Clemente Solaro della Margarita

Count Solaro della Margarita OSML, gcYC, GCSG
Member of the Sardinian Chamber of Deputies
In office 19 December 1853 – 25 October 1857
In office 14 December 1857 – 21 January 1860
Personal details
Born	(1792-11-21)21 November 1792 Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia
Died	Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Nationality	Italian

Clemente, Count Solaro della Margarita (21 November 1792 – 12 November 1869) was an Italian politician.

Biography

Early life and education

Clemente Solaro della Margarita was born at Mondovì into an old noble family from Cuneo, the son of Vittorio Luigi Solaro della Margarita and Gabriella Galleani d'Agliano. He was a distant relative of Cardinal Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano. According to recollections taken directly from the personal diary he kept — which began in 1807, — from the age of 7, hostility to all social upheaval and demagoguery was kindled in him. The cause was probably the hostility between republican France and Austria, which, at the turn of the century, shook Piedmont, especially outside population centers.

From 1803 to 1806 he studied in Siena at the Tolomei boarding school, run by the Piarist fathers famous throughout Italy. There he met those who would become the leading exponents of the Catholic-conservative current and who would be useful to him in his mature years. He had the opportunity to study Latin, French and Italian, but made little progress in this area, often suffering from separation from home. When Napoleon forced by edict all Piedmontese to return home, it was a real feast for him as for 34 other Piedmontese. He continued his studies in Turin under Abbot Ricordi and in the fall of 1809 was able to enter the university. In 1812, on July 4, he graduated in both laws under the guidance of the best professors of the time. In his diary he wrote, "I couldn't get enough of reading, I was especially attracted to tragedies along the lines of Alfieri's.

In those years, in opposition to French domination, the religious policies of the Napoleonic Empire, the imprisonment of the Pope, and the constant wars, he deployed political action that led him to found the Italian Society in 1812, a meeting center for all those, young people in large part, who wanted to react against the shattering of the culture. According to the Society's statutes, the members assumed, upon their admission, the names of distinguished Italians in the field of letters and the arts, excluding any Roman names, not only because classical age of the "freedom of the homeland" was considered by the statute to be that following the fall of the Kingdom of the Lombards, but also probably as a natural reaction to the habit of the French Revolution and the Empire of abusing the names of Ancient Rome.

This society disbanded after just two years, but it had notoriety mainly because its members belonged to the most prominent families of the Turin aristocracy, united in their desire for independence and their opposition to the social upheaval brought by Napoleon.

Restoration

In 1814 the King returned to Turin, for him he wrote a printed pamphlet, The Day of Liberation, in which the outlined of his thinking are already found. With the Restoration of 1815 the nobles returned to civil service, Solaro della Margarita entered diplomacy with the support of Catholic Friendship. At age 24, in 1816, he finally entered diplomacy as secretary of the Sardinian legation in Naples, where Raimondo de Quesada Delitala, Marquis of Saint Saturninus, was minister of the Royal Piedmontese Court. On September 15 he began his journey to Naples, Florence and Rome, cities that would exalt and mark him forever.

He got on well at the court in Naples, there were many Piedmontese, and he resumed his studies. It was his turn to write on behalf of his minister the Report on the political state of the kingdom of the two Sicilies and considerations of what happened in the first eight months following the fall of the constitutional system introduced by the revolution of July 1820. In that report he stigmatized the government's actions, the corruption of the clergy, the lack of public education, and the state's failure to protect its citizens.

Solaro della Margarita believed that the principles enshrined in the Napoleonic Code were a threat to the entire social order since they promised "to drown the seeds of monarchical institutions in the essence of that liberal spirit which engenders Revolutions".

In 1824 he married the daughter of Piedmont's minister to Naples, Carolina de Quesada Delitala (1806–1882), and from this marriage four daughters were born: Eleonora, Giulia, Maria, Filomena, and a son, Carlo Alberto. In 1826 he was appointed chargé d'affaires at the court of Madrid.

