Veronese Easter

Veronese Easters
Part of the French campaign of 1797 in Italy and the Fall of the Republic of Venice

Verona's Guardia Nobile (in blue and yellow and tricornes) and Schiavoni troops (in red jackets and black fezs,[1]) during a re-enactment of the Pasque Veronesi.
Date17 April 1797 – 25 April 1797
Location
Verona, Republic of Venice; now in the Italian region of Veneto
Result

French victory

Belligerents
French Republic People of Verona
Medin Regiment
Commanders and leaders
  • Francesco Battaia
  • Col. Medin
Strength
3,000 regulars
15,000 reinforcements
600 Veronesi
550 Dalmatians
2,500 Milita

The Veronese Easter (Italian: Pasque Veronesi, or singular Pasqua Veronese; French: Pâques véronaises)[2] was a rebellion during the Italian campaign of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, while Napoleon Bonaparte (the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. The uprising received its name through association with the anti-French uprising of the Sicilian Vespers of the 13th century.[3] Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.

  1. ^ The Schiavoni were militias of regular infantry raised in Istria and Dalmatia, above all from the Slavic part of the population. They were mainly used for garrisoning and defending Venice and its surrounding Dogado and the Stato da Màr.
  2. ^ John Julius Norwich, The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean (London: Vintage, 2007), 417.
  3. ^ C. Botta. Storia d'Italia: dal 1789 al 1814. Pisa, 1824. p. 264