Michele Pezza (Frà Diavolo) 

It was mid-day, that 11^th Novermber 1806, when Michele Pezza (otherwise known as Fra’ Diavolo) became a legend:  He died by hanging. The sentence which was given after a rapid process, inspite of a touching defense given by one of the best lawyers of that time called Francesco Lauria at the young age of 35, ended what we might call an “adventurous” life.

He was the second of twelve children and was born in a house situated in the historical centre of Itri. At his birth, according to the custom of the time, he was given more than one name. Thus during the Christian rite the parish priest, Don Francesco Iudicone, baptized “a baby boy born at 10 o’clock a.m. on the 7^th April 1771 from Francesco Pezza and Arcangela Matrullo who gave to their son the names of Michele, Arcangelo , Domenico and Pasquale”. This is what can be read on the baptism register at number 506 of the parish church of S. Maria Maggiore in Itri, naturally in latin.

Many writers have documented Fra’ Diavolo’s life giving a bad impression of him, but the notes here given have been taken from reliable facts and sources.                                           

His Childhood

 Michele’s childhood must have been led like that of may other children of his age, in a modest social context. His father was a mule-driven transporter, he also had an olive and oil trade with nearby towns. He obviously was not a calm child as he was given his famous nick name at about the age of 8-10  because of his recklessness, and it was that name which would have substituted his own and in the years to follow would have been pronounced with terror, respect and fear by inhabitants of the surrounding towns, by the French invasion troops, and by the reigning house of Naples and their English allies. It was because of an illness that his mother vowed, to Saint Francis of Paola, to dress her child a a monk  if he were to be saved. So it was, the child recovered and his mother  promptly dressed him with a monk’s habit, until it was totally worn, thus for his friends he became fra’ Michele, (fra’ meaning father). However, the canon Nicola de Fabritiis, to whom Michele had been entrusted, did not agree with this name because of the child’s excessive liveliness and in a rage of temper changed the name into “Fra’ diavolo” (diavolo meaning devil thus, Father devil).

His First 25 years

 Even if the young boy was of stocky height, he grew physically strong with a rather bold attitude. He was what we might say “respected”. The use of hands was often in his habits, but it never got to anything more. Like many youngsters of his times, he grew in a very different way to those who, in the years to follow, would have written about him. The job of saddler which he practised in Master Eleuterio’s workshop came to end quite dramatically. I shall not go into detail as to what happened because  there are so many versions of writers and people that have been handed down.  He was blamed for the deaths of Eleuterio and his brother Francesco, deaths which were caused by an unrespectful attitude they had towards a girl for whom he had sentimental feelings. Others talk about a brawl in which two cousins surnamed Di Mascolo died, but in this case they had assaulted him and challenged him to  a country duel. However, in both cases a question of honour! From boldness to violence. Two homicides are not of little count!  Thus it was that at the age of 25 Michele Pezza, in little time turned over a new leaf. From that moment on he became “Fra’ Diavolo” (Father Devil”)

 The stain, living keeping his wits about him, and committing robberies with other bewildered youngsters like him with whom he had joined in, were on everyone’s lips. In short, it was an awful period for the population of this land. Was Michele Pezza involved in all this? Here lies the question, because in those two years of clandestinity (some authors say that he worked helping herders in Campello, a bushy mountainous area) no one knows with certainty if it was he who was a raider or an armed robber. Accounts both of cruelty and generosity have been handed down. However, if the nick-name of “Brigante” (Brigand), which appears in the chronicals of those days of  many who wrote about his life, is a just description, we do not feel the right to report such things. At least not in the meaning that this term may have had in that time.

