Lazzaroni

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Street children in Naples, 1890s, photo by the Alinari brothers

Lazzaroni (plural for: Lazzarone, also: Lazzari ) was a name for part of the lower class of Naples from the 17th to the 19th century . Lazzaroni had neither their own apartments nor jobs.

Concept history

The name lazzari appears for the first time in connection with the Masaniello revolt of 1647 and describes the inhabitants of the lower class districts, for example the Mercato , who are held responsible for the start of the uprising. The word comes either, as Benedetto Croce assumed, from the Spanish lacería , which combines the meanings of “leprous” and “misery”, or from the Gospel of Luke , where poor Lazarus wants to eat the breadcrumbs of a rich man.

history

For a long time, the Neapolitan authorities feared that the "homeless" (as they were also called) could instigate rebellions. Therefore they received certain special rights (subsidized bread price). Nevertheless, around the 17th century, under the leadership of Tommaso Masaniello , there was a great uprising of the Lazzaroni, who, however, were unable to maintain the power they had once won in Naples. Their number was estimated at up to 60,000 at times.

They were notorious for having committed many atrocities during the uprisings against the middle class and nobility of the Parthenopean Republic . Together with the lower Italian banditry , she fought General Charles Antoine Manhès (1777-1854), later also Joachim Murat . In 1799, but also in 1820 and 1849, the Lazzaroni sided with the ruling Bourbons in the persecution of the Liberals .

The Camorra later developed from the gang structures of the Lazzaroni .

Descriptions and mentions

The lazzaroni are important in the numerous travel reports about Naples from the 18th and 19th centuries. From around 1750, popular culture came to the fore.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel mentions in the addition of § 244 in the basic lines of the philosophy of law the Lazzaroni as an example for people who are dependent on chance. Even Johann Gottlieb Fichte mentions the Lazzaroni in a side note the basis of natural law (constitutional law II, Section 19, G) Always wear as an example of people who all their property in the form of clothing on the body.

The Lazzaroni are vividly described by Goethe in his Italian journey . It is mentioned that it is part of their habit to be naked on the beach in Naples. Even Johann Joachim Winckelmann was interested in the Lazzaroni.

Karl Marx writes in his presentation of the impoverishment theory and the industrial reserve army in Das Kapital. Volume I of the " Lazarus layer of the working class". ( MEW 23, p. 673)

Georg Büchner writes in his comedy Leonce and Lena in the first act, the third scene also about the Lazzaroni.

literature

General literature
  • Luisa Basile, Delia Morea: Lazzari e Scugnizzi. La lunga storia dei figli del popolo napoletano. Newton Compton, Rome 1996, ISBN 88-8183-343-3 .
  • Benedetto Croce : Lazzari. In: Giuseppe Galasso (ed.): Un paradiso abitato da diavoli. Adelphi, Milan 2006, ISBN 88-459-2036-4 , pp. 83-95.
  • Amato Lamberti: Lazzaroni. Napoli sono anche loro. Graus Editore, Naples 2006, ISBN 88-8346-134-7 .
  • Francesco Mastriani: I Lazzari. Naples 1976 (reprint of the Naples 1878 edition).
  • Katharina Siebenmorgen: Lazzaroni. In: Salvatore Pisani, Katharina Siebenmorgen (Ed.): Naples. Six centuries of cultural history. Reimer, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-496-01401-0 , pp. 304-306.
further reading

Web links

Commons : Lazzari  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Katharina Siebenmorgen: Lazzaroni. In: Salvatore Pisani, Katharina Siebenmorgen (Ed.): Naples. Six centuries of cultural history. Pp. 304–306, here: p. 304.
  2. ↑ Lk 16 : 20–31  EU