Brewer's: Carbonari

means charcoal-burners, a name assumed by a secret political society in Italy (organised 1808-1814). Their place of muster they called a “hut;” its inside, “the place for selling charcoal;” and the outside, the “forest.” Their political opponents they called “wolves.” Their object was to convert the kingdom of Naples into a republic. In the singular number, Carbonaro. (See Charbonnerie.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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