1818, l’anno delle sette segrete. La cospirazione politica italiana dall’osservatorio del Governo lombardo

In 1818, under pressure from Vienna, one of the main concerns for the Presidenza di Governo of Milan was constituted by the sectarian political activity in the Italian peninsula, either of liberal-constitutional or of republican-democratic inspira tion, and by the danger of its spread to the Lombard-Venitian Kingdom, especially from the neighbouring Papal State. The thorough inquiries of the Milanese Police authorities, however, led to less alarming conclusions than those advanced by the 49 thick network of secret agents and spies operating in most Italian States as to the effective threat represented by Guelfi and Carbonari for the Austrian domination in north-eastern Italy. This essay, based on the unpublished papers of the series Presidenza di Governo in the Milan State Archives (Archivio di Stato di Milano), throws light on the ambivalence of the collaboration between papal and Lombard police and on the sober realism With which Anton von Raab, head of the latter, Plays down the sectarian threat and considers the impact of the revolutionaries' movements across the frontiers.