Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) - Constitutional Statutes

Constitutional Statutes

The Kingdom of Italy was born on March 17, 1805, when the Italian Republic, whose president was Napoleon, became the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy, and the 24-year-old Eugène de Beauharnais his viceroy.

Napoleon was crowned in Milan’s cathedral on May 26, with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.

Napoleon's title was "Emperor of the French and King of Italy" (French: Empéreur des Français et roi d'Italie), showing the importance of this Italian Kingdom for him.

Even though the republican Constitution was never formally abolished, a series of Constitutional Statutes completely altered it.

The first one was proclaimed two days after the birth of the kingdom, on March 19, when the Consulta declared Napoleon as king and established that his sons would succeed him, even if the French and the Italian crowns had to be separated after the Emperor's death.

The second one, dating from March 29, and regulated the regency, the Great Officials of the kingdom, and the oaths.

The most important was the third, proclaimed on June 5, being the real constitution of the kingdom: Napoleon was the head of State, and had the full powers of government; in his absence, he was represented by the Viceroy, Eugène de Beauharnais. The Consulta, Legislative Council, and Speakers, were all merged in a Council of State, whose opinions became only optional and not binding for the king.

The Legislative Body, the old parliament, remained in theory, but it never summoned after 1805; the Napoleonic code was introduced.

The fourth Statute, decided on February 16, 1806, indicated Beauharnais as the heir to throne.

The fifth and the sixth Statutes, on March 21, 1808, separated the Consulta from the Council of State, and renamed it the Senate, with the duty of to informing the king about the wishes of the most important subjects.

The seventh Statute, on September 21, created a new nobility of dukes, counts and barons; the eighth and the ninth, on March 15, 1810, established the annuity for the members of the royal family. In 1812, a Court of Accounts was added.

The government had seven ministers:

• Minister of War was at first General Augusto Caffarelli, later General Giuseppe Danna for a year, and then, from 1811, General Achille Fontanelli;
• Minister of Interior was at first Ludovico Arborio di Breme and then, from 1809, Luigi Vaccari;
• Minister for Foreign Affairs was Ferdinando Marescalchi;
• Minister of Justice and Great Judge was Giuseppe Luosi;
• Minister of Treasury was Antonio Veneri and the, from 1811, Ambrogio Birago;
• Minister of Finance was Giuseppe Prina;
• Minister of Religion was Giovanni Bovara.

• Napoleon I
  King of Italy
  1805–1814

• Eugène de Beauharnais
  Viceroy of Italy
  1805–1814

• Achille Fontanelli
  Minister of War
  1811–1813

• Ferdinando Marescalchi
  Minister of Foreign Affairs
  1805–1814