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Valeria Ferrari
In this article Valeria Ferrari analyses aspects of the Napoleonic modernization of the Kingdom of Naples after 1806, in particular the consequences of the abolition of feudal jurisdictions and the establishment of new institutions of provincial government. These were directed by an Intendant, as the representative of central government, and required the setting up of a council to represent the views of the communities. The article studies the kinds of people who were appointed to the new institutions. The basic qualification for appointment was the possession of a substantial private property, and a record of past activity which suggested political reliability: a major criterion was the evidence of a positive attitude to the short-lived Jacobin Parthenopian Republic in Naples of 1799. The outcome was to substitute for the former oligarchy of fief-holders in provincial affairs the government of a new elite of notables. These were a fusion of members of noble families with members of an upwardly mobile agrarian bourgeoisie, whose position had been strengthened by opportunities to enlarge their properties through the disposal of alienated public lands. The legacy of the Napoleonic regime in Naples was the consolidation of this new provincial elite and its integration into the government of the kingdom.
