The paper focuses on the topic of the impact of piracy on the institu-tional framework in the Kingdom of Naples during the Modern Age (XVIth ̶ XVIIth centu-ries). Many historians agree that the continuous Ottoman̶-Barbaresque raids on the coast of Southern Italy played a key role in the conditions of fragility and weakness of the South and its progressive marginalization from the economic and productive networks of early modern Europe. Consequently, the paper first analyzes the reason for military weakness of the Kingdom of Naples, and then it examines the effect of defensive vulnerability on the political-constitutional field through a Juridical culture’s paradigmatic text: the Trac-tatus de potestate Proregis et Collaterali Consilii et regimine Regni by Giovan Francesco De Ponte. In hindsight, the evaluation of the strategies of the government during the Spanish viceroyalty shows how the strong alliance between the Spanish Monarchy and the lawyers-administrators (the noble of robes) was a formidable legitimizing machine for the monarchy, but it also leads to the nobility progressively moving away from its tra-ditional role of government and military defense. The final result of this compromise was to deprive the Kingdom of the only means that they had that could effectively counter attack the maritime dominance of the Ottoman-Barabresque pirates and feed a growing sense of insecurity which deeply scarred the fragile political balances of the southern Monarchy.
Il contributo s’incentra sul tema dell’impatto della pirateria sull’assetto socio-istituzionale del Regno di Napoli in Età Moderna (XVI-XVII secc.). Numerosi storici sono concordi nell’affermare che le continue scorrerie ottomano-barbaresche sulle coste del Sud Italia rappresentarono nel lungo periodo uno dei fattori chiave della debolezza e della fragilità del Mezzogiorno e della sua progressiva marginalizzazione dai circuiti economici e produttivi dell’Europa moderna. Attraverso questa prospettiva d’indagine, il contributo in primo luogo prova ad analizzare le ragioni della vulnerabilità sul piano militare del Regno di Napoli, per poi passare ad esaminarne i risvolti sul piano politico-costituzionale attraverso un testo chiave della cultura giuridica napoletana: il Tractatus de potestate Proregis et Collaterali Consiliiet regimine Regni di Giovan Francesco De Ponte. Sottotraccia, l’esame delle strategie di governo adottate durante il viceregno spagnolo dimostra come la strettissima alleanza tra i governanti spagnoli e il ceto di ministeriale di formazione giuridica costituì una formidabile macchina di legittimazione per la monarchia, ma comportò anche il progressivo allontanamento della nobiltà da ogni funzione di governo e di difesa militare. Il risultato di tale compromesso fu quello di privare di fatto il Regno dell’unica componente in grado di contrastare efficacemente il predominio assunto sui mari dai pirati barbareschi e di alimentare una conflittualità latente destinata a segnare nel profondo i fragili equilibri politici della monarchia meridionale.
The Threat from the Sea. The Kingdom of Naples between Piracy, Warfare and Statehood in a Tractaus by Gian Francesco De Ponte,
Francesco Serpico
2020-01-01
Abstract
The paper focuses on the topic of the impact of piracy on the institu-tional framework in the Kingdom of Naples during the Modern Age (XVIth ̶ XVIIth centu-ries). Many historians agree that the continuous Ottoman̶-Barbaresque raids on the coast of Southern Italy played a key role in the conditions of fragility and weakness of the South and its progressive marginalization from the economic and productive networks of early modern Europe. Consequently, the paper first analyzes the reason for military weakness of the Kingdom of Naples, and then it examines the effect of defensive vulnerability on the political-constitutional field through a Juridical culture’s paradigmatic text: the Trac-tatus de potestate Proregis et Collaterali Consilii et regimine Regni by Giovan Francesco De Ponte. In hindsight, the evaluation of the strategies of the government during the Spanish viceroyalty shows how the strong alliance between the Spanish Monarchy and the lawyers-administrators (the noble of robes) was a formidable legitimizing machine for the monarchy, but it also leads to the nobility progressively moving away from its tra-ditional role of government and military defense. The final result of this compromise was to deprive the Kingdom of the only means that they had that could effectively counter attack the maritime dominance of the Ottoman-Barabresque pirates and feed a growing sense of insecurity which deeply scarred the fragile political balances of the southern Monarchy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
