Per un Risorgimento giacobino. Le esperienze di Filippo Buonarroti e Carlo Tenca

After a brief reconstruction of the historical context in which the principle of nationality spread in Italy, the essay focuses on the activity of two patriots who choose different ways to support the unification and independence cause. Filippo Buonarroti is an early Jacobin, who is involved in the foundation of various secret societies, contributing to the strengthening of conspiratorial plots against the ‘foreign tyrants’ who occupy the territories of the peninsula. Importance is given to the Christian symbolism used in the investiture ceremonies concerning the followers of the sect of the Sublimi Maestri Perfetti. In the second part, the essay analyses Carlo Tenca’s journalistic activity. Director of the «Rivista Europea» first and of «Il Crepuscolo» later, he plays a fundamental role in the development of a popular and democratic dimension in Risorgimento literature. Finally, an example is provided to underline his problematic relationship with the government, which passes for a written warning from the Austrian censors.