Prisoner of the Vatican (53 page)

9. The text of the proclamation was published in
L'Osservatore Romano,
13 settembre 1870, p. 1.

10. Stock 1945, pp. 354–56, D. M. Armstrong to Hamilton Fish United States consulate, Rome, 23 September 1870.

11. Tivaroni 1897, pp. 251–53; Cadorna 1889, p. 56; Halperin 1939, p. 60. Bixio died three years later, having left the navy to seek his fortune as captain of a commercial vessel. He contracted cholera while bound for southeast Asia.

12. "Cronaca cittadina,"
L'Osservatore Romano,
17 ottobre 1870, p. 2 (this was the first issue of the paper after the taking of Rome).

13. Quoted from the
Tribuno,
in Bartoccini 1985, p. 418.

14. Martina 1990a, pp. 243–45; Pirri 1951, n. 116, Dal Processo Romano di beatificazione di Pio IX; Cadorna 1889, pp. 191–202.

5.
The Leonine City

1. Martina 1972, p. 99.

2. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 41, II Ministro a Vienna, Minghetti, a Lord Acton, Vienna, 23 settembre 1870.

3. Cadorna 1889, pp. 216–18.

4. Lanza 1938, n. 2022, Lanza a Cadorna, 22 settembre 1870.

5. Talamo 1979, p. 2–12; Gallon 1971, p. 87.

6. Idem.

7. Cadorna 1889, p. 158, Lanza to Cadorna, 1 ottobre 1870. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 153, Blanc to Visconti, 2 ottobre 1870.

8. Cadorna 1889, pp. 266–69. In all of the Roman territories that day, about 80 percent of those registered voted. Unlike the electoral system in place for parliament, in the plebiscites the rules specified that all adults had the right to vote, regardless of their literacy or wealth. It was regarded as so obvious that women were excluded from this right that no mention was made of it in the regulations (Pavone 1957, pp. 336–44).

9.
Civiltà Cattolica,
1871,1, pp. 220–21.

10. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 158, Blanc to Visconti, 2 ottobre 1870.

11. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 207, Blanc to Visconti, 7 ottobre 1870.

12. ASV, SS, EM, a.1870, r.165, fasc.2, f. 71V.

13. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 251, Blanc to Visconti, 12 ottobre 1870.

14. Pavone 1958, pp. 346–48. See also Visconti's letter to Minghetti, then Italian ambassador in Vienna; DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 164,3 ottobre 1870. La Marmora's reputation was not helped by his having been been the general in charge of the Italian forces at the biggest military debacle of the Risorgimento, the battle of Custoza (Tivaroni 1897,302.).

15. Lanza 1938, n. 2072, Lanza a La Marmora, 13 ottobre 1870.

16. Lanza 1938, n. 2095, La Marmora a Lanza, 19 ottobre 1870.

17. Sella quoted in Fiorentino 1996, p. 45. See also Quazza 1999, v. 3, p. 230. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 371, Visconti al fratello Giovanni, 25 ottobre 1870.

18. Gregorovius 1907, pp. 388, 390; diary entries for October 30 and November 27, 1870.

19. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 4, ff. 17v–r.

20. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 4, f. 73V.

21. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 2, ff. 56v–57r.

22. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 2, ff. 69v–r, 1 ottobre 1870. The pope's complaint about his lack of freedom to use the mails and telegraph prompted the Italian foreign minister to send a circular to all his ambassadors on October 11. Nothing could be further from the truth, Visconti argued; the Vatican had been allowed unfettered access to post and wire service. Antonelli had turned down the government's offer to establish a separate Vatican post and telegraph service, with direct access to the foreign postal services guaranteed, an offer that Visconti reiterated. (DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 237, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, ai Rappresentanti Diplomatici all'Estero, 11 ottobre 1870.)

To give the Italian ambassadors more ammunition in lobbying foreign governments, the following week Visconti sent them a new circular, arguing that the pope's continued exercise of temporal power, which he described as "the last debris remaining of the institutions of the Middle Ages," had no place in the modern world. "Political sovereignty that does not rest on popular consent," wrote Visconti, "can no longer exist." (DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 282, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, ai Rappresentanti Diplomatici all'Estero, 18 ottobre 1870.)

23. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 321, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, ai Rappresentanti Diplomatici all'Estero, 22 ottobre 1870.

24. Quoted in
L'Osservatore Romano,
19 ottobre 1870, p. 1. The meeting was held on October 11.

25. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 4, ff. 50 V–53V. The nuncio's report is dated 20 ottobre 1870, and the archbishop's letter to the Prussian king dated 7 ottobre 1870.

26. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 3, ff. 35v–r.

27. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 3, ff. 38V- 391-, 31 ottobre 1870.

28. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 1, 103v–10ór, nov–112r, Tours, 27 ottobre 1870.

29. "Ultime notizie,"
L'Osservatore Romano,
25 ottobre 1870, p. 3; "Rivista dei giornali,"
L'Osservatore Romano,
26 ottobre 1870, p. 2.

30. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 1, ff. 130v–135r, Tours, 10 novembre 1870.

31. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 1, ff. 139v–143r, 12 novembre 1870.

32. The nuncio's telegram (ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 2, f. 156V, 17 novembre 1870) reporting this conversation was followed by a longer report (ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 2, ff. 163V–164V, 18 novembre 1870).

33. ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 4, ff. nv–112r, 19 novembre 1870.

6. The Reluctant King

1. My description in these opening paragraphs is based largely on Dalla Torre 1972 and Mack Smith 1989. The Venetian appearance is described by Grimaldi 1970, p. 111.

2. Mazzonis 2003, pp. 111–18,146.

3. Mack Smith 1989, p. 23.

4. Quoted in Mack Smith 1989, pp. 42–43.

5. Quoted in Mack Smith 1989, p. 7.

6. Chabod 1997, pp. 199–203.

7. Negro 1977, p. 10; Bartoccini 1985, p. 416; Russo 1989, p. 25.

8. Quoted in Halperin 1939, p. 136.

9. Typical was the experience of Italy 's ambassador to Bavaria. On September 29, the Bavarian foreign minister advised him that, if the pope was not to flee Rome, it was advisable for Italy not to rush into moving its capital. "Italy has already taken Rome, national sentiment has been satisfied," the Bavarian foreign minister said. "It should view the moving of the capital as a secondary question." Cadorna 1889, pp. 366–67.

10. DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 338, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, al Ministro a Vienna, Minghetti, 23 ottobre [1870].

11. Lanza 1938, n. 2110, Lanza a La Marmora, 27 ottobre 1870.

12. Lanza 1938, n. 2117, Lanza a La Marmora, 31 ottobre 1870.

13. Lanza 1938, n. 2119, La Marmora a Lanza, 2 novembre 1870.

14. Lanza 1938, n. 2121, La Marmora a Lanza, 5 novembre 1870.

15. Pelczar 1911, vol. 3, p. 4.

16. Ghisalberti 1978, pp. 180–82.

17. Pesce 1970, pp. 279–90.

18. Quoted in Fiorentino 1996, p. 111. Also see Gregorovius's entry for December 31: Gregorovius 1907, p. 393.

19. Curiously, before learning of the king's plan, Pius IX had himself told a group of his advisers: "If I were King Victor Emmanuel, I would choose this occasion to come to Rome, because it would give me a plausible humanitarian pretext and so I could avoid political demonstrations, compromises, and unpleasantness" (Ghisalberti 1978, pp. 188–89).

20. Ballerini, Raffaele "Le due capitali in Roma: L'8 dicembre 1881,"
Civiltà Cattolica
1881, IV, p. 651.

21. Dalla Torre 1972, pp. 161–62; Ghisalberti 1978, pp. 192–94.

22. Rothan 1885, vol. 2, entry dated 6 janvier 1871, pp. 178–79; Pelczar 1911, vol. 3, p. 8.

23. Quoted in Halperin 1939, p. 145.

24. Visconti himself, the envoy reported, "recognized that the very existence of Italy would be compromised if, by the force of events, following the complete transfer, they had to abandon Rome."

25. Correspondence found in Rothan 1885, pp. 388–98.

26. DDI, series 2, vol. 2, n. 484, Il Ministro a Vienna, Minghetti, al Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, 5 giugno 1871.

27. Gregorovius 1907, pp. 404–5.

28. Halperin 1939, p. 208; Mazzonis 2003, pp. 147–48.

29. Martina 2000, p. 1064; Bartoccini 1985, p. 482.

7. Pius IX in Exile Again?

1. In Halperin 1939, pp. 101–2.

2. Chadwick 1998, p. 366, discusses this point. Much of the concern of the high French clergy, and French government, about a rapprochement between the Vatican and the Italian state stemmed from this fear. In a January 1871 letter, for example, Charles Lavigerie, the archbishop of Algiers, wrote to a colleague: "The pope will not leave Rome. This is a great misfortune, because it is already leading to compromises, which will end up wounding ... many Catholics." He warned, "What is certain is that Italy is openly showing its intention of employing the central government of the Church as an extension of its influence in the world." Here the cardinal mentioned in particular a presumed Italian plan to use the Catholic missions in the Orient to replace France's influence there. Four years later, Lavigerie—who went on to become an influential cardinal—was still fearful, as can be seen in a letter he wrote to the French minister of Cults: "The head of the Church, deprived of his temporal power and political independence that his sovereignty assured him, is, from now on, in effect, in the hands of the Italian government" (Aubert 1972, pp. 25–26).

