Chapter 234: Funeral And Meeting |
Vittorio Emanuele II ultimately passed away, but when he left, there was a smile on his lips, with at least no regrets.
After the old king departed, the Italian Government immediately began fully preparing the old king’s funeral.
In fact, as early as when Vittorio Emanuele II was critically ill, the government had been quietly planning the old king’s funeral.
But after all, the person had not yet departed, so the planning could only be done in secret, and certain aspects still required a long time for perfection.
As the unifier of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II’s funeral had to be of the highest specification. Crown Prince Umberto specially ordered the government that preparations for his father’s funeral must be carried out at the highest specification, without saving any budget in any aspect.
Fortunately, Italy after unification could be considered a wealthy country, and Italy’s northern region provided the Italian Government with large amounts of fiscal revenue every year.
Even taking out tens of millions of lire to prepare Vittorio Emanuele II’s funeral was a piece of cake for the Italian Government.
Moreover, the funeral expenses were far from reaching that figure. Italy’s lira and Spain’s peseta were of similar value, and the currency of this era was still quite valuable.
According to the Italian Government’s estimate, even holding Vittorio Emanuele II’s funeral at the highest specification, the funds spent would absolutely not exceed 5 million lire.
Regarding the old king’s departure, the Italian public was still quite reluctant to let go. Of course, this was for the public who originally belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
As for the Italian public in other regions, they had been under Italy’s rule for less than ten years, so how could they develop affection for King Vittorio Emanuele II in these ten years?
After the old king passed away, Crown Prince Umberto naturally inherited Italy’s throne and became Italy’s new king.
But because the Italian Government was preparing the old king’s funeral, King Umberto’s coronation ceremony was scheduled to be held half a year later.
However, before the coronation ceremony, Umberto was already the official King of Italy. Because his father was the first King of Italy, King Umberto naturally became the first Italian king named Umberto, that is, King Umberto I of Italy.
In fact, old King Vittorio Emanuele II could have changed his “II” to “I” after Italy was established, but the old king continued to use the title he had in the Kingdom of Sardinia in order to soothe the emotions of the Kingdom of Sardinia’s public, which is why he, despite being Italy’s founding monarch, was instead called Vittorio Emanuele II.
According to the Italian Government’s plan, Italy’s unifier, hailed as the father of the homeland of Italians, Vittorio Emanuele II, would be buried in Rome’s Pantheon, a magnificent palace with a history of nearly 2,000 years.
The initial construction history of Rome’s Pantheon can be traced back to 27 BC, and it was later rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in AD
During the Roman Empire period, the Pantheon was a temple dedicated to the Roman gods, and after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Pantheon was converted into a Christian church.
Because Europe has the tradition of burying people in churches, many historically outstanding celebrities are also buried here, such as the youngest of the three great masters after the Renaissance, the famous Italian painter Raphael Sanzio.
After Vittorio Emanuele II passed away, Carlo and his two brothers personally carried their father into the already prepared coffin.
The old king’s coffin was a huge stone sarcophagus, with the bottom of the sarcophagus laid thick with charcoal to prevent water and moisture.
A blanket printed with the House of Savoy emblem was laid on the charcoal, and the old king’s body was wrapped within it. As Italy’s king, Vittorio Emanuele II’s burial goods were instead not luxurious.
Normal European monarchs liked to place many jewels and gold coins, fantasizing taking these wealth with them to heaven as well.
But whether such greed could take them to heaven is not certain, and Vittorio Emanuele II clearly did not have such ideas.
Among the old king’s burial goods, many were just daily necessities. These included the nightgown of his first wife, Archduchess Adelaide, Carlo’s mother; the military cap of Carlo’s brother, the deceased Prince Oddone; and the clothes of Carlo’s two younger brothers, the similarly deceased two Princes Vittorio Emanuele.
Besides these, the old king’s burial goods consisted only of a few books he loved to read and some old photographs, nothing else.
From this, it can be seen that what the old king wanted after death was not luxurious burial goods, but warmth and memories.
Although the price of each burial good was not high, for Vittorio Emanuele II himself, these were the most precious memories of his life.
At eight o’clock in the morning a week later, the Italian Government formally held Vittorio Emanuele II’s funeral.
Although some Italians did not care about the king’s death, many fervent public members who unified Italy flocked to Rome to attend this great monarch’s funeral.
Around eight-thirty in the morning, Rome’s churches rang 58 bells, also representing the old king’s 58-year life journey from 1820 to
The carriage carrying the old king’s remains slowly headed toward the Pantheon, and the Italian public along the way all sent their highest respects and endless blessings to this monarch who unified the country.
