The sight of Mastro Titta crossing the river Tiber struck worry into the guts of Romans.
Giovanni Battista Bugatti, higher often known as Mastro Titta, was the official executioner for the Papal States from 1796 to 1864.
Over his 68-year profession, he carried out greater than 500 executions, incomes him a chilling, virtually legendary standing in Roman historical past.
His identify, a Romanesco diminutive of Maestro di Giustizia (Master of Justice), grew to become synonymous with loss of life and gave rise to the phrase “Mastro Titta is coming”, traditionally used to frighten misbehaving youngsters.
An extended and deadly profession
Bugatti started his work on the tender age of 17, and his reign as executioner spanned the turbulent durations of the Napoleonic occupation, the restoration of papal rule, and the burgeoning Italian Risorgimento.
He served below a number of popes, from Pius VI to Pius IX, meticulously recording every of his grim assignments in a private ledger, now preserved within the Historical Archive of Rome.
Referred to as Il Libro dei Giustiziati (The Book of the Executed), the ledger offers a stark, factual account of the executioner’s work, itemizing names, dates and crimes.
There are 516 victims listed, nevertheless two of those weren’t executed by Mastro Titta: one was shot in jail and the opposite was hanged and quartered by his assistant.
This left Mastro Titta answerable for 514 executions over the course of his profession.
Methods of execution
Mastro Titta employed numerous strategies of execution, reflecting the prevailing practices of his time. Beheading by axe was widespread, particularly for crimes of homicide or excessive treason.
For significantly heinous offenses, or for these deemed to have dedicated sacrilege, the mallet (mazzola) was used, adopted by a throat-cutting. Hanging was one other incessantly used technique.
One of his most infamous instruments, nevertheless, was the guillotine. Introduced to Rome in the course of the Napoleonic period, Mastro Titta rapidly tailored to its use, using it for public spectacles that drew massive crowds.
These executions have been usually carried out in opposition to the backdrops of Roman landmarks, reminiscent of Castel Sant’Angelo, the Circus Maximus and Piazza del Popolo.
The man behind the axe
Giovanni Battista Bugatti was born on 6 March 1779 in Senigallia, a seaside city within the central Marche area, relocating to Rome in some unspecified time in the future in his youth.
Despite his fearsome career, Mastro Titta lived a seemingly strange life exterior his grotesque duties, along with his career listed as umbrella painter.
He resided within the Borgo district of Rome, close to the Vatican, on Vicolo del Campanile.
Mastro Titta was not permitted to cross the Tiber river at Ponte Sant’Angelo into the principle a part of the town except it was for an execution.
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Tradition holds that when he did cross the bridge, wearing his distinctive pink cape, Romans would rapidly retreat indoors, a testomony to the pervasive worry and awe he commanded.
He was reportedly a religious Catholic and a person of routine. Before every execution, he would attend Mass and pray for the soul of the condemned.
He even supplied a small reward of snuff to these about to face his blade, a macabre gesture of finality.
Mastro Titta was a feared image of papal energy and stern justice, reflecting part of Roman life that each repelled and fascinated its residents.
Traditions
A curious Roman custom arose amongst those that attended the executions: fathers introduced their male youngsters to witness the torture and loss of life of the condemned.
At the precise second when a head rolled, or when the sufferer exhaled their final breath, the boys acquired a slap as a warning from their fathers.
Mastro Titta in literature
In addition to showing in the Romanesco sonnets of Giovanni Goacchino Belli, Mastro Titta featured in Pictures of Italy by Charles Dickens who witnessed one in all his executions in Rome’s San Giovanni space on 8 March 1845.
Recounting the beheading in graphic element, Dickens described the grotesque occasion as an “ugly, filthy, careless, sickening spectacle”, after which the executioner “retreated to his lair” throughout the river.
Retirement and loss of life
When Mastro Titta lastly retired in 1864, on the age of 85, he acquired a month-to-month pension of 30 scudi.
He died in Rome 5 years later, on 18 June 1869, and his place of burial is unknown.
Mastro Titto was not, nevertheless the final papal executioner: Vincenzo Balducci, who grew to become his assistant in 1850, continued his bloody mission till the autumn of the Papal States in 1870.
The final papal executions in Rome have been carried out on 24 November 1868 when revoluntionaries Giuseppe Monti and Gaetano Tognetti have been beheaded in entrance of crowds on Via dei Cerchi on the Circus Maximus.
Museum
The Museum of Criminology, closed briefly, accommodates the axe utilized by Mastro Titta in addition to his pink cloak (pictured).
Ghost
Rome legend has it that, simply earlier than dawn, a grim determine wrapped in a scarlet cloak will be seen within the space round Castel Sant’Angelo.
