LA CARROZZA DI SAN PIETRO | I EDIZ. 1983 | ORI-PERICH

La carrozza di San Pietro is a historical non-fiction work that investigates a controversial case in mid-19th century Bologna: the kidnapping of the young Edgardo Mortara in 1858. Through archival research, personal records, and local sources, the authors Pier Damiano Ori and Giovanni Perich reconstruct the events around the forcible removal of Edgardo, a child born to a Jewish family, by papal authorities on the grounds of religious conversion (or alleged conversion), amid the tension between church, civil law, and Jewish minority rights. The narrative combines historical context of Papal States rule, legal norms, and social attitudes of the time, examining notions of identity, coercion, religious authority, and minority persecution. Stylistically, the book is concise (around 110 pages), with care for detail but written for a broad readership interested in religious history, human rights, and the sociopolitical dynamics of Italy pre-Unification. It doesn’t present sensationalism but seeks clarity, offering a moral reflection on the conflict between institutional power and individual freedom..