I.S.T.A.
Banditi e fuorilegge nelle Alpi Tra Medioevo e primo Ottocento
1 Maggio 2017
BANDITI E FUORILEGGE NELLE ALPI Tra Medioevo e primo Ottocento
Progetto: I.S.T.A. - Incontri per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Alpine Società Storica e Antropologica di Valle Camonica Revisione testi e traduzioni: Loris Bendotti, Valeria Gazzoli, Fabio Faiferri. Commitato organizzativo: Loris Bendotti, Ivan Faiferri, Luca Giarelli, Gian Paolo Scalvinoni, Giancarlo Taboni. L’edizione di questo libro è stata curata da: Luca Giarelli. Immagini: Copertina. Fronte: G.A. Ceruti, La rissa, 1720-1725, Milano, Collezione privata. Retro: G.A. Bertanza, ex voto, XVII sec., santuario di Montecastello, Tignale. G.A. Ceruti, Il bravo, 1730-1735 c., Carzago della Riviera, Fond. Sorlini. G.A. Ceruti, Incontro nel bosco, 1730-1735 c., Milano, collezione privata. G.A. Ceruti, Il nano, 1725 c., collezione privata. Immagini: Moravian Library, Brno, Valtellina con contadi di Bormio e Chiavenna (p. 123). Profilo montuoso: Monte Concarena, Valle Camonica. Senza il permesso scritto è vietata la riproduzione del presente lavoro sotto qualsiasi forma. Youcanprint Self-Publishing Via Roma, 73 - 73039 Tricase (LE) - Italy www.youcanprint.it info@youcanprint.it Facebook: facebook.com/youcanprint.it Twitter: twitter.com/youcanprintit ISBN: 978-88-92668-83-6 Prima edizione italiana, maggio 2017. Il progetto è stato possibile grazie a:
Società Storica e Antropologica di Valle Camonica
Comunità Montana di Valle Camonica
www.ssavalcam.it
www.cmvallecamonica.bs.it
Fondazione Tassara
2
Cassa Padana Area Camuna www.cassapadana.it
Indice
Introduzione
pag.
5
»
9
»
33
»
69
Bartolomeo Accorsi sicario e cacciatore di taglie al servizio del Tribunale supremo
»
95
Galeano Lechi il conte Diavolo tra Repubblica di Venezia e Grigioni
»
109
L’ultimo dei bravi. Giovanni Maria Borni «capitanio della Valcamonica»
»
125
L’impune Garatti e la Compagnia di Fraine
»
143
Girolamo Bergomi e la banda Feraij di Gardone Val Trompia
»
165
»
183
»
195
Parte I - Banditi e fuorilegge nelle Alpi 1.
Giorgio Vicario bandito decollato di Pisogne in Valle Camonica Luca Giarelli
2.
L’ultimo viaggio di Giovanni Beatrice (11-17 agosto 1617) Claudio Povolo
3.
Giacomo Panzerini bandito tra Valcamonica, Milano e Valtellina Luca Giarelli
4.
Furio Bianco 5.
Cristina Pedrana Proh 6.
Giorgio Danesi 7.
Gian Paolo Scalvinoni 8.
Carlo Rizzini 9.
Giovanni Battista Bevilacqua di Malé sacerdote e reclutatore Alberto Mosca
10.
Un noto ladro tedesco giustiziato a Chiavenna nel 1785 Guido Scaramellini
3
»
201
»
221
»
233
»
247
»
289
»
305
»
313
- Marc'Antonio Martinengo e compari (1723)
»
339
- Zorzi
»
347
- Bortolamio Bargnan e compari, Zorzi Vicario, Matteo Achiapati, Giovanni Cominazzi e altri (1725)
»
351
- Bando contro Giacomo Panserini e compari (1770)
»
359
Bibliografia
»
367
Abstracts
»
381
11.
Duplice omicidio sulla Gruobialp Flavio Zappa
12.
