GOOD COUSINS, the name by which the members of the Carbonari Society were known among themselves in Germany and France. The society of the charcoal-burners (Carbonari) is undoubtedly one of the oldest in Europe. Some writers on the subject have claimed that its originator was Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, while others trace its origin to the union of charcoal-burners in Ger many in the 12th century for self-protection against soldiers, robbers and other enemies. By the 16th century the secret society of the charcoal-burners was strong enough to force Ulrich, Duke of Wurttemberg, to abolish cer tain oppressive forest laws. These societies, which, in their mystical rituals, exhibited a curious mingling of Christianity and paganism, spread rapidly throughout the wide forest areas of Germany, France and adjacent countries, where their secrecy and their faithfulness to the obligations of their secret society oath became the highest symbol of faithfulness. In Italy, it was customary to affirm anything strongly by asserting that the statement or promise was made °on the faith of a Political plotters in various countries took refuge in the forest, and there, to disarm suspicion, assumed the role and life of charcoal burners and venders. This enabled them to go into the cities and towns and the strongholds of their enemies and there to spy out the land and meet with other plotters. Thus the Carbonari frequently played their part in the troublesome politics of Europe, extending their sway and their methods as far as Ireland and Scotland; and everywhere the Carbonari were known to one another by an elaborate series of ritualistic signs, international in their import and inter pretation. This ritualistic organization seems to have been the result of the combination of the wood-cutters and charcoal-burners societies upon which was grafted a ritual formed, in part at least, by the political refugees and plotters, who succeeded in giving the association a world-wide importance, mystic significance and executive organization it could scarcely other wise have had. Francis I of France plays a prominent part in the traditions of the Car bonari, at whose feasts the grand master of the order drinks his health, as its founder. The tradition runs that the king, while out hunting, got lost in the forest. There he was enter tained by the charcoal burners and initiated into their secret order, in which he afterward took a great interest, elaborating the ritual into which he introduced a deep symbolism. In this tradition there is probably a shadowy re membrance of the fact that Francis I extended his protection to the Waldenses, many of them forest people, who had taken refuge in his king dom. One of the traditional leaders of the Carbonari (who seems to have been a historical character) was Theobald, .a hermit of noble rank who lived in the forest of Suabia; and he is said to have become the patron (during his life) and adviser of the charcoal-burners.
He was canonized by Pope Alexander III in the 12th century and adopted by the Carbonari as their patron saint. The deeds attributed to him are a curious commingling of pagan and Christian traditions which are reflected in the •ritualistic hymns which the Carbonari address to him, invoking his aid as the chief good cousin of all the "Good Cousins? This ritual istic term which has long been employed by the members of the Carbonari to designate one another seems to have been first employed by the wood-cutters of the department of Jura (France) who termed their secret society "le bon coucinage" (the good cousinship), a name adopted by the Carbonari and applied also to the individual members of the association,' the first and second degrees of which were termed, respectively, that of the Fendeurs (wood-cut ters), and that of the Carbonari (coal burners). In the pre-revolutionary days of France (1770-89) many of the members of the French Chambers and of other associations tinged with Republicanism were members of the Fendeurs, of which there were secret societies in most of the great centres of population in France, including the capitol itself. The Good Cousins societies, which afterward became too strong in southern Italy, were introduced into that country by returning soldiers who had taken part in the Napoleonic wars, or by exiles who had lived in Germany and Switzer land during the occupation of Italy by the French. The lodge or meeting-house of the Carbonari was known as the vendita; and the decrees of the society were popularly repre sented as those of the vendita. The first lodge or vendita of the Carbonari in Italy, of a formal character, was opened in Capua under the pro tection and auspices of the British, who wished to use the association as a means of uniting the Italians, in secret societies, against Napo leon. The order, thus encouraged, spread ra pidly, became much better organized and played a prominent part in the political wars and rev olutionary movements of Italy. See CAR SONAR!.
Bibliography.— Bandini, e scritti politici clandestini della Carboneria Romagnola 1819-21) (Rome 1908) ; Canal, C., (II concilia tore e i Carbonari' (Milan 1878) ; Colleta, 'Storia del reame di Craven, Hon. R. K., 'A Tour through the Southern Provinces of Naples) (London 1821) t De Witt, 'Les so eietes secretes de France et d'Italie> (Paris 1830) ; Heckethorn, 'The Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries) (New York 1897) ; Johnston, R. M., 'Napoleonic Empire in South ern Italy and the Rise of the Secret (London 1904); Orloff, 'Memoires sur le roy aume de Naples); 'Memoirs of the Secret So cieties of Southern Italy) (London 1821); Pelico, Silvio, 'Le mie prigioni) (1832) ; Pepe, 'Relation des Evenements Politiques et Mili taires a Naples en 1820 et 1821) (Paris 1822) ; Saint Edme, 'Constitution des Carbonari' (Paris 1821); Santini, L., 'Origine della Car boneria' (1821) ; Wrightson, R. H., 'History of Modern Italy) (London 1855).