Conclusion: ‘Great’ because Protestant, ‘Oriental’ because Catholic

Abstract

It has been recently suggested that ‘the political influence of religion is one of the great lacunae in the field of modern history’.² Although historians agree that rarely, if ever, was Britain more religious than in the nineteenth century, we still know too little about how this powerful and pervasive religiosity influenced politics and, notably, foreign policy.³ The main purpose of this work is thus to contribute to our understanding of how religion and politics in Britain became remarkably fused together when the political focus shifted to Italy. Indeed, the study of how religion influenced the conduct of British foreign relations towards Italy is the underlying theme that makes the chapters of this book part of a coherent discourse. During and around the years of the Roman Question, British politics were dominated by discussions of religious issues and by conflicting ideas of how best to deal with Rome. Gladstone’s view, that Catholic allegiance to the Crown was a pretence because the Pope’s followers were moral and mental slaves to Rome, exemplified the general mood of Britain’s Protestant culture that feared, yet again, a Papal resurgence. This outlook ‘became embedded in the very foundation of Protestant national identity and would for generations stand as a barrier against the acceptance of Catholics as equal citizens within a constitutional system’.⁴ As a result, throughout the nineteenth century anti-Catholicism was significantly widespread and entrenched in the British national mind, to such an extent that ‘it had become a political doctrine in its own right’.⁵