Vistallo Zignoni il bandito-eroe della Sacra Spina Tarcisio Bottani
13.
Vincenzo Pacchiana alias Paci Paciana «ol re de la Al Brembana» Franco Irranca
14.
Giosué Gianavello e la «guerra dei banditi» nel Piemonte del Seicento Martino Laurenti
15.
Branda de Lucioni e Giuseppe Antonio Majno. Riflessi di teologia politica d’Ancien Régime nel banditismo alpino di fine Settecento Eleonora Tossani
16.
I «banditi» saraceni tra storia e immaginario alpino Massimo Centini
17.
The Kindberg Heart Eater. A case of serial killing in century Styria
18th
Christian Bachhiesl
Parte II - Appendice Bandi dell'eccelso Consiglio di dieci contro:
Vicario, Lorenzo Novalli e Bartolamio Pestaloppo (1723)
4
Abstracts
1. Giorgio Vicario, the beheaded bandit of Pisogne in Valle Camonica Giorgio Vicario was born in 1694 in Pisogne, Valle Camonica, territory of the Republic of Venice. Around the twenties of the eighteenth century, he committed his first murder, after which he fled abroad for a time. Returned later in the valley, he strengthen his position thanks to a close network of friends and surrounding himself with a motivated group of supporters. Giorgio had the audacity to act undisturbed, regardless of the Venetian justice. In 1723, after some serious misdeeds in Clusone, in the district of Bergamo, he was banished with a reward for his capture (dead or alive). A second ban hit him in 1725. In 1727 he was assassinated in his butcher and his head was removed by the killers and brought to Bergamo for the recognition in order to gain the reward. 2. The last journey of Giovanni Beatrice (11-17 August 1617) The long and turbulent life of Giovanni Beatrice ended on the 17th August 1617 in a battle that saw him standing up against Tignale’s townsfolk. An historic happening more than a mere event, the fighting was represented in a grandiose exvoto painting by Giovan Francesco Bertanza and it’s still visible in the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Montecastello of Tignale. That battle was preceded by the last journey the great outlaw made moving from the territory of Piacenza, where he sought refuge for a long time, to the norther basin of Lake Garda. A journey taken with the apparent purpose of kidnapping a rich notable but still shrouded in mystery. In a way, it’s possible to truly understand this trip only by analyzing the entire, tormented life of this outlaw. After the battle and its painting in the large ex-voto of Tignale, the figure of Giovanni Beatrice assumed mythical contours, being remembered in the following centuries, as Zanzanù. 3. Giacomo Panzerini a bandit among Valcamonica, Milan and Valtellina Giacomo Panzerini of Cedegolo (Valle Camonica) was the son of Lodovico Panzerini, one of the most wealthy and influential men of the mid-eighteenth century Valle Camonica, and Maria Bettoni, descendant of an important family of Brescia. Protected by his bulli, he carried out oppression and violence without fear of justice. A raid in Valtellina caused him a sentence from the Three Leagues and a ban by the Republic of Venice (1769), so he was forced to flee to the Duchy of Milan in search of protection. He could no longer return to Valle Camonica and died in Sondrio in 1777.
