SOCIETIES AND DEPUTATIONS OF PATRIOTIC HISTORY. - Cultural institutions whose purpose is above all research into and publication of historical sources relating to the territory of their respective district, with chronological limits falling predominantly within the medieval period.
The first of this kind arose in Turin, where it was established by Charles Albert, by royal letters patent of 20 April 1833, with the task of providing for the "publication of a collection of unpublished or rare works belonging to our history, and of a diplomatic code of our States," and whose sphere of action was later to be extended by Victor Emmanuel II, by Royal Decree of 21 February 1860, to the Lombard provinces recently annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia. It was followed, through the work of L. C. Farini, dictator of the Romagne, by the three D. for the Parma, Modena and Romagna provinces, founded in 1859, by that for Tuscany and Umbria (1862), which, after extending its jurisdiction over the Marche (1863), gave life to the D. for the Marche in 1890 and in 1896 to the D. for Umbria. In succession of time there then came the Venetian D. (1874), the Roman S. of s. p. (1876), the municipal D. of s. p. of Ferrara (1883), the Abruzzese Historical S. (1888), transformed in 1910 into the D. of s. p. for the Abruzzi, the Sienese Commission of s. p. (1894), the Provincial Commission of Archaeology and s. p. of Bari (1894), the Friulian Historical S. (1911), transformed in 1918 into the D. of s. p. for Friuli, the Sicilian D. (1924) and the D. for Malta (1934).
For the coordination of historical research and of working methods, so that the activity of every historical institute might be carried on with a unified direction, after the fruitless attempts made first at various historical congresses, then with the creation of the Italian Historical Institute, there was finally instituted, by Royal Decree-Law of 20 July 1934, no. 1226, a Central Board for Historical Studies, on which the individual institutions came to depend, provision being subsequently made, by a further Royal Decree-Law of 20 June 1935, no. 1176, for the transformation of the old regional historical societies into
D., which were at the same time all subjected to a single set of regulations. There thus resulted 17 D., one for each region of Italy (including Malta and Rhodes), which were regarded as peripheral organs of the aforesaid Central Board (art. 1). Endowed with legal personality, the various D. were composed of three categories of persons (corresponding deputies and members) and were governed by directing Councils formed 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 directing organs and of the D. itself for all the deputies, whereas for the corresponding members, who were designated by the respective D., the simple assent of the minister sufficed; the members, moreover, were admitted, without limit of number, at the judgment of the directing organs. Each D. could furthermore have certain sections (with headquarters generally in the provincial capitals), carrying on an activity analogous to that of the D. on which they depended (art. 20) and governed by a Directorate composed of a president and two deputies (art. 18).
A further reorganization of the Italian historical institutions was provided for 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 De Vecchi law of 1935 repealed, all the D. and historical S. recognized by the State before 28 October 1922 have come back to life, to which the most complete legal and administrative autonomy has been restored; there have nevertheless continued to exist, alongside the old ones, the young D. for the Puglie, Calabria, Lucania and Sardinia, instituted in 1935.
The activity of each individual S. and D. of s. p. is manifested through the periodic publication of Atti e memorie, Archivi storici, Bollettini, Miscellanee, etc. A summary list of the principal ones is given here (the figure in parentheses indicates the initial year): Turin: Historiae 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 S. Ligure di s. p. (1858); Rivista di studi liguri (1934). Sardinia: Archivio storico sardo (1905). Marche: Atti e memorie (1895); Fonti per la storia delle Marche (1896). Modena provinces: Atti e memorie (1862). Parma provinces: Archivio storico per le province parmensi (1892). Puglie: Japigia (1930). Ferrara: Atti e memorie (1889). Rome: Archivio della S. romana di s. p. (1878). Tuscany: Archivio storico italiano (founded by G. P. Viesieux in 1842); Documenti di storia italiana (1867); Biblioteca storica toscana (1923). Veneto: Miscellanea di storia veneta (1881); Monumenti storici (1876). Friuli: Memorie storiche forogialiesi (1905). Naples: Archivio storico per le province napoletane (1876). Sicily: Archivio storico siciliano (1873).
Bibliography8 works
Niccolò Del Re