The Italian parliamentary committee of inquiry on brigandage in the Neapolitan provinces. Political practices and institutional dynamics (1862–63)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study of brigandage in Italy has been a popular historical topic. The works of Franco Molfese, Giorgio Candeloro, Roberto Martucci and Alfonso Scirocco – just to name a few – have largely investigated the tangles of this phenomenon. They have attempted to explain the nature and features of brigandage. Despite this, it is notable that to date none of the efforts made on the subject by the literature has sought to shed light on the role played by the parliamentary committee of inquiry on brigandage in the Neapolitan provinces, established by the Italian Parliament on 17 December 1862. This historiographical gap is one of the most widespread lack of historical-institutional and historical-juridical studies of the Italian area related to the institutionalization of the parliamentary committees of inquiry. This article aims to investigate the creation, composition, organization, assignments and activities carried out by the parliamentary committee of inquiry on brigandage. It will do so by analyzing a selection of correspondence kept in the Historical Archive of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the Archive of the Royal Chamber, as well as by examining the relevant contemporary literature on the subject.