3. The text of the law of guarantees is found in AAEESS, Italia, pos. 973–74, fasc. 319, ff. 19r–21r.

4. DDI, series 2, vol. 2, n. 444, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, ai Rappresentanti Diplomatici all'Estero, 20 maggio 1871.

5. English translation taken from
www.papalencyclicals.net
. The Italian version is published in
Civiltà Cattolica,
1871, II, pp. 719–29, Ministro degli Esteri Visconti Venosta al Ministro a Berlino, de Launay, 7 marzo 1871.

6. DDI series 2, vol. 2, n. 230, Il Ministro degli Esteri, Visconti Venosta, al Ministro a Berlino, de Launay, Firenze, 7 marzo 1871.

7. Martina 2003, pp. 19–20,73.

8. Aubert 1990a, pp. 443–44.

9. Acton 1870, p. 97.

10. Gregorovius 1907, p. 396, entry for March 5,1871.

11. Theiner was an unusual character. A member of the Oratorian order and a German cobbler's son, he had a scholarly reputation throughout Europe for his work on Church history. In 1855, Pius IX named him prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives. Theiner's appointment was controversial; just three years earlier he had published a book on Clement XIV, praising the pope who had disbanded the Jesuits. This stance, along with a more general reputation for free thinking, had earned him the enmity of the Jesuits, a feeling he heartily reciprocated. When Fiorentini came to see him that November day, Theiner had even more reason to resent the order. A few months earlier the pope had urgently summoned him and, quaking with anger, ordered him to hand over the keys to the Vatican archives at once. At this, the sixty-six-year-old monk began to sob uncontrollably, finally gaining enough composure to ask the pope why he was so enraged. You have been giving secrets of the Vatican archives to my enemies at the council, the pope told him, and I will not have it. Despite Theiner's protestations of innocence, he was dismissed. The special door that gave the monk direct access to the archives from his apartment in the Vatican was bricked up so that there was no chance he could sneak in again. In Theiner's view, it was the Jesuits who had poisoned the pope's mind against him (Martina 1986, pp. 629–36; Hill 2000, pp. 209–10, 240–41; Chadwick 1978, pp. 51–76).

12. Lanza 1938, n. 2180, Fiorentini a Lanza, 21 novembre 1870.

13. Lanza 1938, n. 2229, Fiorentini a Lanza, 17 dicembre 1870.

14. Matteo Liberatore, "L'Unità italiana e l'intervento straniero,"
Civiltà Cattolica
1871, II, pp. 145–56. Many in the Vatican saw no reason why it should not happen again this time. Even before Rome was taken, some were advising the pope to follow the strategy he had successfully used back then. In late 1866, Odo Russell reported that "the Jesuit party" was urging the pope "to fly from the Vatican and seek a safe asylum abroad, from whence he would call upon the Catholic Powers to protect the Holy Church against the Revolution and go to war with Italy" (Blakiston 1962, n. 357, Odo Russell to Lord'S., 4 December 1866).

15. DDI, series 1, vol. 13, n. 341, Il Conte Kulczycki al Segretario Generale agli Esteri, Blanc, 30 luglio 1870; n. 528, Il Conte Kulczycki al Segretario Generale agli Esteri, Blanc, 18 agosto 1870.

16. Lanza 1938, n. 1901, Cornacchi a Lanza, 6 settembre 1870.

17. Lanza 1938, n. 1929, Maurizio a Lanza, Genova, 9 settembre 1870. With the approach of the Italian army, Antonelli began a flurry of correspondence with his nuncios, urging them to explore the attitudes of the various foreign powers. Would they provide a refuge for the elderly pontiff? On August 22,1870, the papal nuncio in Vienna reported Austria's decision to offer the Holy Father asylum in "an Italian city of the Empire: either Trent, or Gorizia, or Zara, or some other city in Dalmatia." These lands, populated by ethnic Italians, lay in the area in the northeast of Italy, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Two days later the nuncio reported that the Austrians were prepared to send transport ships to carry off the pope and all those in his entourage (ASV, SS, EM, a. 1870, r. 165, fasc. 2, ff. 17V, 22v; 22, 24 agosto 1870).

18. Arnim quote in Halperin 1939, pp. 59–60. A report received by Visconti four days after the taking of Rome added to the government's anxieties. Albert Blanc, secretary general of Foreign Affairs, telegraphed him with the news that, while Antonelli was urging the pope to stay in Rome, various influential cardinals were pleading with him to go (DDI, series 2, vol. 1, n. 42, 24 settembre 1870).

19. Martina 1990a, pp. 248–49.