Changing social Representations of Political Order ca. 1800
Governmental Concepts in the Correspondence of Maria Carolina of Naples-Sicily
The private correspondence of Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples-Sicily (1752–1814), is an illuminating window for the Age of Revolutions and the changing political landscape around 1800. In her personal letters, Maria Carolina often opined her political judgements on contemporary events, offered advice, and shared her deepest apprehensions of revolutionary change. Maria Carolina’s personal correspondence, therefore, allows us to see how rulers developed coping strategies for the turbulence around them as well as to be able to discern their shifting values and beliefs in ideal governance. This project is currently editing and analysing a sample of her correspondence with three of her relatives between 1774 and 1814: her brother Emperor Leopold II, her nephew Emperor Franz II/I, and her daughter Empress Marie Therese. This website features results from this process as well as news, blogs, and forthcoming events from the project team.
This project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund (P 31415-G28) with additional support from the Research Centre for Digital Humanities, University of Innsbruck.
Forthcoming Events
- Maria Carolina Network: Presentation Giuseppe GriecoLayers of Imperial Rule. The Bourbon Monarchy and the British Protectorate in Sicily, c. 1799-1815 - 24th March 2022, 16.00 - online
- Global Approaches to Habsburg History: Perspectives, Potentials, Payoffs, and PathwaysConference Innsbruck, 2nd - 3rd June 2022
- Gender, Society, and Networks between 1750 and 1820: Maria Carolina of Naples-Sicily, a Prism of her Times?Conference Innsbruck, 8th - 9th September 2022
Blog
- Lost Letters of Maria Carolina Found in Local SchoolAfter reading about Maria Carolina's quarantine in the local Bezirksblätter, several school pupils make an unexpected find...
- When Maria Carolina Met the ‘Coronavirus’ of 1812Following the global pandemic of COVID-19 and millions under lockdown across the world, we felt it necessary to tell the story of when Maria Carolina met the 'Coronavirus' of 1812.
- Digitised Iconography – Political Communication via Portraits and Monuments ca. 1800Beginning this month, team member Giovanni Merola will embark on a year-long project sponsored by the Swarovski Foundation entitled Digitised Iconography – Political Communication via Portraits and Monuments ca. 1800. It seeks to deepen our understanding of political symbology at the court of Naples and to explore how this symbolism was communicated to and from other European courts.
- “À l’occassion de la nouvelle année” – Maria Carolina’s New Year Letter to Emperor FranzIn recognition of the New Year and the new semester slowly dawning upon us all, we felt it would be appropriate to share with you one of the letters from Maria Carolina’s correspondence and our project. And one of the most appropriate is a short and sweet but also sharp letter written by Maria Carolina to Franz ‘on the occasion of the New Year’ of 1809.
- A Life Full of WritingMaria Carolina reached for the quill and ink as she fell gravely sick; she kept a daily diary for most of her adult life in addition to her Reflections on current affairs; she penned thousands of letters to relatives, friends, and advisers over the course of her lifetime. It was indeed a life full of writing.