San Gennaro never says no! Not even
for the gifts of Giuseppe Bonaparte and
Gioacchino Murat.
In his two years of reign, Bonaparte had given to the Saint a cross studded with
precious stones. Now his successor Murat enriches the treasure with a
monstrance wet in gold. We wonder if these gifts can satisfy the Neapolitan
people……
To understand the issue better, we need to go a few years back. It all began in
December 1805, when Napoleon went to war and tried to make Southern Italy
and Sicily a vassal state of France, driving the Bourbons away from Naples.
Nevertheless, the French failed to consolidate the conquest quickly: in fact, as
early as July 1806, the French lost control of Calabria because they were
defeated at Maida by the Anglo-Bourbons, who had fought, in the meantime,
against even a fierce brigandage, encouraged by the Bourbons.
Napoleon tried constantly to advise his French successors, even resorting to
stricter military measures, but these failed to restore order.
Another non-secondary problem added to this situation: the imposition by
the emperor of the payment of large sums of taxes to meet the economic
needs of France, bleeding from the continuous wars.
As mentioned, the throne in 1808 passed to Murat, after the transfer of
Bonaparte to Spain. Murat seemed to be a fairer sovereign. In fact, he
introduced the Napoleonic Code into the Kingdom, which legalized divorce,
civil marriage and adoption, and improved education. However, he could not
soothe the dissatisfaction of the traders, due to the blockade imposed by the
British on European businesses over Naples. Such a condition was beginning
to negatively affect merchants' businesses.
At the same time, despite his many efforts to gain the trust and consensus of
the population, Murat was unable to face the growing brigandage.
Does it mean anything ... ??? We will see!