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4. Bartolomeo Accorsi hired assassin and bounty hunter at the service of the Supreme Tribunal Bortolo Accorsi from Lodi was one of the most shrewd and able characters at the service of the Venetian Ferma Tabacchi, and worked for the Venetian magistrature as hatchet man, sometimes even as informer or hit man for the State’s Inquisitors. Starting around 1750, he was in command of a task-force of swordsmen who were charged to tackle – by any means - the smuggling and trafficking in the Venetian territory, with the title of capitano di campagna (country captain), for the provinces of Brescia, Verona, Vicenza and Udine. Informer of the State’s Inquisitors around 1772-1773, he had the task of subduing the Valle Camonica bandits, particularly suppressing - by poison or gun - Giacomo Pansarini connected with a network of bandits and smugglers from the Alps to the Milan area. 5. Galeano Lechi the Count Devil between the Republic of Venice and Grisons The figure of Galeano Lechi is one of the most renowned in the valleys of the central Alps. He was born in Brescia in 1739 into a noble and very rich family and was banned for some grievous actions. Condemned to the Venetian prison of Piombi, from where he escaped with an adventurous jailbreak, he fled from the Venetian territory reaching the town of Bormio in Valtellina, which was subjected to the rule of the Three Leagues. There he fostered the principles of freedom, equality and renewal of the old institutions promoted by the French revolution. Sustained by the actions of his nephews, who had founded the Republic of Brescia, he thought that, under his guidance, Bormio could finally change its old political system too. The inevitable confrontation with the conservative leaders of the village led to his execution – without any trial- by an enraged crowd, along with two of his Jacobite companions. A contradictory and intriguing figure, with an impetuous and arrogant nature, Lechi has been involved throughout the centuries in a series of legends and malevolent tales and he is remembered as the Conte Diavolo (Count Devil) for his free and unconventional behavior. 6. The last of the bravi. Giovanni Maria Borni, «Captain of Valcamonica» This paper aims to investigate an exemplary figure of bravo connected to Valcamonica and Valtellina: Giovanni Maria Borni (Iseo 1760 - Sondrio 1819). Two are his peculiarities: the first is the remarkable ability to control territory through illegal means, to the point of being nicknamed «Captain of Valcamonica», as reported by a witness in the trial held in Venice by the State Inquisitors; the second became evident when the Republic of Venice collapsed and Borni left the Venetian prison and sought to be recognized as a «political prisoner», while the aristocrats for whom he had worked became the protagonists of the new order. Thus, the attempt of Borni’s protectors to subtract him to a new arrest sparked a diplomatic incident, until he found refuge in the Kingdom of Naples, where he served Murat in a special way.
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7. The unpunished Garatti and the Fraine Brotherhood In 1812, thanks to the information given by Giuseppe Garatti, the Court of Dipartimento del Serio sentenced several members of the so called Compagnia di Fraine (Fraine Brotherhood), a large criminal group who killed, robbed, stole in houses and opposed the Public force, from about 1806 to 1810. It was active in some towns of Dipartimento del Serio and Mella but the criminals came from different italian areas. Garatti was an important criminal of Compagnia di Fraine, but from 1809 he helped justice and police to capture the others. In September 1810 some of his ex-companions killed him. In September 1812 five offenders of Compagnia di Fraine were executed and some others were differently judged: with this action the criminal group was eliminated. This article sheds light on this specific criminal history of Valle Camonica but, at the same time, it tells a part of economic, social, institutional history and about human relationships of this period in this territory. 8. Girolamo Bergomi and the Feraij Brotherhood of Gardone Val Trompia This essay deals with the deeds of the Feraglios (Feraijs), a family of bandits from Gardone Val Trompia, and relates their vicissitudes from 1610 to 1648. The gang originated from a clash between opposing factions in the commune of Gardone Val Trompia; once banished, the family father Girolamo Feraglio and his sons formed a gang whose time-increasing criminal professionalism not only satisfied their personal thirst for revenge, but was also offered to whoever could pay the right price, turning the bandits into bravi, hired assassins at the disposal of different aristocratic families; this enabled the gang to extend their range of action outside the valley towards different places in the districts of Brescia and, sometimes, Bergamo and Trento. The competent authorities were not able to get rid of the criminals and, at last, the Rettori of Brescia had to come to an agreement with Alfonso Feraglio, confirming in this way the defeat of the Venetian justice. 