In early 19th-century Italy, members of secret societies (called “the Carboneria“; English: “charcoal makers”) were the main source of opposition to theconservativeregimes imposed on Italy by the victorious allies after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. Following theCongress of Viennathat year, a political and socialItalian unificationmovement, the”Risorgimento“, emerged to unite Italy by consolidating the different states of the peninsula and liberating it from foreign control.Before the unification, Italy did not exist as a state, but consisted of numerous kingdoms and other sovereign entities, each ruled by separate dynasties. The Carbonari were spread across Europe. They all had patriotic and liberal goals and were republican and anticlerical.

The activities of the Italian unification movement eventually lead to the Encounter of Teano(L’Incontro di Teano) on 26 October 1860; the meeting between general, patriot, republican and Freemason Giuseppe Garibaldi and the King of Sardinia, Vittorio…