SOCIETIES AND DEPUTATIONS OF PATRIOTIC HISTORY. - Cultural institutions whose principal aim is the research and publication of historical sources relating to the territory of their respective jurisdictions, with chronological limits generally confined to the medieval period.
The first of its kind was established in Turin, where it was founded by Charles Albert by royal patent on 20 April 1833, with the task of providing for the «publication of a collection of unpublished or rare works belonging to our history, and of a diplomatic codex of our States»; its sphere of action was later extended by Victor Emmanuel II, by Royal Decree of 21 February 1860, to the Lombard provinces recently annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia. This was followed, through the efforts of L. C. Farini, doctor of the Romagna provinces, by the three Deputations for the Parmesan, Modenese, and Romagna provinces, founded in 1859; that for Tuscany and Umbria (1862), which, after extending its jurisdiction to the Marches (1863), gave rise to the Deputation for the Marches in 1860 and in 1866 to that for Umbria. In due course there followed the Venetian Deputation (1874), the Roman Society of Patriotic History (1876), the Municipal Society of Patriotic History of Ferrara (1883), the Abruzzese Historical Society (1888), transformed in 1910 into the Deputation of Patriotic History for the Abruzzi, the Symphonic Commission of Archaeology and Patriotic History of Bari (1894), the Friulian Historical Society (1911), transformed in 1918 into the Deputation of Patriotic History for Friuli, the Sicilian Deputation (1924), and the Deputation for Malta (1934).
To coordinate historical research and working methods so that the activity of each historical institution might proceed with a unified approach, after various attempts made first at different historical congresses and then with the creation of the Italian Historical Institute, a Central Board for Historical Studies was finally established by Royal Decree-Law of 20 July 1934, no. 1226, under which the individual institutions were placed, and provision was subsequently made, by further Royal Decree-Law of 20 June 1935, no. 1176, for the transformation of the old regional historical societies into Deputations, all of which were at the same time subjected to a single regulation. The result was 17 Deputations, one for each Italian region (including Malta and Rhodes), which were considered as peripheral organs of the aforementioned Central Board (art. 1). Possessing legal personality, the various Deputations were composed of three categories of members (deputies, correspondents, and fellows) and were governed by executive councils consisting of a president, a vice-president, and two deputies (arts. 4-5), appointed by the Head of State on the proposal of the Minister of National Education, after hearing the opinion of the Board for the executive organs and of the Deputations themselves for all deputies, while for correspondents, who were designated by the respective Deputations, the mere assent of the minister sufficed; fellows, on the other hand, were admitted without limit of number on the judgment of the executive organs. Each Deputation could also have several sections (usually based in provincial capitals), carrying on activities similar to those of the parent Deputation (art. 20) and governed by a Directory composed of a president and two deputies (art. 18).
A further reorganization of Italian historical institutions was carried out a few years ago by the Decree-Law of the Provisional Head of State of 24 January 1947, no. 345, by virtue of which, with the repeal of the De Vecchi Law of 1935, all the Deputations and Historical Societies recognized by the State before 28 October 1922 were revived, with the restoration of their full legal and administrative autonomy; alongside the old institutions, however, the new Deputations for Apulia, Calabria, Lucania, and Sardinia, established in 1935, continued to exist.
The activity of each individual Society and Deputation of Patriotic History is expressed in the publication of periodicals such as Atti e memorie, Archivi storici, Bollettini, Miscellanee, etc. Below is a summary list of the principal ones (the figure in parentheses indicates the year of commencement): Turin: Historia patriae monumenta (1836); Biblioteca storica italiana (1884); Miscellanea di storia italiana (1862); Biblioteca di storia italiana recente (1907). Romagna: Atti e memorie (1862). Liguria: Atti della Società Ligure di storia patria (1858); Rivista di studi liguri (1934). Sardinia: Archivio storico sardo (1905). Marches: Atti e memorie (1895); Fonti per la storia delle Marche (1896). Modenese provinces: Atti e memorie (1862). Parmesan provinces: Archivio storico per le province parmensi (1892). Apulia: Fagiola (1930). Ferrara: Atti e memorie (1889). Rome: Archivio della Società romana di storia patria (1878). Tuscany: Archivio storico italiano (founded by G. P. Viessaux in 1842); Documenti di storia italiana (1867); Biblioteca storica toscana (1923). Veneto: Miscellanea di storia veneta (1881); Monumenti storici (1876). Friuli: Memorie storiche forogiuliesi (1905). Naples: Archivio storico per le province napoletane (1876). Sicily: Archivio storico siciliano (1873).