Popular Republicanism in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic World: The Fontanellas Imposture Case Between Spain and Argentina, 1845–1865

From 1861 to 1865, Spanish public opinion divided along class and ideological lines over the guilt or innocence of a man accused of falsely claiming to be the long-lost son of one of the richest banking families in Barcelona. The Causa Fontanellas was the greatest cause célèbre of its time, linking the old world to the new. Published briefs, pamphlets, and press accounts recounted episodes of political persecution that dated back to the Moderate Decade (1844–54) in Spain, while exposing the elite of the monarchy of Isabel II to political and sexual scandal. The stories of the claimant’s overseas adventures covered key events in the Río de la Plata, including the Siege of Montevideo (1843–51), the civil war between the State of Buenos Aires and the Confederation of Argentina (1852–61), and a campaign against a Mapuche confederation in the southern pampas and Patagonian frontier (1857–58). In Argentina, it was seen as another example of the rancid justice of European monarchies. Key witnesses included mariners, merchants, immigrants, reverse immigrants, and military volunteers who traveled between Europe and the Americas, linking democratic political cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. The proliferation of cafés, taverns, theaters, music halls, and public festivals provided spaces where diverse political narratives were imbibed along with spirits and caffeine. Ordinary men and women, together with lawyers, novelists, and playwrights, blended rumor with melodrama and fact with fiction. This microhistory explores the contours of transatlantic republicanism, populism, and political roguery in the age of Garibaldi.