Papal Nationalism

How could the people living in Central Italy come to develop a seperate national identity from the north of Italy? This identity should preferably somehow include the Papacy remaining as the highest form of government, even though democratic elements may be included.
 
There's a pretty big difference between a "Central Italian" nationality and a "Papal" form of nationalism. The former seems doable, the latter not so much (given the universalist position of the Papacy). You'd either need to fundamentally change the dynamics of the Italian national awakening to such a degree that Cavour and Garibaldi won't consider anything south of the Rubicon to be Italian (which is pretty difficult, given the importance of Rome to the national movement) OR establish a European balance of power with a vested interest in keeping Italy divided. In time such a division could result in similar, but politically separate states.

But then again... Machiavelli was already espousing some kind of Italian primordial nationalism in the 16th century.

North Italy going Protestant would definitely do the trick, but IDK how plausible that is.

Just like the entrenchment of Protestantism in the Northern parts of the HRE prevented Germany from uniting! ;)
 
Just like the entrenchment of Protestantism in the Northern parts of the HRE prevented Germany from uniting! ;)

I'd argue that the religious split and wars resulting were what ultimately enabled Prussia to emerge as dominant and to ultimately split Austria off from the Germanies. Thus, Protestantism was certainly one of the things that helped prevent a German unification on the lines of the HRE's maximum borders.
 
I'd argue that the religious split and wars resulting were what ultimately enabled Prussia to emerge as dominant and to ultimately split Austria off from the Germanies. Thus, Protestantism was certainly one of the things that helped prevent a German unification on the lines of the HRE's maximum borders.

If you go by the Grossdeutschland definition of German unification, then you’re absolutely right. But if we want to continue the Kulturkampf analogue, we should remember that Prussia did absorb some very strong Catholic states on its path towards welding Germany together. As such, I think an alternative Risorgimento would include significant Catholic parts. But all of this depends, of course, on a huge amount of unknown variables. How come Northern Italy is Protestant? What’s the extent of this Northern Italy? How does it relate to ATL’s definition of nationalism?

Besides, is religion necessarily the main cause? Scandinavia is often presented as the region where national unification failed, but the three Scandinavian states all share closely connected cultures, including the Lutheran confession. This of course came about on account of different developments, within the region as well as in Europe as a whole.
 
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Another issue is that local sympathies were often kind of set against Papal authority. The cities of Central Italy valued their autonomy and rights and felt that the Papacy was an oppressive ruler. During the age of nationalism, these tensions often swayed the locals to the cause of unification. So you may need to change how the Papacy interacted with the cities to inspire greater support for its rule.
 
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Due to the ideology of the Papacy, I'm not sure you could really develop a sense of Nationalism. You could definitely see the development of a pan-Nationalism somewhat akin to Habsburgism; possibly coming out of the Neo-Guelph movement of the 19th century.
 
There's already a very strong Roman identity among the youth in Rome. You get a lot of Roman youths that say they are Roman and not Italian, and get SPQR tattoos etc. However, it tends to be more prevalent among left-wingers than right-wingers (who identify more with Lazio the region). Perhaps if you merge both identities better, tie it with Catholic nationalism and the Pope as the last remnant of the Roman Empire.
 
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