A STORY OF 1799

By Nicolino Camposarcuno

The evening of April 29 in the year 1799, when the horror from the massacre of the patriots – who had raised the Tree of Liberty on February 1 and deepened the division between "noblemen" and populace – was still fresh in people’s mind, Domenico Di Cillo sat on the steps of his house and talked quietly with his neighbor Rosa Trivisonno.

The topics animating their conversation as always were land and labor. These topics hit their mark when the figure of Don Cosimo Pece, doctor of law, appeared. The man, 55 years old, had a haughty bearing since he felt superior and was accustomed to command and be obeyed. Leaning with his cane with an ivory handle, he stopped in front of the two peasants and demanded the customary homage. They did not delay in giving such homage, which to them was worse than a whipping.

While Rosa herself bowed, Di Cillo exclaimed "Good day your lordship, good evening your lordship, good night your lordship." He raised his hat and bowed his head several times in an exaggerated fashion and separated his words with excessive laughter. The woman, frightened by such boldness, took Domenic by the arm and pulled him around the cornet of the house. She advised him to stop and demanded an apology to the gentleman. "What nobleman and gentleman," shouted Domenico. "I should have finished him when I had the chance." Feeling the threat, and mindful of the results two months earlier when the shout of "Cut off their wigs and put an end to them," Don Cosimo became cautious, stepped back, and retreated hastily toward the house of Don Giovanni De Luca. Elated by this quick retreat, Domenico began to shout outrageous phrases around the main square. When he came to the gate of St. Martin, he shouted several times in a loud voice to bystanders – who were intent on enjoying the coolness of the evening -: "I want to put an end to all the noblemen and their wigs."

All of this, occurring in a country where even the walls had eyes and ears, came to the attention of the commander of the municipal guard Pietroangelo Cannavina. That man, fearing riots like those of February 3 and 4 when 10 noblemen were massacred, and knowing the leadership and complicity of DiCillo in those massacres, sent a Lieutenant Rateni to summon the squad and proceed with the capture of DiCillo. Since no one in the squad wanted to assist him – being all peasants – Rateni armed himself with a rifle and went alone on his investigation.

Rateni found Domenic DiCillo at St. Michele square and immediately pointed the weapon at his back and began to push him toward the guard room. Unfortunately the rifle "fied accidentally" and inflicted a wound in the spine of DiCIllo, from which he died three days later. The care given by Doctor Gaetano DeRoberto and Prodocimo Lanese, "licensed in surgery," was in fact worth nothing.

Rateni, denounced by the widow of Domenic DiCillo, Giuseppa Valentino, was demoted by the inquest, but following the dismissal of the complaint, he was given a royal pardon on February 12, 1801. He was given the obligation to compensate the relatives of the victim with the sum of 200 ducats and required not "to molest the plaintiffs and the witnesses." These witnesses were: Francesco Pece, tailor. Francesco Fasciano, barber. Francesco Trivisonno, student. Michelangelo Santorelli, municipal chemist. Vincenzo Gammiero, butcher. Stanislas Gammiero, barber. Felice DiPenta, blacksmith. Emanuale Trivisonno, Merchant. Alberto Coletta, shoe repair. Anselmo Trivisonno, shoemaker. Giovanni Trivisonno, tailor. Pasquale Lanese (called Melaino), merchant. Finally, Rosa Trivisonno called Pallacucca, Don Cosimo, and Giuseppa Valention, widow of DiCillo.

Translated by Charles Carome, May 20, 1991