9. Giovanni Battista Bevilacqua of Malé, priest and recruiter This study retraces the life of the priest Giovanni Battista Bevilacqua (1715-post 1760), born in Malé (Trentino). During the eighteenth century, he was involved in illegal trafficking of men enlisted in the Prussian army. The priest, on trial, was sentenced for life on the ships of the Serenissima. 10. A well-known German thief executed in Chiavenna in 1785 In 1785 Valchiavenna had been conquered by the Grisons Republic. At that period southern Germany was playing host to a large number of itinerant thieves and among them the most dangerous was Stocker Michels Sepp, who also adopted at times the names Johann Anton Lüttner or Joseph Unold. He was responsible for a theft of around 200 thousand florins and in July 1785 he was arrested in Chiavenna. Sepp was tied to a ring of iron around his neck and both his feet were fastened to a bar. Two and a half hours later the commissioner Gugelberg was awoken by a commotion. What had happened was the guards, suspicious of noises within the cell, opened the first two doors to enter it and while they were
383
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unlocking the third, they were assaulted by the iron bar which had been used to secure the prisoner’s feet. In the ensuing scuffle the prisoner managed to get into another cell and used the iron bar once more to rip the grille from the windows. The Commissioner, firing with his pistol through the window , held him at gunpoint and after an hour of struggle obtained his surrender. Sepp was sentenced to be hanged and then he was beheaded with a sword. The authenticity of the tale is documented in the cantonal archives of San Gallo. 11. Dual murder on Gruobialp In 1875 the government of the Confoederatio Helvetica promulgates the first federal law regarding hunting and institutes the so-called bandite: an incomprehensible decree for the mountain folk, used to hunt game on their land freely. Adolf Scheuber, a carpenter living in Wolfenschiessen, is a deft hunter. He and his friends keep on hunting chamois on the mountains, caring little for the new rules. Werner Durrer, instead, is a representative of the federal authority, and firm on applying the new regulations, starting a fight with the poachers. It’s the 15th of October, 1899; Durrer and his son Joseph are found on the Gruobialp, their body have been riddled with bullets. Scheuber was immediately suspected: the Durrers’ murder shocks the communities of Obwalden and Nidwalden. 12. Vistallo Zignoni, the bandit-hero of the Holy Thorn On 6th July 1495, during the battle of Fornovo, a group of crossbowmen leaded by the adventurer Vistallo Zignoni, from San Giovanni Bianco (Bergamo), entered the camp of Charles VIII the King of France and imprisoned his valet, stealing him a huge loot and a precious box, which contained few pieces of the Holy Crown of Thorns and some other memorabilia from the Passion of Christ. These valuable objects were useful for Zignoni: thanks to them the Venetian government nullify his ban for a murder he had committed during his youth. However, the theft was the beginning of a diplomatic accident between France and Venice, which involved the adventurer himself. 13. Vincenzo Pacchiana a.k.a Pacì Paciana «the king of Val Brembana» Between the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, Bergamo and its surroundings, in particular Val Brembana and more specifically the area of the town of Zogno, registered the presence of brigands and bandits, which carried out extortions, robberies, blackmails and violence that most of the times law enforcement could not contrast. Among them, Vincenzo Pacchiana (1773-1806), known as Pacì Paciana, was one of the most famous. He was born in Poscante di Zogno and, despite his criminal feats, in the folk memory he remained the one who protected the weak, stealing from reaches in favor of the poor. He had been described as a robust man, with curly black hairs, beard and moustaches, Herculean strength reinforced by a flintlock he used to terrify his victims. Between 1797 and 1806 he committed several criminal acts slipping away from the policemen who chased him. Once he ended up being circled in the middle of the Ambria bridge but he managed to
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survive diving into the Brembo River. The price on his head persuaded his fellow Cartoccio Cartocci (known also as Gargino Carcioffo) to betray and kill him in the middle of the night, deliver his head to the police and earn the reward. Pacì Paciana was an actual living person and his life and deeds inspired the myth in which he played the role of the local Robin Hood. His legendary figure became the protagonist of folk tales, the basis for theatrical and puppet performances. 