Convinced that only a thorough fight against liberalism could stem that danger to the governments of Europe, he approached during the Madrid mission the Carlists, and became their supporter at the court of Turin and at the Holy See, with whose Secretariat of State he was in correspondence since the pro-nuncio Giacomo Giustiniani, in 1827, entrusted him with the temporary care of papal interests. Bound by friendship with Joaquín Abarca, Bishop of Leòn, one of the most representatative of Carlism, Solaro della Margarita found himself at odds with the new nuncio Francesco Tiberi, whose action seemed to him prejudicial to the purposes of a vigorous counter-revolutionary struggle, and he was greatly displeased with the failure to restore the Inquisition of Spain. At the same time, he also resented Metternich's policy, considered bland and hesitant, and likewise resented the ambiguous demeanor of all Monarchists, who did not support the sovereigns with sufficent energy. This attitude led him to interfere in the events of the First Carlist War, on which he convinced King Charles Albert to side with Don Carlos against the regent, Maria Christina. His position therefore became untenable in Madrid, so he had to ask to be replaced by the chargé d'affaires Valentino di San Martino.

In early 1835, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to the court in Vienna, the most important in Europe, and in the same year on March 21 he was appointed foreign minister of Piedmont. This appointment was frowned upon by the two constitutional monarchies of France and England because of the count's strong proximity to the legitimist principle of which Metternich was an expression. The constitutional monarchs were always averse to Solaro della Margarita, whom the Sardinian ambassador to London, and noted anglophile Cesare Ambrogio San Martino d'Agliè, judged to be "unbalanced and inclined to be carried away by his personal sentiments, except to backtrack with incredible impudence."

In 1839 the nunciature in Turin, which had been closed in 1753, was reopened, largely as a result of the personal efforts of Count Solaro della Margarita, who wished to strengthen the alliance between Church and state.

A devoted Catholic and firmly attached to the principles of the Old Regime, he opposed all attempts at political experimentation and was consequently harshly opposed by the liberals. He abhored liberalism of any kind and thought that Piedmont’s possession of Savoy placed her in a position which straddled the Alps, and this fact gave her the role of a buffer state guarding the mountain passes. If she moved into Italy, on the other hand, she would be involved in a policy of aggression and would run a risk of losing her independence. Solaro was above all worried that in Italy she would become anti-clerical. He was therefore moderately pro-Austrian, especially as Austria was the safest bulwark against revolutionary change.

The Marquis Pes di Villamarina confided to Monsignor Corboli Bussi that Charles Albert purposely kept his ministry divided into diverse political factions, retaining the option of moving in one direction or the other. The Monsignor wrote to Pope Pius IX that not only was the Piedmontese ministry divided, but the country as well. One part was conservative and Catholic, the other liberal, with Solaro della Margarita reflecting the Catholic and conservative sentiments, and Villamarina the liberal ones. When the first popular agitation in favor of constitutional reforms broke out in 1847, the King felt obliged to relinquish his services, although he had conducted public affairs with skill and prudence by avoiding any meddling by Vienna in the internal affairs of Piedmont. On October 11, his successor was announced — Count Ermolao Asinari di San Marzano.

A package of numerous reforms was published on October 30. Camillo Cavour returned immediately to Turin and, in agreement with Cesare Balbo, the King's personal adviser, decided to found the newspaper The Resurgence, becoming its director. On the occasion of a meeting of the newspaper's editors intended to support a request by the Genoese for the expulsion of the Jesuits from Sardinia, Cavour used the event to demand a new constitution.

Solaro della Margarita expounded his beliefs and policies as minister to Charles Albert (from February 1835 to October 1847) in his Historical-Political Memorandum. A document of great interest for the study of conditions in Piedmont and Italy at the time. As a supplement to the Memorandum the following year he published another book entitled Political Advents intended for educated and scholarly readers. The result was not judged by him to be satisfactory and he set to work to give a definitive arrangement to his thought; the result was The Matters of State.

Later life and death

In 1853 Solaro della Margarita was elected deputy for San Quirico, but he continued to look at his mandate as derived from the authority of the king and not from the will of the people. As leader of the Catholic Right in parliament he radically opposed Cavour's policies, which would eventually lead to the unification of Italy.

In 1856 a debate took place in the Sardinian Chamber of Deputies related to the annual allowance which had been regularly made for the support of the ministers of the Waldense Protestant sect. The Italian government proposed to the Chamber to continue the grant. This was opposed by several of the most influential members, headed by Counts Costa della Torre and Solaro della Margarita, on the ground that the government was at the time taking from the Catholics the undisputed property of the Church, solely on the ground of financial difficulties. If then, it was argued, it was to grant to Protestants, it wass in fact giving to one that which it confiscated from the other.

