The influence of the clergy in Sicily between 18th and 19th centuries

Abstract

This essay tries to investigate the role performed by the Sicilian clergy during the so-called «English Decade». A first part of the reflection begins with the proven relationship between regalism and contractualism of the late 18^th century. The reaction of the Sicilian ruling class, formed by aristocrats and ecclesiastics, to the problems layed on the table by the French Revolution, was not limited at that time to a movement of reactionary spirits. From the first years of the 19th century, the most culturally advanced part of the class of barons and also of the clergy assumed British constitutional doctrines as their own, modulating some elements of modern culture to their own advantage. Among the exponents of greater importance there are the abbots Paolo Balsamo and Benedetto Chiavetta, both exponents of the ecclesiastical arm in the Sicilian Parliament. Their role during parliamentary work will be of particular relevance for the introduction of rights and freedoms in the Sicilian Constitutional Charter of the year 1812.