Naples during the french « decennio » : a problem unresolved ?

In 1806 the city of Naples constituted one of the most intricate of the problems inherited from the Ancient Regime state. This paper examines the assumptions on which the French administrators attempted to reach more balanced relations between capital and provinces and argues that the particular economic and political imperatives posed by the city heavily compromised the attempted reforms. Many former privileges were preserved, or reintroduced in new forms, while attempts at structural reform gave way to more purely administrative remedies (e.g. more vigorous policing of immigrants) which left the economic structures of the city largely unchanged, although there is evidence of a more radical polarization of social stratification.A. Davis John. Naples during the french « decennio » : a problem unresolved ?. In: Villes et territoire pendant la période napoléonienne (France et Italie). Actes du colloque de Rome (3-5 mai 1984) Rome : École Française de Rome, 1987. pp. 327-354. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 96