| Army of Holy Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ | |
|---|---|
 Fabrizio Cardinal Ruffo leading the Sanfedisti in 1799, protected bySaint Anthony | |
| Leaders | Fabrizio Cardinal Ruffo |
| Dates of operation | 1799 |
| Group | Southern Italian peasants |
| Active regions | Southern Italy |
| Size | 17,000 |
| Allies | Britain |
| Opponents | Parthenopaean Republic |
| Wars | Revolt againstParthenopaean Republic |
Sanfedismo (fromSanta Fede, "Holy Faith" inItalian) was a popular anti-Jacobin movement, organized byFabrizio Cardinal Ruffo, which mobilized peasants of theKingdom of Naples against the pro-FrenchParthenopaean Republic in 1799, its aims culminating in the restoration of theMonarchy underFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies. Its full name was theArmy of Holy Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Italian:Armata della Santa Fede in nostro Signore Gesù Cristo),[1] and its members were calledSanfedisti.
The termsSantafede,Sanfedismo andSanfedisti (sometimes rendered in English as 'Sanfedism' and 'Sanfedist') are sometimes used more generally to refer to any religiously motivated, improvised peasant army that sprung up on the Italian peninsula to resist the newly createdFrench client republics.[2][3]
Cardinal Ruffo recruited the Sanfedisti in his nativeCalabria. His recruiting poster of February 1799 reads:
TheSanfedismo movement nominally acted on behalf ofFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies.[5] On January 25, 1799, two days after the proclamation of the Parthenopean Republic, Ferdinand appointed Ruffo, while both were taking refuge inPalermo,Sicily, to act as hisvicar-general on the Italian mainland.[6] Ruffo landed inCalabria on February 7 with no money or weapons and only eight companions, but bearing a banner with the royal arms on one side and a cross on the other, also bearing the ancient slogan "In hoc signo vinces."[6] It took Ruffo a month to amass a force of 17,000; mostly peasants, but also "bandits, ecclesiastics, mercenaries, looters, devotees, and assassins."[6]
During the campaign, Ruffo corresponded with Ferdinand's agent,Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet, updating him on the military progress of the Sanfedisti:
By the end of April, the Sanfedisti had subdued the entirety of Calabria,Basilicata and most ofApulia, and by June had begun a land siege of the city ofNaples.[6] In the siege, theSanfedismoirregulars were supported by the BritishRoyal Navy under the command of AdmiralHoratio Nelson,[8] for which Ferdinand gave Nelson the title ofDuke of Bronte, which Nelson affixed to his signature for the rest of his life.[1] The Parthenopean Republic collapsed on June 19, 1799.
Most of the Sanfedisti victories occurred in rugged terrain, which was "well-suited" to the irregular style of warfare employed by Ruffo.[9]
Similar to other anti-French uprisings in Italy, the Sanfedisti were not, as a rule, amiable towards Radicals, Freemasons and Jews, who were perceived as supporters of the Enlightenment ideology.[10] Furthermore, BishopGiovanni Andrea Serrao, theJansenist leader in southern Italy and despite being a supporter of the Parthenopaean Republic, wassummarily executed on February 24, 1799, by the Republican soldiers of thePotenza garrison, as Ruffo's forces were drawing near to the city.[11]
The role of Cardinal Ruffo in the movement was a contemporary source of controversy, attributing to Ruffo both cruelty and bloodlust;apologist writings defending him are only extant with respect to the sack ofAltamura.[7] The name ofSanfedismo itself was a source of criticism, dubbed "a word sprung up, by which this new phase of wickedness might be called" by a contemporary.[12]Sanfedismo, and Ruffo himself, becamesynonymous with the "recalcitrant, truly counter-revolutionary clergy" as opposed to those who were more sympathetic to theFrench Revolution.[13] The name "Sanfedisti" was also used by Bourbonist peasant uprisings against theHouse of Savoy duringItalian unification.[14]
TheCanto dei Sanfedisti is still remembered by heart among many in theMezzogiorno, and sometimes sung by folk groups.[citation needed] It is aparody ofLa Carmagnole, a popular French Revolutionary song.
Later scholarly views of the Sanfedisti have dubbed them a "counter-revolutionary" group, but not homogeneously a "reaction[ary]" one.[15]
