[1] He is credited with saving the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian general and central figure of the Risorgimento, during a battle in the town of Velletri in 1849.

[6] What makes Cantoni significant is his defense and rescue of one of the most important figures of the Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi.

On May 19, 1849, in the town of Velletri, a battle commenced between Italy and the Spanish Bourbon Neapolitan forces.

Rather than an exact retelling of his life and accomplishments, Garibaldi instead used Cantoni as a character in a fictionalized tale of his heroism.

[3] The novel also shows Garibaldi's anti-clericalism, a result of his frustrations with the Catholic Church and the First Vatican Council in Rome.

He considered the Papal Theocracy “the plague of the World” and portrayed members of the church as evil villains in his novel.

One character, a Jesuit priest named Fra Gaudenzio, attempts to rape Ida while she is imprisoned.