Sicily and the Enlightenment: The World of Domenico Caracciolo, Thinker and Reformer

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Description

Dominico Caracciolo was an important figure on the 18th-century European stage, holding high office as a diplomat in London, Turin and Paris, and as viceroy and prime minister in the Two Sicilies. He was an inveterate letter-writer and his huge correspondence, with his diplomatic despatches and other official writing, is a unique original source, providing a detailed and vivid picture of the 18th-century European elite with all its extravagance and scandalous behaviour but, even more importantly, it is an account of an Enlightenment struggle against the increasingly outdated clerical and feudal rule in Sicily. Caracciolo was an abrasive and combative official and politician and vigorous scion of the Enlightenment. In this book, Angus Campbell provides a detailed portrait of Caracciolo and of the political, social, economic, legal and cultural context in which he lived and worked. In doing so, he provides a unique vantage point on the European diplomatic culture of the 18th century.

Reviews

'Campbell has given us a wonderfully detailed account of the political and personal machinations of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily.'

'Domenico Caracciolo attempted to introduce a programme of Enlightenment reform into Sicilian society. This is the first work on his life in English and Angus Campbell helpfully reproduces many of Caracciolo's letters.'

Author Bio

Angus Campbell is an independent researcher, translator and writer.