Ovi Magazine Issue #24: Nationalism - Published: 2013-01-31

eemasonry United Italy
Theme
political, economic, and social systems should depend.
However, for important intellectuals like Cavour,
who was one of the main leaders of the Risorgimento
movement, the strategic support from a secret lobby was
not only deemed crucial to the success of the nationalists’
project, but was sought after so that it would be efficient
and successful.
Militarily, while Giuseppe Garibaldi and his thousand
men army established a revolutionary government
in central and southern Italy at the beginning of the
early 1860s and declared Victor Emmanuel as king of
a united nation, Carducci was writing his blasphemous
anti-clerical poem. As Garibaldi failed during many
occasions to liberate Rome from the clutches of papal
absolutism, which was preventing these regions from
taking part in the unification, Carducci’s poem was
published, first in 1865 and then in 1869. As the eternal
city was only liberated when the French garrison pulled
their defence of it to invest in France’s war against
Prussia in 1870, giving Italians the chance to reclaim
their city, Carducci was writing his first works during
a time when republican, anti-clerical sentiment was
high. Providing a cultural rhetoric to support and fuel a
political agenda, Carducci first read the poem as a toast
at a masonic dinner party. A resource concedes that even
the most liberal of republicans seated among his masonic
fellowship were uncomfortable with Carducci’s radical
way of opposing the Pope. It is important to keep in mind
that Satan was chosen by the poet to symbolize modern
progress because of his intimidating, evil, and powerful
status. As the clergy experiences great discomfort with
any mention of Satan, trying throughout their holy lives
to ward off his evil ways with exorcist oils, the poet calls
upon the devil to challenge the old-fashioned mentality
of retrogrades. Satan is a hero for modern Italy because
he is not easily influenced or easy to control. He rebelled
against the word of God as Lucifer and built his own
dominion over which he rules as king. However, beyond
his biblical role, Carducci gives Beelzebub a leading part
in Italian history as he comes to represent sensuality,
beauty, liberty, pleasure, joy, intellectual innovation,
and technological progress. In addition, he symbolizes
the qualities of fearlessness and ferocity that Italy
should gain moving forward into the future. It should
not regress with old traditions and papal absolutism, but
should break free from the chains of limited thought.
The symbol stands for liberty of thought and the poet’s
radical way to impose it on a repressed population.
Since the church was guilty of exporting propaganda
and violence to the Americas and of oppressing its
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