"Un'epoca di servitù e abiezione". Il viceregno spagnolo nelle pagine della storiografia siciliana dell'Ottocento.

This essay analyses certain passages by the 19th century Sicilian historiography on the Spanish vice-reign in the island where the main tendency was the anti-Spanish movement. The joint opinion of the historians, here analyzed, consisted of a great love for their country based on a nostalgic cult of its indipendent reign and its institutions. The latter were a constant reason of consolation compared to the present reality, which seemed very disappointing and awkward if compared with the "mythical" previos ages. Scrofani, Palmeri, Lanza di Scordia and La Lumia are the historians considered in the essay: their works remain some of the most significant of the century historiography in defining the origin of the anti-Spanish movement and of a culture, not only Sicilian.