Soldier and Guerrilla

The Invasion

In December 1798,  St.Andrew’s redoubt became the place where his instinctive guerrilla tecniques brought out his courage talents. As the head of a group he had formed from local people, he attackede the Polish vanguard causing losses and slowing down their entrance into Itri and hence towards Naples. The killing of his father by the Polish troops followed by the French invasion in January 1799, led Fra’ Diavolo to be more harsh and merciless towards the invading troops. The attack to two Spanish dragoons in the locality of Santo Spirito had let loose the French rage and three squadrons led by Rey and Dabrowski, based in Mola of Gaeta (Formia), marched on Itri putting it under the hell of fire. Along with his father, other sixty people were killed, as results from the registers of violent deaths during 1799-1844 in the parish archives of St. Maria Maggiore and of the years 1799-1839 of St. Michele Arcangelo. Among other things, the French troops, with headquarters in Itri for a certain period, committed every kind of violence towards the population and stole part of the Sanctuary Madonna della Civita’s treasures. The ability of a local noblewoman, whose house had been taken over by a French commander, made her hide part of the treasure at the moment it was handed over by the troops, later she herself gave back the treasure to the Sanctuary. Therfore, in 1799 the French army marched south, soon followed by one of the King’s first fleeings to Palermo. The French troops occupied the region, and soon came to being the brief Neapolitan Repubblic which, unable to gain its population’s support and having only that of the French troops, failed its political attempt. Cardinal Ruffo, who had landed in Calabria, carried out a determinating action in the name of the Holy Faith, with his troops of thousands of men and backed up by the English, marched into Naples. All finished in a blood-bath which brought various supporters of the Repubblican ideals to the gallows, names like Caracciolo to Sanfelice who was the last to be executed on 11^th September 1800, as well as at least a thousand Jacobin followers  were killed in the most unlikely ways. Fra’ Diavolo had kept far from all this as Naples for him in that moment meant love.

During th short Neapolitan Repppublic, the king was exiled in Palermo. In the land of work there were groups of resistence against Napoleon’s soldiers, and who if not Fra’ Diavolo could be the head of the “rebels”. He promptly answered Cardinale Ruffo’s edict, which among other things conceded amnesty for crimes previously committed. The men he could count on soon reached six thousand, partly organized with doctors and military chaplins. Uncontrolably, his men carried out all sorts of wicked killings, robberies and many other crimes. Fra’ Diavolo let them be, or maybe  can we say that they had gotten out of his control and without him knowing they had spread death and terror? Certainly the whole thing made his fame grow. His deeds took over the collective imagination, not only that of the population but also that of the French. He secretly entered and exited the repubblican Naples both by day and by night. He tried to keep contacts with realists for Ferdinando’s eventual return to the throne. However, another reason, this time of heart, led him to risk a lot, he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl called Fortunata Rachele Di (De) Franco.  The meeting with Captain Thomas Troubridge, an English naval officer, wanted by queen Carolina who continued to weave plots from Palermo for the return of  Monarchy to Naples, gave him a new shine of honourability that he knew how to mantain. This ability of course stirred interest in the Englishman. The state of emergency in Gaeta entered to be part of the agreement made with the English captain.

The state of Emergency in Gaeta

 The state of emergency in Gaeta, governed in first person by Fra’ Diavolo and his massive troops in a colourful atmosphere, as reported by the local chronicles, was the occasione which consolidated his carisma as a strong man faithful to the monarchy. The state of emergency in the end caused him great disappointment because on the day of capitulation of the fortress he was expelled from entering Gaeta. The French accepted their surrender on the condition that Nelson and his reppresentatives of the reign would handle the negotiations. Cardinal Ruffo took the occasion, which he was long awaiting, to get rid of him and ordered that he step aside. Moreover, the king sustained the Cardinal’s thesis that it was better that the head ot the brigands should not take part in the occupation, however, recognising in one of his letters sent to the Cardinal  the contribution he had given for the cause and would in the future have called upon him again underlining the requirement of better discipline. Thus his merits would have been recognised and this was the first sign of legitimation. This bitterness was soon sweetened with his wedding, which was celebrated in St. Arcangelo all’Arena on 14^th July 1799, to the young eighteen year old Fortunata Rachele. After only a few days with his beloved, on 20^th July, he departed with his men to reach the Pontifical State in order fo free Rome from the French. The Cardinal’s hand was once again present,  placing by Fra’ Diavolo’s side two commanding officers and two state accountants.  However, he gave them no importance seeing the Cardinal only as smoke in the eyes and at the right moment when near Rome he would have done as he chose. Fortunately, king Ferdinando did not forget his faithful subject, and on 24^th October named Michele Pezza colonel of the Bourbon army giving him a 2500 ducati income and the command of the left wing of the Bourbon army sent to free Rome, was done. And so it was that the young saddler of Itri, (killer for love?) was recognised his value as a commander and veteran.

