The Gavazzi Riots were disturbances created in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
in June 1853 by mobs which attacked halls in which ex-Catholic monk
Alessandro Gavazzi
Alessandro Gavazzi (21 March 18099 January 1889) was an Italian preacher and patriot. He at first became a monk (1825), and attached himself to the Barnabites at Naples, where he afterwards (1829) acted as professor of rhetoric. He left the chur ...
was lecturing.
Overview
During the spring of 1853 Alessandro Gavazzi, an Italian patriot, visited
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. His lectures at
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
were strongly anti-
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
; and at both places soldiers had to be called out to restore order. The riots also caused political repercussions.
Riot in Quebec City
On the evening of the June 6th, pursuant to previous announcement, Gavazzi proceeded to deliver a discourse in the Free Presbyterian Church, in St. Ursule Street, on the subject of the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
. A large audience assembled to hear him. When he had been speaking for somewhat more than an hour he was interrupted by violent and abusive exclamations. The interruption was the signal for action on the part of other protestors outside. A volley of stones came crashing through the windows of the church, and immediately afterwards a crowd of persons armed with bludgeons made a forcible entrance into the building.
The principal participants were Irish Catholics who reacted violently to Gavazzi's anti-Catholic sentiments. Gavazzi attributed the failure of the Italian national movement of 1848-49 to the defection of
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
from the cause, and therefore rejected Catholicism. The Gavazzi Riot in Quebec was quelled by military forces.
In February 1854, on acquittal of a Quebec rioter, Gavazzi was
burned in effigy
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
.
Riot in Montreal
On June 9, a much more serious affray occurred at Montreal, in consequence of the delivery of a lecture there by Gavazzi. The place of delivery was Zion Church, Haymarket Square. A strong body of police were stationed opposite the church. While the lecture was in progress there was an attempt on the part of a band of Roman Catholic Irish to force their way into the church. A few minutes afterwards the latter returned to the assault, and were again driven back.
Charles Wilson, the
mayor of the city, ordered the troops to fire upon the crowd. The order was obeyed, and five men fell dead. The firing by the troops put an end to aggression on the part of the mob. It is impossible even to approximate the number of the wounded.
Investigation of the riot proceeds at Montreal on June 26. The coroner's report deflected blame from Mayor Wilson.
Protestant journalists such as
John Dougall of the ''
Montreal Witness
''The Montreal Witness'' was an English-language Protestant newspaper published in Montreal from 1845 to 1938.
Mission and Purpose
The ''Montreal Witness'' was founded in 1845, by John Dougall. In the December 15, 1845 edition of the ''Witnes ...
'' persisted in accusing the mayor for the riots.
The Montrealer painter
James D. Duncan depicts the event in his work "Gavazzi riot" (1853).
Notes
Further reading
* Aspinwall, Bernard. "Rev. Alessandro Gavazzi (1808–1889) and Scottish Identity: A Chapter in Nineteenth Century Anti-Catholicism." ''Recusant History'' 28#1 (2006): 129-152.
* Horner, Dan. "" Shame upon you as men!": Contesting Authority in the Aftermath of Montreal's Gavazzi Riot." ''Histoire sociale/social history'' 44.1 (2011): 29-52.
External links
The Gavazzi Riots and their Consequences
{{MtlHist
1853 riots
Riots and civil disorder in Canada
History of Montreal
History of Quebec City
1853 in Canada
Sectarian violence
1853 in Quebec
Anti-Protestantism
1850s crimes in Canada