Francesco Maria Pratilli (16891763) was an Italian priest, scholar,
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
, whose name is known, from the 19th century, for being involved in a vast series of skilled
forger
Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidden by law in some jurisdict ...
ies.
Life and works
Born in
Santa Maria in Сapuа, where he was
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
, he lived mostly in
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
where he died.
King
Charles III of Bourbon made him a member of the ''
Accademia Ercolanese''.
Works
His writings span both ecclesiastical, theological,
numismatic
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...
topics, often disseminated by his historical forgeries.
[ Herbert Bloch, ''Monte Cassino in the Middle Ages'', Vol. 1, ]Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
, 1986 (p. 222-224)
Among his works are:
*Della
Via Appia
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, recor ...
, libro IV, Naples, 1745.
*Lettera sopra una moneta singolare del tiranno Giovanni, Naples 1748.
*Dissertazione su i consolari della
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
, Naples, 1757.
*Della Metropolis ecclesiastica della chiesa di
Capua
Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.
History Ancient era
The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...
, Naples 1758.
*Relazione della concessione de' pontificati fatta da
Benedetto XIII
Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...
al capitolo di Capua, Naples, 1725.
*Lettera sopra un antico marino in cui si fa parola di Giove Ortense, volumen 28 della raccolta del Calogera.
*Lettera sur l'antico equatutico.
*Lettera sur una moneta di
Guglielmo II il Buono.
*Lettera sur la colonia in
Bauli.
*Vita di Camillo Pellegrino-De monasterio
Theanensi (volumen 1 della ''Historia principum Longobardorum'').
*De familia et patria Divi
Thomae de Aquino.
*De Ludovico Imperator Augusti captivate-De Liburia.
*''Chronicon Cavense'', an alleged 12th century chronicle, which in 1847, due to the conclusive work of
Pertz and
Köpke,
Georg Heinrich Pertz
Georg Heinrich Pertz (28 March 17957 October 1876) was a German historian and librarian.
Personal life
Pertz was born in Hanover on 28 March 1795. His parents were the court bookbinder Christian August Pertz and Henrietta Justina née Deppen.
...
e Rudolf Köpke
Rudolf Köpke (23 August 1813 – 10 June 1870) was a German historian born in Königsberg.
Biography
From 1832 he studied theology in Berlin, where his interest changed to history under the influence of Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886). With Geo ...
, ''Über das Chronicon Cavense und andere von Pratillo herausgegebene Quellenschriften'', in "Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde", IX (1847), Hannover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
, pp. 1-239 it revealed to be "one of the most audacious forgeries of the eighteenth century".
[ Herbert Bloch, ''Monte Cassino in the Middle Ages'', Vol. 1, ]Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
, 1986 (p. 222)
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratilli, Francesco Maria
1763 deaths
1689 births
17th-century Neapolitan people
18th-century Neapolitan people
Italian antiquarians
Italian classical scholars
Forgers