Gavazzi Riots
- Date:
- June 1853
Gavazzi Riots, disturbances in Quebec and Montreal in June 1853 during a lecture tour by Alessandro Gavazzi, Italian orator of the Risorgimento (movement for Italian unification) and a former Catholic priest who had become a bitter critic of the Roman Catholic Church.
On June 6 Gavazzi, speaking in strongly Catholic Quebec, provoked a riot that was quelled by troops. Another demonstration occurred three days later, while Gavazzi was lecturing in Montreal. Troops were once again called out to maintain order; this time they fired on the demonstrators, killing 11 of them.
These incidents aggravated religious antagonisms in Canada, and they also had political repercussions; the Hincks-Morin administration was criticized by its opponents for its handling of the riots.
