Padua’s Networks

This chapter provides an introduction of the world of Paduan sociality and, in particular, its emerging associationism. Associations were the principal way civil society expressed itself in Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. An inquiry into their composition and activities identifies the members of Padua’s politically most active moderate circles and gives insight into the modes of networking and lobbying of many of the leaders of the 1848 revolution, including the two Meneghini brothers. The examples of the Gardening Society and of the Botanical Garden show that in Padua, as in the rest of Europe, science was tightly intertwined with other realms of social and intellectual life. Moreover, they illustrate the crucial role of gardens and plants as a ‘glue’ that held together the social elite, but also as a meeting place that blurred the boundaries of gender and social rank, more than any other institution of that time. Section 2.4 focuses on the Istituto Veneto and the Congresses of Italian scientists, which took place between 1839 and 1847, and argues that botany and science played a fundamental role in Padua’s desire to gain political influence at the regional level and in its relationships with the Austrian authorities.