Daily Quiz for August 27, 2008

Carbonari. The Carbonari was a secret society in early 19th century Italy who advocated liberal and patriotic ideas and opposed the conservative regimes imposed on Italy by the Allies who had defeated Napoleon in 1815. As with other secret societies of the age, the Carbonari had an initiation ceremony, complex symbols and a hierarchical organization though its exact origins are left to conjecture. They recruited primarily among nobility, small landowners and officeholders and may have been an offshoot of the Freemasons. Their influence is credited with preparing the way for the Risorgimento movement, which resulted in Italian unification (1861).