Jump to content

List of people executed in the Papal States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rick marin (talk | contribs) at 17:16, 25 August 2008 (spelling). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Giovanni Battista Bugatti, executioner of the Papal States between 1796 and 1865, carried out 516 executions (Bugatti pictured offering snuff to a condemned prisoner).

This is a list of people executed by the Holy See. It includes individuals executed by the Papal States and/or on the orders of the Pope. Although capital punishment in Vatican City was legal from 1929 to 1969, no executions took place. This list does not included people executed by other authorities of the Roman Catholic Church or those executed by Inquisitions other than the Roman Inquisition, or those killed in wars involving the Papal States, or those killed extra-judicially.

Most executions were related to the punishment of civil crimes committed within the Papal States, with the condemned convicted within the civil courts of the Papal States; for example, in 1585, Pope Sixtus V initiated a "zero tolerance" crackdown on crime, which according to legend resulted in more severed heads collected on the Castel Sant'Angelo bridge than melons in the Roman markets.[1] The best records are from the tenure of Giovanni Battista Bugatti, the executioner of the Papal States between March 22, 1796 and August 17, 1861, who recorded the name of the condemned, the crime, and the location of the execution for each of the 516 "justices" he performed for the popes.[1] Bugatti's list ends: "So ends the long list of Bugatti. May that of his successor be shorter".[2]

Before 1816, the most common methods of execution were the axe and noose (with burning at the stake used in high profile instances); after 1816, the guillotine (installed by the French during their control of Rome) became the norm.[1] However, after 1816, two other methods—the mazzatello (crushing of the head with a large mallet, followed by a cutting of the throat) and drawing and quartering (sometimes, but not always, after a hanging)—continued to be used for crimes that were considered "especially loathsome".[1]

The execution sites of choice were the Castel Sant'Angelo bridge (pictured, right), the Piazza del Popolo, and Via dei Cerchi near the Piazza della Bocca della Verita.[1] Papal law prescribed a payment of only three cents of the Roman lira per execution for the exectioner to "mark the vileness of his work" but did not prohibit the free lodging, tax concessions, and large pension awarded to Bugatti.[1]

The date in parentheses is the date of the execution.

List of people executed by the Holy See

12th century

Arnold of Brescia burned by papal guards

14th century

15th century

Execution of Girolamo Savonarola in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence.

16th century

17th century

Monument to Giordano Bruno in the place of his execution in the Campo de' Fiori

18th century

  • Nicholas Gentilucci, convicted of murdering a clergyman and robbing friars, first person executed by Buggati (March 22, 1796)[2]

19th century

Note: Executions between 1798 and 1815 (Congress of Vienna), executions in papal Rome were to some degree controlled by the French authorities.[1]
  • Tommaso Tintori, local man convicted of homicide and first to be guillotined (1810)[1]
  • Pecorari Angel, convicted of homicide in Poland, sent to Rome for execution (January 21, 1847)[2]
  • Sabbatino Proietti, convicted of theft, highway robbery, and murder in Rieti (August 20, 1853)[2]
  • Angelo Lisi di Alatri, convicted of highway robbery and murder in Frosinone (April 30, 1862)[2]
  • Antonio Olietti of Rome and Domenico Antonio Demartini, beheaded for homicide, last executions by Buggati (August 17, 1864)[2]
  • Agatino Bellomo, last person executed by the Papal States, two months before Rome was captured by Italian revolutionaries (July 9, 1870)[1][2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Allen, John L., Jr. 2001, September 14. "He executed justice - papal execution Giovanni Battista Bugatti's life and work". National Catholic Reporter.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Executed Today. "Papal States".

References

  • Hughes, Steven. 1987. "Fear and Loathing in Bologna and Rome: The Papal Police in Perspective". Journal of Social History.
  • Megivern, James J. 2003. "Capital Punishment: The Curious History of its Privileged Place in Christendom". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society.
  • Brugger, E. Christian. 2001. "To Kill or Not to Kill: The Catholic Church and the Problem of the Death Penalty". Lecture in the Department of Religious Studies, Loyola University.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_people_executed_in_the_Papal_States&oldid=234169013"