THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM IN SOUTHERN ITALY (1806-1820)

Abstract

This contribution reconstructs the origins of the public education system in Naples, established during the period between the French Decade and the Bourbon Restoration. Following the school reform implemented in France during the Napoleonic government, a process of adaptation of the French model to the specificities of the territory began in Naples. The modern public education system was established in three distinct phases: during the government of Joseph Bonaparte (1806-1808), during the reign of Joachim Murat (1808-1815) and in the aftermath of the Second Restoration (1816). In the first phase, the school system that was to be completed in the Decreto Organico (henceforth DO) of 1811 came into being. The return of the Bourbons allowed for a consolidation of the education system through more accurate regulation.