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General
Amato was the commander of our district (Cerenzia,
Catanzaro). This district, in 1809, was the
most infected with brigands. Near Taverna,
Francatrippa was captured and escaped. He
was finally captured and killed. He was active
in Cerenzia, Savelli and San Giovanni (in Fiore).
One of his companions, was "Parafante",
Paolo Mancuso, born 1782 in Scigliano (CS).
He was the son of Francesco Mancuso and Francesca
Coltellaro of Marurano. He had five brothers--only
one of whom was honest: Antonio; Giacinto, a sanfedista
and murderer from his youth; Fortunato, also killed
young; Pasquale, a sanfedista, escaped to Sicily;
and another who died at age 15 in Sersale.
Paolo attended school until he was 10 years old.
At 17 he joined up with Cardinal Ruffo in the sack
of Crotone against the French. He is described
as dark, melancholic and sad, affected by small-pox(?)
variola at age 5 left horribly disfigured and even
shunned by his parents. After the sanfedista
defeat and the French invasion he continued as a
brigand until 1810, when together with 50 of his
band, he surrendered to General Amato and accepted
amnesty. It was short lived however, he retreated
to the Gariglione in the Sila and continued acts
of brigandry. He came to Cerenzia in February
of 1810 and was persued by General Amato.
He escaped from Cerenzia and went to San Giovanni.
General Amato then ordered the hanging of several
brigands in Cosenza together with one of his brothers,
Giacinto Mancuso. The news of his brothers' death
infuriated Parafante and he went on a rampage.
On February 14, 1810 he was killed in the woods
of Camello, Ferleto outside of Nicastro. His
last murderous act was that of killing Giuseppe
Testo, a Civil Guard from Platania. Parafante
and his troops were decapitated and quartered.
Parts of their cadavers were triumphantly displayed
in the villages as macabre trophies.
His female cohort, Serafinella, together with his
family, were captured and sent to Cosenza and were
condemned. The consequences of these rebellions
and French rule was disasterous for the Calabrese.
The French incurred enormous debt. Confiscating
once again, civil and church lands they sold them
to recoup. Baron Alfonso Baracco bought lands
for 89,000 Ducats as well as Giannuzzi Savelli.
Both of these men are well known to our people even
today in their descendants.
Following the deposition of Napoleon Bonaparte in
1814, the Congress of Vienna convened to redefine
Europe. Ensuing the "100" days of
Napoleon before his defeat at Waterloo on Jun 18,
1815 Giocchino Murat declared war on Austria.
He was defeated, ran back to Naples and finally
to France. The Congress of Vienna returned Calabria
to the Kingdom of Naples under Ferdinand IV.
In defference to the Sicilians, changed his name
to Ferdinand the First and called the Kingdom the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He reigned until
1825.
Murat attempted the recapture of the Kingdom.
He landed in Calabria, was captured and shot at
Pizzo Calabro, on Oct. 13, 1815. For our
people, the socio-economic situation was still disasterous,
A weak government, horrible injustices, the replacement
of a heavy Napoleonic rule with an equally oppressive
Bourbonic rule, The second Bourbon restoration was
worse than the first. The air was ripe for
rebellion. This time, it would come as a fight
for the unity of Italy. The brigands who were
active until the 80's of the 19th century left us
this song:
«Tira, nimicu miu, tira la pinna
fuossi esci a morti la cunnanna
Tu tieni carta, calamari e pinna'ed iu purvera
e palle a miu cummannu
tu si lu vicere di chistu regnu'ed iu lu 'rre
de la campagne»
"Shoot, my foe, shoot with your pen
It may be that the sentence will be my death.
You have paper, ink and plume
and I have powder and lead at my command!
You are the viceroy of the kingdom and I am the
king of the countryside!"
Ferdinand I ruled until 1825 followed by Francis
the First who died Dec. 8, 1830, Ferdinand II who
died in 1859, and finally Francis II who ended the
Bourbon rule in 1860, of the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies, with the expedition of Garibaldi's "Mille."
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