The Myth of Freemasonry and the Risorgimento

Written by an unknown author

The theory of the "Masonic Risorgimento" is mythological. The best overall study on the relationship between Freemasonry and the Risorgimento probably remains that of Alessandro Luzio, "La Massoneria e il Risorgimento italiano", divided into two ponderous volumes with very extensive documentary references. Luzio spoke very firmly of the "Masonic Risorgimento" as being a myth created by the Freemasons and the clergy, who were both interested—albeit for opposite reasons—in attributing to the Masonic lodges a role in Italian Unification which in reality they did not have.

The pro-unitary monarchists were almost never Freemasons, starting with Vittorio Emanuele II and Cavour, who both refused any contact with the Masonic lodges. Even Mazzini was not a Freemason and in fact he criticized Freemasonry, as did his main disciple. Joining the Carbonari did not mean being a Freemason: these were two distinct organizations. However, the vast majority of Mazzinians were not Freemasons at all. Garibaldi was a prominent Freemason, but he was an exception to the rule.

The greatest Italian scholar of Freemasonry, Professor Aldo Alessandro Mola, in his "Storia della massoneria in Italia", states bluntly that the Masonic lodges were practically inactive throughout the period between 1830 and 1870, with very few members and very little activity.

The great historian Gioacchino Volpe (very Catholic, incidentally; he was a Fascist and a conservative) in "Italia moderna" affirmed that after the fall of Napoleon in Italy:

"Freemasonry had fallen asleep almost completely; there was no relationship or very little relationship between Freemasons and Carbonari; many Carbonari clearly refused to be considered Freemasons."

Freemasonry:

"...began to rise again in the 1860's and only then began to once again weave its web. In those intermediate 40 years, its action in relation to the Italian Risorgimento was insignificant or nothing. Many, indeed most of the patriots, were not Freemasons. Many of them were fierce enemies of Freemasonry."

Moreover, it was only in 1859 that the prohibition against membership in Freemasonry was relaxed in the Kingdom of Sardinia: previously this prohibition had always remained in force.

A similar conclusion was reached also by another important historian of Italian Freemasonry, Fulvio Conti, professor of contemporary history at the University of Florence, in "Gli Italiani in guerra. Conflitti, identità, memorie dal Risorgimento ai nostri giorni".

In the period between 1815 and 1870, Freemasons in Italy were very few and lacked any capacity to conduct "conspiracies" or "plots". Marco Meriggi, in his study "Il regno Lombardo-Veneto" (Turin 1987), describes Freemasonry after 1815:

"The Masonic lodges no longer presented themselves as rays of a secret society of revolutionary inspiration, but rather as harmless meeting places for a professional class who, even on the ritual level, had their own reason for joining the regime." (p. 12)

In short, during the years of the Risorgimento Freemasonry was very weak and played a minor role, that is to say marginal.