List of people executed by the Holy See

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 include 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. 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. Bugatti's list ends: "So ends the long list of Bugatti. May that of his successor be shorter".

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. 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".

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. 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.

:"The date in parentheses is the date of the execution."

List of people executed by the Holy See

12th century

*Arnold of Brescia, monk and participant in the Commune of Rome (1155)

14th century

*Gerard Segarelli, founder of the Apostolic Brethren (July 18, 1300)
*Fra Dolcino, Italian preacher of the Dulcinian movement (1304)

15th century

*Astorre I Manfredi, Italian condottiero (November 28, 1405)
*Matteuccia de Francesco, Italian nun and alleged "Witch of Ripabianca" (1428)
*Antongaleazzo Bentivoglio, Italian condottiero (1435)
*Girolamo Savonarola (along with Fra Domenico da Pescia and Fra Silvestro), Dominican priest and leader of Florence (May 23, 1498)

16th century

*Eighteen thieves who robbed and killed Holy Year pilgrims (August 27, 1500)
*Pietro Bernardino, follower of Savonarola (1502)
*Cardinal Alfonso Petrucci, convicted of plotting against Pope Leo X (July 16, 1517)
*Gian Paolo Baglioni, Italian condottiero (June 1520)
*Cardinal Carlo Carafa and Giovanni Carafa, Duke of Paliano, nephews of Paul IV, sentenced to strangulation in prison and beheading, respectively, by Pius IV, as his first public act (March 5, 1561)
*Pomponio Algerio, civil law student at the University of Padua (1566)
*Pietro Carnesecchi, Italian humanist (October 1, 1567)
*Aonio Paleario, Italian humanist (July 3, 1570)
*Menocchio, Friulian miller, mayor, and philosopher (1599)
*Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman convicted of murder (September 11, 1599)

17th century

*Giordano Bruno, Italian priest, philosopher, cosmologist, and occultist (February 17, 1600)
*Ferrante Pallavicino, Italian satirist (March 5, 1644)
*Giulia Tofana, namesake of the Aqua Tofana poison (July 1659)

18th century

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

19th century

:"Note: Executions between 1798 and 1815 (Congress of Vienna), executions in papal Rome were to some degree controlled by the French authorities."
*Tommaso Tintori, local man convicted of homicide and first to be guillotined (1810)Allen, John L., Jr. 2001, September 14. " [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_39_37/ai_78728719 He executed justice - papal execution Giovanni Battista Bugatti's life and work] ". "National Catholic Reporter".]
*Pecorari Angel, convicted of homicide in Poland, sent to Rome for execution (January 21, 1847)
*Sabbatino Proietti, convicted of theft, highway robbery, and murder in Rieti (August 20, 1853)
*Angelo Lisi di Alatri, convicted of highway robbery and murder in Frosinone (April 30, 1862)
*Antonio Olietti of Rome and Domenico Antonio Demartini, beheaded for homicide, last executions by Buggati (August 17, 1864)
*Agatino Bellomo, last person executed by the Papal States, two months before Rome was captured by Italian army (July 9, 1870)"Executed Today". " [http://www.executedtoday.com/category/where/italy/papal-states/ Papal States] ".]

Notes

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. " [http://chn.loyno.edu/religious.studies/documents/Brugger_S2001.pdf 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.

External links

* [http://www.executedtoday.com/category/where/italy/papal-states/ "Executed Today": Papal States]