They hoped that this king of great achievements could reach heaven after his death, and also hoped that the old king’s successor would be a friendly and approachable king.
Carlo and his two brothers personally rode horses following around the carriage, and accompanying them were King Louis of Portugal and Count Napoleon Jerome Bonaparte of Moncalieri. Because he was the old king’s son-in-law, he also joined the procession.
Three European kings personally escorting Vittorio Emanuele II to Rome’s Pantheon also made the funeral’s scale even more grand.
Besides Carlo and Louis, these two kings who personally carried the coffin, many other countries’ monarchs and important high officials also attended the old king’s funeral.
Italy was at least a second-class great power, and even great power countries could not completely ignore Italy’s existence.
All five traditional great powers of Europe sent envoys, and Austro-Hungarian Empire Emperor Franz Joseph I even sent the imperial crown prince Rudolf to attend the old king’s funeral.
When the old king’s remains arrived at the Pantheon, the funeral proceedings formally began.
First, the bishop praised Vittorio Emanuele II’s merits, calling him a model for all Christian believers, who had served Italy and the Italian people his whole life.
As the king who unified Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II had many merits that could be praised. At least the public’s acclaim for him was real; under his leadership, Italy completed unification and formally became a great power-level country.
After the bishop’s praise, the Italian Prime Minister stepped forward and recited a passage from《 the Bible》 Gospel of John at the funeral, blessing Italy’s great king to soon set foot in heaven.
After this segment, it was time for the whole audience to observe three minutes of silence.
Because it had been communicated in advance, from 11:35 to 38 at noon, all churches in Rome City would ring their bells during these three minutes, observing three minutes of silence together for the great king.
After the silence ended, the state funeral proceedings also formally concluded.
Vittorio Emanuele II’s remains would be placed in the Pantheon tomb for storage, and posterity could also come to the Pantheon to pay respects to the old king.
Carlo attended the entire funeral, and by the time he returned to his residence, it was already evening that day.
Alone in the room, Carlo’s mood was quite complex. After Vittorio Emanuele’s departure, the connection between Carlo and Italy would also be completely severed.
Although the current King of Italy was his brother, Carlo understood that in the future, the relationship between Spain and Italy would gradually become distant.
Although Spain and Italy remained allies, this alliance was more for their own interests, with family affection becoming secondary.
But this was also good, as Carlo could wholeheartedly invest in Spain’s development. If the Italian Royal Family encountered any problems in the future, Carlo was also willing to protect his brother’s descendants.
Of course, it would be best if no problems arose. The House of Savoy’s rule could continue to be inherited in Italy, which was exactly what Carlo’s father Vittorio Emanuele II had expected.
After the funeral ended, Umberto, who became king, instead became busy.
During the period when the old king was critically ill, it had always been Umberto handling political affairs. And after he formally became king, he still needed to hand over with the current cabinet government.
Even though he had handled political affairs before, the power of a crown prince and a king was completely different. Carlo understood this; after all, if a king could not control the cabinet government, it would mean the king had lost power from then on.
In Italy, Carlo also had someone he wanted to see, namely Garibaldi, who had also made outstanding contributions to Italy’s unification.
After Italy’s unification, Garibaldi faded from public view and lived in seclusion on Caprera Island.
But after Vittorio Emanuele II became critically ill, he reactivated Garibaldi.
In this way, Garibaldi was elected as a member of parliament in Rome and received a personal audience from Vittorio Emanuele II.
The two reached a unified opinion on Italy’s situation; neither Vittorio Emanuele II nor Garibaldi wanted to see Italy, which had been unified with great difficulty, fall back into division.
However, although elected as a member of parliament, Garibaldi spent most of his time still on Caprera Island. The main reason for this was the deterioration of Garibaldi’s health, which had greatly reduced his energy compared to before.
After Vittorio Emanuele II became bedridden, Garibaldi was also considering his own affairs.
However, because his two sons were far away in Spain, Garibaldi placed more affection on patriotic sentiments and continuously offered his advice on the government and party’s decision-making.
According to historical experience, Garibaldi did not have much time left. For this great man of Italy, Carlo was quite admiring.
Moreover, since Garibaldi’s two sons were serving under Carlo, both emotionally and rationally, Carlo needed to personally meet Garibaldi.
Different from the ordinary Italian farmer elder appearance when Carlo first saw him, this time when seeing Garibaldi, he was clearly much more aged and dejected.
But thinking about it, it was normal; Garibaldi was fully 13 years older than Vittorio Emanuele II and was now over 70 years old, undoubtedly advanced age.
The value of 70 years old in this era was comparable to 90 years old in later generations; after all, with life expectancy only in the thirties or forties, living long was absolutely rare.
