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In the heat of July 1760, while Europe was going through great political tensions and Enlightenment turmoil, something crucial but often forgotten happened in Sardinia: on 25 July<\/strong>, a royal note<\/strong> signed by the Minister for Sardinian Affairs, Giovanni Battista Lorenzo Bogino<\/strong>, decreed that Italian was to become the only language that could be used in schools and public institutions<\/strong> on the island.\nA choice that marked Sardinia's linguistic and cultural identity forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bogino was an energetic, pragmatic Piedmontese minister and a staunch supporter of Savoyard centralism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With this formal act, the minister ordered that all school teaching be conducted exclusively in the Italian language<\/strong>, excluding the use of Catalan<\/strong>, Spanish<\/strong> and Sardinian<\/strong>, which until then had been widely used in school, religious and institutional contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was clearly a political action: linguistically unifying the island meant making it more controllable<\/strong>, more integrated into the Savoy vision of the Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Catalan was still the language of culture and liturgy in many cities (especially in Alghero), while Castilian remained the language of bureaucracy and law. Sardinian, on the other hand, was the language of the people, but without official status.\nItalian - hitherto perceived as a 'foreign language' - was thus raised to the status of the language of modernity and power<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reactions to this reform were varied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some sectors of the clergy and aristocratic families welcomed Italian, seeing it as a cultured language and vehicle of progress.\nOthers, however, perceived it as a form of cultural imposition<\/strong>, undermining the historical and linguistic autonomy of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The correspondence preserved in the royal archives reveals the unease of some Sardinian bishops, educators and scholars - including members of the Simon<\/strong> family - who demanded more time to adapt seminaries, convents and church schools to the new language.\nBut Bogino was adamant: the change had to be swift, decisive and irreversible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The intent was not only educational, but deeply political<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imposing Italian meant breaking with the Iberian cultural heritage<\/strong> and strengthening loyalty to the Piedmontese monarchy.\nSardinian - in its many variants - was relegated to an inferior language<\/strong>, unworthy of teaching, unsuitable for public administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, while mainland Italy was moving towards unity, in Sardinia the loss of a public space for the Sardinian language had already begun<\/strong> - and the effect would be profound and lasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite everything, Sardinian popular memory has preserved the name of Bogino<\/strong>.\nThis is still testified to today by a saying, which has become proverbial, used as an ironic curse or a stern warning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAncu ti currat su Buginu\u201d<\/strong> Although today the saying is often associated with the historical figure of Minister Giovanni Battista Lorenzo Bogino, linguistic research indicates that the term buginu\/buzinu may have more ancient origins. In many areas of Sardinia, it is linked to the executioner<\/strong> or carver<\/strong>, probably derived from the Catalan botx\u00ed<\/em> or the Latin bucinum<\/em>, an instrument used to announce executions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The association with Bogino would therefore be subsequent<\/strong>, born out of similarity and reinforced by the reputation for severity that his reforms left in the popular imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An expression that reveals how his actions were experienced as authoritarian, rigid and in many ways painful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the heat of July 1760, while Europe was going through great political tensions and Enlightenment turmoil, something crucial but often forgotten happened in Sardinia: on 25 July, a royal note signed by the Minister for Sardinian Affairs, Giovanni Battista Lorenzo Bogino, decreed that Italian was to become the only language that could be used in schools and public ... <\/p>\n
\n\n\n\nWho was Bogino?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
His goal was to transform Sardinia into a modern, orderly, efficient territory - and above all, loyal to the Savoy monarchy.
Among his most incisive reforms: censuses, administrative reorganisation, control over the Church, strengthening of agriculture... and an aggressive language policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe royal note of 25 July 1760<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Local reactions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A language to dominate?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A living trace in the Sardinian language<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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(May you not be persecuted Bogino!)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nEtymological note on the term \"Buginu\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Piedmontese minister thus entered the history of Sardinia... and even its language<\/strong>, ironically the very one he wanted to marginalise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBibliography for further reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u21b3 <\/a>Disponibile su: https:\/\/tesidottorato.depositolegale.it<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\nSitologia (fonti online consultate)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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