BALLEYDIER, ALPHONSE. – French historian, born in Lyon in 1820, died in 1859. Conservative at heart, but desirous of reforms, he joyfully welcomed the accession of Pius IX to the papal tiara: “Under the guidance of Pius IX, there is no obstacle to fear; the road leading to happiness, and even more so … to liberty, is easy and safe, because God walks with him” (Rome and Pius IX, Italian translation, Turin 1847).
After 1849, he returned to the subject and published a History of the Roman Revolution (Italian translation, Florence 1851), harshly reproaching Mazzini for having sought to resolve the Italian political problem through the destruction of the principle of papal and monarchical sovereignty. He also wrote a History of the Revolutions of the Austrian Empire and a History of the Hungarian War of 1848–49, works that earned him the title of historiographer of the imperial court of Vienna. Silvio Furlani