The Government of Naples and the Crisis of the Monarchy

The government of the Kingdom of Naples should be understood in light of two tensions. The first, the fight between the capital city and feudal lords for the right to represent the kingdom. The second, between the crown represented in the person of the viceroy and the city and Kingdom of Naples, who periodically confronted each other in the General Parliament. Two governments, thus, coexisted in the same space, local and viceregal/royal, with different dynamics, laws and ambitions. However, these two governments did not always behave homogeneously but often fell prey to inner dissensions, leading them to join forces or compete with each other depending on their interests in relation to specific issues. Different episodes saw connivance between the viceroy and local elites or the people, but more frequently the opposite was the case, pitting local elites or the populace against viceregal power, by, for example, using their right to send an envoy directly to the king in Madrid to inform him about the latter's abuses of power. Even the viceroy ‘exploited the rivalry between different social groups’ in order to avoid revolutions, because if they were busy confronting each other, they would not be fighting against the viceroy.

In this sense, the synergies between institutions are usual and visible, and, consequently, when problems arose in any part of either the Kingdom and city of Naples or the Hispanic Monarchy, both saw themselves affected. Hence, the socio-political reality of the Kingdom of Naples and its relationship with the Hispanic Monarchy are two essential aspects, according to historian I. Enciso, for understanding the revolutionary outbreak of 1647. Therefore, the indispensable studies by L. Ribot, P. L. Rovito, V. Conti, R. Villari, A. Musi, P. Burke, J. H. Elliott, and more recently G. Parker, A. Hugon, F. Benigno and D. Boerio, have contributed extraordinarily to the description of the revolutionary period, while also positioning the conflict broadly within the context of the uprisings of the 1640s.

In the period 1637–47, internal conflicts within the kingdom and the capital city became particularly significant, leading in 1647 to the outbreak of Masaniello's revolt.