Garfagnana Revolt

The Garfagnana Revolt occurred in the Garfagnana in late 1796 and early 1797. It was an uprising against the French occupation, provoked by discontent at heavy French levies imposed to pay for their Italian campaign of 1796–1797. A large part of the population also remained loyal to the Este regime and hostile to Jacobinism and the French Revolution. For over a month the insurgents were masters of the area, but when the French forces regained control they did not put up any resistance. However, at Bonaparte's own instigation, the repression after the revolt was particularly harsh.

Context

Since the 15th century the Garfagnana had placed itself under the rule of the House of Este and the Dukes of Modena and Reggio in order to avoid the recurring conflicts between Florence and the Republic of Lucca. On several occasions it spontaneously surrendered to the Estes, a process which concluded at the end of 1451, even if the Estes only formally moved their capital to Modena in 1598. The new rulers rewarded the area (around 450 square kilometres) with a certain autonomy, promoting it to the status of "province"[1] and granting it its own parliament responsible for some local affairs.

The Estes also kept the tax burden reasonable and kept out the Inquisition, leading to relative prosperity and widespread support for the ducal government, so much so that - when Giovanni Fantoni went there in July 1796 to seek support for the new revolutionary cause - he had found very little support among its population of around 24,000.[2]

French levies

Outbreak

Bonaparte orders the revolt put down

French reaction

Trials and executions

Results

References

  1. ^ (in Italian) Boni De Nobili, cit. pp.12-13
  2. ^ Nino Cortese, La Garfagnana Estense durante la domination francese 1796-1799, in Il Risorgimento Italiano, vol. XV, 1922, pp.248-255.

Bibliography (in Italian)

  • Francesco Boni De Nobili, La rivolta antifrancese di Castelnuovo nel 1796, Garfagnana editrice, Castelnuovo G, 2014 ISBN 978-88-97973-164
  • Nino Cortese, La Garfagnana Estense durante la dominazione francese (1796-1799, ne Il Risorgimento italiano, vol.XV e XVI (1923) gennaio-giugno 1922
  • Paolo Notini, Pier Luigi Raggi, Guido Rossi, Dalla sottomissione di Ercole III al governo di Luigi Carlo Farini, in Atti del convegno La Garfagnana dall'arrivo di Napoleone all'unità d'Italia, Aedes muratoriana, Modena, 2004
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