On May 2–3, 1815, the Battle of Tolentino was fought in the Marche region of Italy between the Austrian army and the forces of Joachim Murat, King of Naples. Murat, who had been Napoleon's brother-in-law and one of his most trusted marshals, had declared for Napoleon during the Hundred Days and attempted to rally Italian nationalists to his cause. The Austrians, commanded by General Friedrich von Bianchi, decisively defeated Murat's forces, forcing him to flee Naples and ending his brief reign. The battle effectively restored Bourbon control over the Kingdom of Naples and marked the end of Murat's ambitions in Italy.

The Battle of Tolentino and the downfall of Joachim Murat became subjects of Italian Romantic poetry and nationalist literature, as writers lamented the failure of Italian unification and the restoration of foreign rule. Murat, with his flamboyant style and tragic end, became a Byronic hero figure in Italian verse, inspiring poems that celebrated his bravery and mourned his defeat. The battle also contributed to the broader literary theme of the failed revolutionary, a figure who would recur in the works of poets like Giacomo Leopardi and Alessandro Manzoni, who grappled with Italy's political fragmentation.