The map about the brigandage by Giovanni Perelli Ercolini (1861) and the process of building a united Italy In 1861, during the war in the South for the Unification of Italy, a peculiar map with the emblematic title of Strategic Topographical Map of the Southern Provinces with an Indication of the Main Events of Arms That Took Place from April to the End of August 1861 and the Main Positions Respectively Occupied by Brigands and by the National Forces emerged. Printed in Naples, the map is the work of Giovanni Perelli Ercolini, an engineer, former Garibaldian officer and author of a series of military treatises. The initiative appears as a unique example in the cartographic panorama of the time, not only because it is the only topographical representation of brigandage, but also for the particularity of its symbolic and cultural significance. Indeed, the analysis of the map provides the opportunity for an investigation of the links between its author and the contemporary ideological context, based on a profound synergy between geography and freemasonry in supporting the institutional secularization of the national education system during the process of building a united Italy.
Nel 1861, durante la guerra nel Mezzogiorno per l’Unità d’Italia, vede la luce un peculiare manufatto cartografico, dall’emblematico titolo di Carta strategico topografica delle provincie meridionali. Coll’indicazione dei principali fatti d’armi avvenuti dal mese di Aprile a tutto il mese di Agosto 1861 e delle principali posizioni rispettivamente occupate da briganti e dalle forze nazionali. Stampata a Napoli, la carta è opera di Giovanni Perelli Ercolini, ingegnere, ex ufficiale garibaldino e autore di una serie di trattati militari. L’iniziativa sembra essere un caso unico nel panorama cartografico del tempo, non solo perché è la sola rappresentazione topografica del brigantaggio, ma anche per la particolarità del suo significato simbolico e culturale. L’analisi della carta offre, infatti, lo spunto per un’indagine sui legami tra il suo autore e il contesto ideologico coevo, fondato su una profonda sinergia tra geografia e massoneria nel sostenere la laicizzazione istituzionale del sistema formativo nazionale durante il processo di costruzione dell’Italia unita.
La carta sul brigantaggio di Giovanni Perelli Ercolini (1861) e il processo di costruzione dell’Italia unita
Silvia Siniscalchi
2023-01-01
Abstract
The map about the brigandage by Giovanni Perelli Ercolini (1861) and the process of building a united Italy In 1861, during the war in the South for the Unification of Italy, a peculiar map with the emblematic title of Strategic Topographical Map of the Southern Provinces with an Indication of the Main Events of Arms That Took Place from April to the End of August 1861 and the Main Positions Respectively Occupied by Brigands and by the National Forces emerged. Printed in Naples, the map is the work of Giovanni Perelli Ercolini, an engineer, former Garibaldian officer and author of a series of military treatises. The initiative appears as a unique example in the cartographic panorama of the time, not only because it is the only topographical representation of brigandage, but also for the particularity of its symbolic and cultural significance. Indeed, the analysis of the map provides the opportunity for an investigation of the links between its author and the contemporary ideological context, based on a profound synergy between geography and freemasonry in supporting the institutional secularization of the national education system during the process of building a united Italy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