Garibaldi was not surprised by Carlo’s arrival, because Carlo had sent someone to notify in advance long ago.
After all, Garibaldi had already become an Italian member of parliament and could not stay on Caprera Island all the time.
The reason Carlo notified in advance was also to prevent making a futile trip.
Seeing Carlo again, Garibaldi was somewhat emotional.
When he first had contact with Carlo, Carlo was just an ordinary prince of Italy, only 16 years old.
But unexpectedly, Carlo succeeded in Spain’s king selection and became Spain’s new king. And it didn’t end there; after becoming King of Spain, Carlo reclaimed certain powers through various means and closely cooperated with Spanish Prime Minister Primó, making Spain stronger through reforms.
Although it had been determined earlier that Carlo had certain ambition and ability, Garibaldi did not expect Carlo to be so excellent, able to stabilize his throne in an extremely short time.
“Long time no see, Your Majesty Carlo.” Garibaldi spoke first, saying with a smile.
“Long time no see, Mr. Garibaldi.” Carlo also nodded and walked forward.
“Time passes so quickly! Us old folks have all reached the time to meet God.” Garibaldi said with considerable emotion.
“The country’s development still cannot do without meritorious officials like you; Italy’s peace and stability still need you to maintain.” Carlo replied.
Although Italy appeared stable, there were still some problems internally.
Current Italy could be divided into four parts: the Kingdom of Sardinia originally under House of Savoy rule was the first part; the southern Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was the second part; Rome originally controlled by the Papal States was the third part; and northern Italy’s various states were the fourth part.
Among these four regions, the one with relatively serious problems was precisely northern Italy’s various states.
The southern Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was a feudal autocracy state, and Sicilians did not reject Italy’s rule.
After all, during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies period, the exploitation and oppression they suffered was much more severe than during the Italian period.
Although the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’ industry and economy were relatively backward, partly due to lack of mineral resources, the kingdom’s autocracy and corruption were also major factors.
Different from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, northern Italy’s various states had relatively developed industry and economy, and more thoughts and ideologies were born among the residents here.
Republican ideas took root here, which also led to many republicanism supporters in Italy. The biggest problem currently facing the Kingdom of Italy was these republicanism supporters attempting to subvert the kingdom’s rule.
Fortunately, Garibaldi saw the danger republicanism brought to Italy’s unification. If Italy’s republican elements were not restricted, they would definitely sabotage Italy’s current unified state.
The reason Garibaldi was willing to support Vittorio Emanuele II’s Kingdom of Sardinia was precisely because he saw the bonus monarchy brought to unification.
Monarchy might not be the best for Italy, but for the newly unified Italy, it was the easiest to maintain stability.
The reason Vittorio Emanuele II reactivated Garibaldi after becoming critically ill was precisely because he saw the threat republicanism posed to Italy.
If relying only on Crown Prince Umberto, it would be hard to counter Italy’s republican elements. But if Garibaldi was also willing to contribute, suppressing Italy’s republican elements would not be difficult.
Hearing Carlo’s words, Garibaldi nodded.
The reason he was willing to come out of seclusion after more than ten years was mainly because he saw the threat republicanism posed to Italy’s unification.
This was actually the same reason Spanish Prime Minister Primó chose to continue monarchy; only monarchy could maintain national unification.
If current Italy transformed into a republic, it would surely split into several states. For Garibaldi, who single-handedly promoted Italy’s unification, this was what he least wanted to see, and he was willing to continue cooperating with the House of Savoy for Italy’s unification.
“Fortunately, Your Majesty Umberto’s ability is also quite good; Italy’s stability and peace can continue to be maintained.” When talking about Umberto, Garibaldi also expressed affirmation for Umberto.
Umberto was the throne heir carefully cultivated by Vittorio Emanuele II; his ability was at least qualified.
At least during Umberto’s rule, Italy would not have major problems. But to thoroughly solve the problems brought by republican elements, it would require praying that Italy produced a truly capable, ambitious and talented monarch.
Thinking of this, Garibaldi’s gaze involuntarily turned to Carlo, with a hint of regret in his expression.
In his view, Carlo’s ability was higher than King Umberto’s.
Moreover, Carlo was younger and could sit on the throne longer, with more time available to solve Italy’s problems.
But unfortunately, Carlo had early become Spain’s king and had no connection with Italy.
Garibaldi only hoped that King Umberto’s son, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, could grow up soon to become an excellent monarch like Carlo, or at worst, like his father King Umberto, grow into a qualified monarch.
Only then could Italy’s throne be stably inherited, and Italy’s situation long-term stable.
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