The
Webster 1913 definition of "
Carbonarism" depends entirely on who the "Carbonari" were, but
Webster 1913 doesn't mention the Carbonari at all: Hence this brief and shoddily researched
exposition.
The Carbonari as an organization were a
secret society active in
Italy and later in
France, around the end of the
18th century and the first few decades of the
19th century. Like the
Illuminati,
Freemasons, etc., they claimed to be centuries older. They were
Catholic (they venerated
St. Theobald as their
patron), but
anti-clerical.
"Carbonari" means "
charcoal burners" in
Italian; in
France they were known as
Charbonnerie, which means the same but in
French. Like the
Freemasons, the name was metaphorical, and much of their "secret"
jargon was drawn from that
metaphor.
In addition to oblique
jargon, they had the usual secrecy and fearsome
oaths, and an
initiation which the
Catholic Encyclopedia describes as "
blasphemous" without giving any juicy details. They allowed
Freemasons to join as "masters" without passing through the >= 6-month "
apprenticeship" period required of others.
The stated goal of the Carbonari was influenced by the
French Revolution: They wanted to establish either
republics or
constitutional monarchies in
France, the kingdom of
Naples, and wherever else they were active.
Italy was badly fragmented at that time, and so around
1815 the Carbonari were also involved with the early stages of Italian
irredentism, in connection with
Napoleon's
stooge King
Ferdinand I of
Naples. Along the way,
Naples did briefly gain a
constitution, but
Austria and other
European nations ganged up on them and it didn't last. By the end of the
1820s they'd mostly been folded into other
irredentist groups, most notably
Giuseppe Mazzini's
Young Italy movement.
The
French Charbonnerie participated in a
revolution in
France in
1830, and then began to wane; they were last heard from in
1841.
Information from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
http://newadvent.org/cathen/
http://newadvent.org/cathen/03330c.htm