The Facts about Albano

When Fra’ Diavolo reached Velletri, urged by the defeat between the gentleman marquess G.B. Rodio and the French troops,  he was acclaimed as liberator; so reports Don Pellisseri, a local jacobin priest, in one of his books which narrates the events of those days. In the Castelli area many serious events happened. Even here the search for jacobins or so alleged, provoked killings and armed robberies on behalf of his men. With only one blow Fra’ Diavolo cancelled all the fame he had achieved. He had Albano’s Mayor, Angelo Bianchini, executed for very futile reasons. One of the reasons being that Mr. Bianchini had organized a lunch meeting and he had forgotten to bring the wine. Episodes of Fra’ Diavolo’s short temper when contradicted, are fully and precisely described in a pamphlet written by a  Venitian patriarch called P. La Fontaine in 1932, in which seven witnesses swear,  before the  notary Pietro Donati of Albano, declaring that these facts were absolutely true. Well, why such precision in referring these facts?  Only to point out that this type of gesture did not belong to usual guerrilla actions and this made it a stain difficult to cancel from historical reports. So it was that with the execution of Mr. Bianchini began a series of troubles that brought  the colonel Michele Pezza to Castel St. Angelo under detention. He was arrested in Albano by the warrant officer De Bourcard and  General Ventimiglia, who were fed up with he and his men’s rogueries and lootings in Rome and with the attitude he assumed towards military men in career. His escape from the prison was daring, but on the otherhand it could not have been but so. Through hundreds of ups and downs he reached Palermo. It was only through the sovereigns’ help that he could avoid the process that had been inflicted on him. To gain their favour, he gave back to Maria Carolina a ring with her initials, which he had happened to find in Albano. She was so fascinated by this deed that she donated it to the young “Colonel”. 

The Second French Invasion

After the upheaval of the process began a relatively peaceful period for colonel Pezza. He would spend his time between Naples and Itri, often harassed by creditors who were to receive money for having supplied means of transport, arms and amunition to his men during the state of emergency in Gaeta. His life was made quite busy with all the various proceedings against him. In this period his wife gave birth to two children, Carlo and Clementina. However, all this tranquility lasted very little.

His not having respected a treaty of neutrality irritated Napoleon Bonaparte who decided to send his troops into the reign and put an end to Ferdinando IV’s bourbon government. The French troops did not take too long in descending the Peninsular and occupying Naples and the various strongholds of the kingdom. In the meantime, in order to reinforce his military ranks, the king issued an edict to recruit volunteers as he had done in 1899, colonel Pezza enroled promptly as many men as he could from different social levels. He got into contact with the commander of Gaeta’s stronghold, who had not surrendered to the French. So it was that Philippsthal and Fra’ Diavolo started a close collaboration which became a nightmare for Giuseppe Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s brother, who had been proclaimed king. What about Ferdinando? Well, he fled as he had done six years before on the same 23^rd January by sea towards Palermo. Thus Fra’ Diavolo started what we might call a private guirrilla against General Massena’s troops.  He entered and exited from Gaeta as he wished attacking the French with his usual guerrilla tecniques, inflicting losses and let downs to the commanders of the divisions that had been engaged. Once again his name, “Fra’ Diavolo”, passed on from mouth to mouth. Giuseppe Bonaparte tried to calm down Napoleon’s dispatches. The “corso” (Napoleon) demanded Fra’ Diavolo’s , so called “chef de brigands”, capture. Unfortunately, Michele Pezza’s luck was soon to abandon him. Something had changed in his friedly population. It was through a delation that the French were able to attack Fra’ Diavolo’s troops inflicting heavy losses, and it was in that moment, prelude to his decline, that he became ferocious and unconscionable destroying towns and imposing ransom, robbing as much as he could and ordering unfair executions, always as he would say, in the name of the king. Strangely, in this whole situation Don Michele Pezza’s lucky star started shinning again.

After an incursion in the Pontifical State, he chose Sora to be the general headquarters for his troops. He was unable to defend the town which was attacked by three French military columns. This meant bereavement and robbery for the inhabitants, without taking count of innumerable violences inflicted especially to women. The brigands were so considered criminals to be hung and there could be absolutely no justifications for their actions!  Could there ever be justifications for the horrors they committed to the civil population during the first and second French invasions in our lands? What justifications could there be found in the methodical destruction of churches, furnishings, books and historical material? One could object the fact that Ruffo’s army and other local mass troops spread death and destruction in just the same way, but then they were not invaders, they were defending their nation from the invaders and their followers, even if it was in a disputable way.

