In January 1848, together with his friend it:Filippo Agresti, the young student took part in the insurrection in the province of Potenza, aimed at asking King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies to grant a constitution.
[2] In the following years, after the return to absolutism by the Bourbon sovereign, the young lawyer with patriotic liberal ideas was persecuted by the police, although in 1854 the Council Chamber of Naples did not consider it necessary to proceed criminally against him.
In 1860, on the eve of the Expedition of the Thousand he joined the "Committee of the Order", secretly established by Cavour in Naples to prompt a moderate pro-Piedmontese revolt to break out before the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
[2] Due to his legal and financial abilities, Cortese was called to numerous parliamentary positions: for example, in 1864 he became rapporteur of a report on the bill presented by Keeper of the Seals Giuseppe Pisanelli concerning the suppression of religious bodies.
He also played an important role in the approval of bills such as the one on parliamentary incompatibility and on the organization of central and provincial administration, as well as voting in favor of the 1873 law for the suppression of Roman religious corporations.