving the greatest empire in Europe on his death in 1566. But subtle forces were at work within Spain and her faithful Roman Catholic territorities. Ignatius de Loyola founded the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, which set about rectifying matters in the Church. Active missions were made to hold members to the Faith and to secure converts. Out of this new spirit, a new type of architecture and decoration manifested itself —- the rich, ornate, almost overimpressive style known as Baroque, a vogue, of which will be seen plenty of evidence all through Italy.

Plagues and pestilences were the lot of the people. In .Naples efforts to free themselves from the Spanish yoke were suppressed with frightful violence, only one, led by a fishermonger, Mansaniello, meeting with temporary success. Such was the lot .of Southern Italy under the Spanish Viceroys.

1588 Defeat of the Invincible Armada. 1642 Tasman discovered NZ. THE AUSTRIAN VICEROYS, 1707 TO 1735. The struggles for power in Europe continued and one of them — the War of the Spanish Succession — had most important results, for it eliminated the Spanish predominance in Naples and substituted Austrian influence. Sicily went to Savoy but was later < returned to (Naples. This was a rule by the Austrian Branch of the descendants of Charles V of the Hapsburg family. It was an improvement only by comparison with the Spanish. Even if the ruler’s outlook was paternal, his control was absolute. However, new ideas did flow in from France and throughout the century the effect of Voltaire and the French Encyclopaedists was profound. Enlightened rulers were tempted to try reforms, but the Popes were opposed to such liberalism and the reactionary movement grew strong in Austria. 1707 Union of Scotland and England. THE BOURBONS, 1735 TO 1860 — WITH A FRENCH INTER- - LUDE. In 1735 Austria ceded Naples and Sicily to the Spanish Bourbons who were connected with the French Bourbons, and Charles IV, son of Philip V of Spain, was made ruler of the kingdom. With his capable minister, Bernardo Fanucci, he attempted to reform the finances and taxation of Naples, as well as to restrict the feudal privileges. ■ Under him, .Naples became the musical and intellectual centre of Italy. He encouraged the excavations at Herculaneum, and the appreciation of the temples at Paestum doubtlessly had a profound effect on a new type of architecture and art which had evolved — Neo-Classicism, which proved popular during the 19th century. T , Unfortunately for Southern r^ a j- n 1759 his successor Ferdinand I married an Austrian princess, Maria Carolina, and

came very much under her influence. Through her a British officer, Sir John Acton, was em--ployed to rebuild the Neapolitan army and navy. Ferdinand’s reign is marked by the reactionary movement from Austria. Administrative inertia settled over the land, and the kingdom enjoyed a lethargic peace until he attacked the Republic of Rome — a product of the Napoleonic Wars. Naples, the worst ruled state in Europe, responded to this national movement and was ready to play its part when Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi created modern Italy. Under Championnet, the French Revolutionaries, overran the Kingdom of Naples and, in 1799, proclaimed it the Parthenopian Republic. - The French were temporarily expelled, but in 1806 set up a kingdom that was ruled by Joseph Bonaparte and Murat. Sicily was never conquered and. with its court inclined to England, it served as a good base for British operations — a fact recognised by endowing Nelson with the Dukedom of Bronte. This occupation had a profound, effect on the Italians, for it showed them the advantages of enlightened laws and administration and had awakened a desire to free themselves from foreign, rule. The restoration, in 1815, of Ferdinand, lost for the Italians in a large measure, these benefits, and substituted the foreign domination of Austria which was reactionary to the point of repression. / Liberal movements in ,Naples were quashed by the Austrian Army. Such measures as these could have but one result —to drive the opposing forces underground and into employing . the traditional Italian methods. Secret societies broke out, the most famous being the Carbonari or Charcoal Burners. These political bodies permeated Italy. 177-5 A.D., American War of Independence. 1805 A.D., Battle of Trafalgar. 1769 A.D., Cook rediscovers NZ. 1840 A.D., NZ a British Colony.