This folded letter was sent from Rome.
At this time the Pope was still in full authority in the Roman States.
In the insurrection of 1848 the people of Rome defeated the government.
The people wanted to join Sardinia in war with the Austrians.
The also demanded a democratic government
and the proclamation of Italian nationality.
The Pope escaped the city and sought help from the Catholic powers.
After extensive fighting, the Romans surrendered to
the French in June, 1850 and the Pope regained control.
The Papal states comprised Rome and the surrounding territory was
well as the provinces of Romagna and the Marches and Umbria.
Romagna seceded in 1859 leading to an 1860 plebiscite to join Sardinia.
Rome remained under the rule of the Pope with the assistance of a
French garrison
until the French troops were withdrawn during the Franco-Prussian War
in 1870.
Italian troops gained control of Rome by September 20, 1870.
A plebiscite on October 2, 1870, led to the incorporation
of the former Papal States into the unified Italy.
The cover was franked with stamps from the 1852 Papal Arms issue
including
two pairs of 8 bajocchi black and
one 6 bajocchi black on greenish green paper (Scott 9 and 6).
There are four Rome CDS.
The cover was stamped with a boxed P.P. indicating that the cover was
prepaid to the destination.
The cover made the Transatlantic voyage on a
British Packet, Canada,
operated by The Cunard Line.
Canada left Liverpool on
February 17 and arrived in Boston on March 2.
The Boston receiver shows Br. Pkt. as the source of the mail.
Boston was the destination of the cover.
There is a red transit mark on the front (French?) which I don't
understand.
Can someone identify it?
*Boy, is my face RED!
David Benson has pointed out my error in identifying the source of
these stamps.
"Take title from column A and text from Column B."
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