The End

 Fra’ Diavolo continued his raids, even after Gaeta’s capitulation. He had become a nightmare for Giuseppe Bonaparte who had reached the point in communicating to Napoleon that Fra’ Diavolo had been hung by the Bourbons in Palermo. The so called cause was that he had been involved in a deal with the French to let them into Gaeta and take by surprise the garrison. Well spread rumours! The invaders  tried all means possible! But he, the most wanted man in the reign with a heavy price on his head of 17 thousand ducati, was able on his own to defeat the Napoleonic troops. He was not so stupid after all!! We might call it ferocious guerrilla, but war is war. Once again the Bourbons were nearby to aid him with money. They refused to believe the gossip which had been spread about him.  Many authors wrote that the title of Duke of Cassano had been granted him by King Ferdinando, but there are no reliable sources that confirm this. Thus it was that Giuseppe Bonaparte tried to enact other means. He summoned to command a troop of ten thousand men a certain Major Sigisbert Hugo, of only thirty three years of age. The Major had gained his reputation fighting in guerrilla actions in Vandea and was the right man for this cause. He immediately started out in search for Fra’ Diavolo, but had little luck because when he seemed to have neared contact, Fra’ Diavolo promptly made his traces  be lost. He was located by  pure chance. He was seen by an enemy troop near  Campobasso, unusual place for him. Hugo, who guessed the movements his enemy would make, began to have a certain liking for him. Colonel Pezza’s troops were decimated, and he merely managed to save himself after a desperate action. It was with a finale stratagem that he was able to mock the French, but Hugo was absent on that occasion. Hugo’s consideration about his enemy, Fra’ Diavolo, grew steadily, admiring his boldness and astuteness.  Having remained with only about ten men, Fra’ Diavolo dispersed his followers, hoping to join them later along the Terranian Coast where he would have asked the English, who were stationed there, to embark them  for Palermo. By irony of fate, being on his own, the colonel was beaten up by a gang of brigands. The shepherd’s hut was the place were the beating up occurred, and he was lucky because they thought he was dieing and let him be. Wounded, he reached Baronissi having to go through many hazards:  He had not convinced the national commanding post guard, nor the chemist who had hosted him in his shop for a drink of water, and so he was  escorted to Salerno, where he underwent the French interrogation. He was, however, recognised by an old military Bourbon, who had passed on the other side and had fought with him in Gaeta, hence the end of his deed.

The Legend

 Legal proceedings against him were hastily given and the trial was held on the 10^th November 1806. The French authorities refused to accept the English request to consider Fra’ Diavolo a prisoner of war, furthermore, they threatened retaliations, and Hugo himself, who had visited him in prison, was given a definite refusal of the request on behalf of Giuseppe Bonaparte.  He had an excellent defence, but all requests with politacal and military motivations were rejected. He was considered a common delinquent. The verdict was death by hanging. The place was the Market Square in Naples. The burial-place was the Incurabili hospital. The king, Giuseppe could finally communicate to his renowned brother that “Fra’ Diavolo had been finally executed”. Those  who thought that Fra’ Divavolo’s death would have made his name slip away and be forgotten, were soon to be  proven wrong.  The first who gave him gratitude were Ferdinando and Carolina. They gave a solemn mass, in his name, in St. John the Baptist’s church in Palermo, officiated by the Archbishop Carrano, and authorities present were the Austrian ambasador,  the military garrison in high uniform, and also the English detachment of soldiers. Palermo’s church bells long rang. A symbolic urn was placed beside the high altar, at the foot of which was the following inscription: “Non omnis moriar; virtus post..... So that I may never die; that I live on or have value after death; since glory impedes that the strong should succumb: Speak he who enhances  honour, faith and military art, if to me was so sweet to die for my homeland”. Other inscriptions were made upon the mausoleum architrave, both on the left and right hand sides of the main entrance, and at the base of the mausoleum, so that Michele Pezza’s deeds would be handed down to descendants, even if with some inevitable errors, amongst which the place of his birth. Not bad the legend of “Fra’ Divavolo”, it started exactly from those solemn ceremonies. 

