TROYA, CARLO. - Historian, born in Napoli on 7 June 1784, died there on 28 July 1858.
“One of the most powerful champions of the new historiography” (Croce [cf. bibliography], p. 3), which, in opposition to superficial Voltairean historiography, sought to return to the examination of documents. For this reason he travelled through Italy in 1824-26 and then in 1828-31. He began by dealing with the times of Dante in the work: Del veltro allegorico di Dante (Napoli 1826), followed by the Veltro allegorico dei Ghibellini (1832 and 1855); for him the Veltro was Uguccione della Faggiuola. He soon turned to the
history of Italy under the Goths and particularly under the Lombards in his Apparato alla Storia d'Italia, in 5 vols. (Napoli 1839-43), and his most celebrated work was the Codice diplomatico longobardo, enriched with historical notes and observations (Napoli 1852-55). He was in contact with Gino Capponi and Cesare Balbo (his correspondence with the latter was published in Napoli in 1869).
Deeply Christian in sentiment, he admired the work of the popes for the salvation of civilization; at the same time, an enemy of reaction, he was head of the ministers during the brief constitutional period of Ferdinando II (3 Apr.-15 May 1848); afterwards, he was left to his studies.