This rare and intriguing document captures a brief but significant moment in the political history of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. On June 25, 1860, amid rising internal unrest and the looming threat of invasion by Giuseppe Garibaldi and his red-clad band of marauding freebooters, King Francis II made the consequential decision to restore the constitution originally granted during the Revolutions of 1848. The restoration was a belated and ultimately ill-fated attempt to appease liberal and revolutionary factions within the kingdom and to rally broader support in defense of the Bourbon monarchy.
The move failed to achieve the desired effect. The sudden return to constitutionalism was widely seen as a desperate concession rather than a true reform. Garibaldi’s forces continued their advance, and within months the Bourbon regime collapsed, bringing an end to centuries of sovereign rule.
Although I personally do not favor constitutionalism, I still recognize the historical significance of the document. It serves as an insightful artifact of liberal nationalist ideology and a utopian experiment during the political upheavals of the modern era, offering a valuable glimpse into the institutional and legal structure of the kingdom in its final days.