Considerations

Was it ever seen that a “Brigand” should be so celebrated? We might overlook the fact that the Bourbons  had received many services from him, but what about the “English” who were second to none, and important men of rank who showed their interest and trust in him? This question has produced, since 11^th November 1806, research and writings for and against his cause until our days.What about the admiration for an enemy, his winner, Hugo, whose son Victor also followed his fathers steps along with Alessandro Dumas. The musician Huber, handed his name down to history, on 28^th January 1830, with his opera (even if comic) at the Opéra-Comique theatre of Paris. After twenty five years from his death he remained more alive than ever, “That man of proud aspect watched as he walked. With him, always near, his rapier and his musket....Before him you know what each man repeats? Devil. Devil. Devil!” At the exit of the theatre the Parisians whistled happily the theme song, granting it immediate success. The cinema of our times did no less, even if the character has always been portrayed in a comical-romantic key, which is to be considered false. Even the national television shot a short film, added to the column page “Viaggiando, Viaggiando,” directed by Montesanti. The pleasant actor, Pino Ammendola as Fra’ Diavolo and the actor R.Ruggieri as the canonical preceptor, De Fabrittiis. He was also inserted into Osvaldo Bevilacqua’s scene interviews. Brief, but true. Among the various photos there are some pictures of the Colonel, Michele Pezza, and others which belong to the scenes taken from the short T.V. films during their shooting.

 The municipality of Itri, town of his birth, was non the less in remembering him on the occasion of the 219^th aniversary from his birth, by holding a convention, in which the theme of discussion was “Fra’ Diavolo and his times”. Amongst the local administrators who defended his name  was also his great-grandnephew, who bore his same name, Dr. Michele Pezza, and who passionately defended the memories of his uncle referring to studies, researches and writings which had been dedicated to his life-time history. One of the respectable guests present at the convention was Mr. Fulco Ruffo di Calabria,

   and in thanking the Mayor of that time, Mr. Del Bove, suggested there be a permanent exhibition.......”in memory of your renowned fellow-citizen. Viva Fra’ Diavolo!” So it was, on that very day, that he put an end to the hostilities between his famous uncle, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo and Fra’ Diavolo. The direction of the convention had been entrusted  to Dr. Giuseppe dall’Ongaro, S.Vincent prize in 1966 and Scarfoglio prize in 1975, author of various novels, and in order of time, was the last to take an interest in Michele Pezza by writing the novel “Fra’ Diavolo” published by Istituto Geografico De Agostini in 1985. Subtitle of the novel was “The tumultuous and reckless life of an “outlaw” who fascinated crowds and frightened the poweful, inventing guerrilla in the Bourbonic and pontifical Italy”, and this summarizes the author’s thought. His, was a very careful rigorous research in all fields, consulting unpublished works, giving the character a historical dimention, humane and true. Furthermore, this type of journalism makes “our” character modern, with a new and more fascinating interrogative, “Brigand or Patriot?”, and the author says “Extraordinary however, Michele Pezza’s destiny, so called “Fra’ Diavolo”, a saddler of Itri who became protagonist of the anti-French revolt in the land of work, pushed forward with his picturesque mob of soldiers up to the walls of Rome, named colonel and covered with honours by his sovreign. He was able to negotiate at the same level with princes and cardinals, Bourbon generals and English admirals, being worthy even of Napoleon’s attention. He was psicologically versatile. Thus modern, with the ability to be open towards different people and cultures following his spiritual enlightenment. Without doubt he was ruthless, but he had unselfish traits of courage and boldness, with a talent to lead and a fantasy that distinguished him from other “mass leaders” of those times, and these projected him towards a future without boundaries”. to know more it is necessary to read not only the present work, but also to consult other existing works. Those of you who come to the end of this script, very synthetic, can find in the bibliography, the authors and the texts the have been referred to. I hope that you will follow my invitation to keep in contact with this site via internet at the address quoted at the foot of the page. Those of you who have  in, their own historical archives, facts regarding the present, can write to me. Maybe, we could exchange opinions and notes.

 The book was presented during a meeting held at the "Museo del Brigantaggio" in Itri on 31st August, 2005.