The government was caught by surprise when the elections of November 1857 showed a strong shift to the Right. Solaro della Margarita was returned by a large margin, but not a single minister except Cavour was elected by an outright majority of votes. Cavour, not wishing any effective parliamentary opposition invalidated the election on the grounds of "abuse of spiritual weapons," in order to exclude a number of clergy who had been elected, such as Giacomo Margotti. Then for the next few months he set the parliament to work examining in detail the conduct of the elections, and used his liberal majority to declare a dozen other seats held by his opponents vacant because of alleged electoral improprieties.

Upon the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, Solaro della Margarita retired from public life. In 1860, he published a pamphlet entitled: On the Annexation of Certain States to the Monarchy and the Cession of Savoy and Nice to France. It was in 1863 that he published the book The Statesman, intended for scholars of philosophy and politics, and again in 1864 he wrote the Political View of Count Clemente Solaro della Margarita, Minister of State, on the Italo-French Convention of September 15, 1864. The day before he died, he heard a cannon shot from afar, asked what it was about: he was told that the heir of the Savoy family, the future Victor Emmanuel III, had been born. "Praised be God that a Prince was born!" according to biographies written about him, were his last words. He died on November 12, 1869.

See also

• Ambrose Baber
• Heinrich Franz von Bombelles
• Lazzaro Brunetti

Works

• Journal Historique du Siège de la Ville et de la Citadelle de Turin en 1706 (1838)
• Traités publics de la royale maison de Savoie avec les puissances étrangères depuis la paix de Chateau-Cambresis jusqu'à nos jours (1836–1852; 7 volumes)
• Lettere morali alla nobile damigella Giulia Solaro Della Margarita in occasione delle sue nozze col conte Edoardo Demorri di Castelmagno (1845)
• Saggio intorno al socialismo e alle dottrine e tendenze socialistiche (1851)
• Memorandum Storico-politico (1851)
• Appendice al memorandum storico-politico in risposta all'opuscolo del marchese Gualtiero sulle negative dategli dal conte Solaro della Margarita (1852)
• Avvedimenti Politici (1853)
• Questioni di Stato (1854)
• Discorso alla nazione del conte Clemente Solaro della Margarita, deputato del Collegio di S. Auirico, al Parlamento (1856)
• Risposta del conte Clemente Solaro della Margarita all'opuscolo Il Papa e il congresso (1860)
• Opinione del Conte Solaro della Margarita sull'annessione di Alcuni Stati alla Monarchia e Sulla Cessione della Savoia e di Nizza alla Francia (1860)
• Lettera del conte Clemente Solaro della Margarita al suo figlio Carlo Alberto ed alla damigella Teresa Gentile nel giorno delle loro nozze (1861)
• L'Uomo di Stato Indirizzato al Governo della Cosa Pubblica (1863–1864; 2 volumes)
• Sguardo politico del conte Solaro Della Margarita ministro di Stato sulla convenzione italo-franca (1864)

Honors

National or State Honours
	Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus	Knight Grand Cross
	Order of St. Gregory the Great	Knight Grand Cross
	Order of Isabella the Catholic	Knight Grand Cross
	Order of Leopold	Grand Cordon
	Supreme Order of Christ	Knight
	Order of Saint Joseph	Knight Grand Cross
	Order of the Polar Star	Commander
	Constantinian Order of Saint George (Parma)	Senator Grand Cross

Further reading

• Nada, Narciso (1964). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il Regno di Sardegna: I serie, 1814-1830, Vol. 1 (24 aprile 1814–17 luglio 1820). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età modena e contemporanea.
• Nada, Narciso (1968). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il Regno di Sardegna: I serie, 1814-1830, Vol. 2 (23 luglio 1820–3 agosto 1822). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea.
• Nada, Narciso (1972). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il regno di Sardegna: II Serie, 1830-1848, Vol. 1 (5 agosto 1830–28 giugno 1833). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea.
• Nada, Narciso (1973). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il regno di Sardegna: II Serie, 1830-1848, Vol. 2 (2 luglio 1833–19 luglio 1838). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea.
• Nada, Narciso (1993). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il regno di Sardegna: II Serie, 1830-1848, Vol. 3 (10 agosto 1838–26 dicembre 1846). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea.
• Nada, Narciso (1997). Le relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il regno di Sardegna: II Serie, 1830-1848, Vol. 4 (4 gennaio 1847–24 marzo 1848). Roma: Istituto storico italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea.

External links

• Clemente Della Margherita (Solaro)
• Works by Solaro della Margarita at Gallica
• Works by Solaro della Margarita at Open Library