14. Giosué Gianavello and the «bandit war» in Piedmont during the seventeenth century: religious war, European conflict and local divisions The paper analyzes banditry phenomenon in the Waldensian communities of Piedmont, during the seventeenth century. In 1655, the Ducal government organizes a military raid (pasque piemontesi) that turns into a massacre; after the initial surprise, the population of the valley, organized under the orders of the soldier-paysan Giosuè Gianavello (1617-1690), starts a battle that will go on for at least ten years, ending definitively only in 1670 with the forced submission of the communities to the Ducal authority and the exile of the prominent leaders of Waldensian opposition. Through the figure of «captain» Giosuè Gianavello, military commander of the resistance to the Savoy state – and therefore branded «bandit» together with 40 of his followers – some aspects of banditry related to the Waldensian communities during the seventeenth century will be underlined. 15. Branda de Lucioni and Giuseppe Antonio Majno: effects of the ancien régime political theology in the late eighteenth century Alpine banditry Two figures enliven, between eighteenth century and nineteenth century, the opposition against the French in the Alps: Branda de Lucioni and Giuseppe Antonio Majno. Different but emblematic figures for discursive structures of their actions to combat and to discredit the new transalpine power. Lucioni proposes himself as the restorer of the old order and of the legitimate royal government. Using the reference to the Catholic identity, he manages to organize a force of opposition to the French army. The article reconstructs the discursive system around this activity, protagonist of the popular epic and propaganda. Majno, symbol of social redemption, becomes leader of an armed gang; will enter the legend as the gentleman bandit who defends people from the French oppression. His rebellion adopts the semantics of the Ancien Régime sovereignty and refers to the sacredness of the royal power. His death is enriched with legends so that his remains are venerated as sacred relics. These phenomena are investigated using the tools of political theology and of the discursive production that power structures activate in their legitimizing constitution. Human resistance and resistance of thought structures; sources are revisited in the light of categories which leads to consider these phenomena as the manifestation of along-period structure that enlivens the cultural geography of the Alpine landscape and nourishes the identity processes.
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16. The Saracen bandits between history and collective imagination in the Alps In the Occidental side of the Alpine mountains, the memories of the Saracen invasions are still part of a cultural heritage that is without doubt an element of great historical-anthropological interest. In the tradition, Saracen people play the role of the outlaw/raider, an imagine that has been exacerbated by the ethnical and cultural differences they represented. Towers, walls, caverns and many legends, including a series of rituals and feasts have in the role of protagonist Saracen people. These are some glaring aspects of a part of our history that we still have to study. The figure of the outlaw as raider, savage and especially pagan has been outlined by blurred memories of holy martyrs and stories considered between myth and local historiography and steeped in romanticism. Moreover, it is important to consider the influence of the historiography which studied the invasions of the sixteenth/seventeenth century, influencing the reconstruction of the facts during the tenth/eleventh century (the ones which interest the Alpine mountains). 17. The Kindberg Heart Eater – A Case of Serial Killing in 18th century Styria Between 1779 and 1786, the farm servant Paul Reininger killed six women in an extremely brutal way. He removed the hearts of two of the women to eat them, as he believed that he would thereby acquire the ability to perform witchcraft. Reininger, formerly known as the «Kindberg heart eater», was sentenced to death. The execution reflected the cruelty of his crimes. However, the reform-minded emperor Joseph II, who proclaimed the «Abolition of Sword and Gibbet», changed the sentence to caning and lifelong incarceration in the dungeons on the castle hill of Graz. The convict was put in irons and received fifty blows every three months. After two years the convict died as a result of this ‹pardon›. Reininger’s behavior was interpreted by popular culture, human science and jurisprudence. In the 18th century superstition was considered to be a sufficient explanation for atrocities like murder and eating human hearts. In the science euphoria of the 19th century, the emphasis shifted increasingly towards more rational explanations such as psychopathy. Today, Reininger would most likely be qualified as sociopath and serial killer. His brain would be cut into virtual slices by modern medical-imaging methods in order to better comprehend his highly deviant behavior. Yet, the legacy of the enlightened eighteenth century which postulated delinquents’ abilities to reason and express free will is still effective in the legal assessment of similar heart-wrenching cases today.
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