Mazzatello
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The ''Mazzatello'' (abbreviated ''mazza''), more properly ''mazzolatura'' ('to strike or bludgeon with a mace'), is an Italian term that refers to a method of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
involving the use of a mace,
mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...
, or club-like weapon to inflict head trauma. It was historically used in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, particularly by the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
, for executing individuals convicted of particularly odious crimes.Megivern, James J. 1997. ''The Death Penalty''. Paulist Press. . p. 155.Abbott, Geoffrey. 2007. ''What a Way to Go''. Macmillan. . p. 239. The method was named after the implement used in the execution: a large, long-handled mace, mallet, or pollaxe, which is a heavy, blunt weapon or tool used for striking or bludgeoning. The term ''mazzolatura'' comes from ''mazza'', which means mace, mallet, club, or
sledgehammer A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and applying a large ...
in Italian. A stone base was often used on which the executioner forced the criminal to place their head; traces of it can be found in some squares of Italian cities, including
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
. It was abolished in Italy during the
Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...
but was later reinstated in some states, notably in the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
. Giovanni Battista Bugatti (known as Mastro Titta), the famous executioner of the papal government, recalls in his memoirs that he used the " mazzolato" on numerous condemned persons. The last reported use of this form of punishment was in September 1806; the much more common capital punishments inflicted by the Papal States were hanging or beheading. According to author Geoffrey Abbott, ''mazzatello'' constituted "one of the most brutal methods of execution ever devised, requiring minimal skill on the part of the executioner and superhuman acquiescence by the victim". Megivern cites ''mazzatello'' as one example of an execution method devised by the Papal States that "competed with and in some instances surpassed those of other regimes for cruelty". The condemned would be led to an execution scaffold site in a public square of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, accompanied by a priest (the
confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...
of the condemned); the platform also contained a coffin and the masked executioner, dressed in black. A prayer would first be said for the condemned's soul. Then, the mallet would be raised, swung through the air to gain
momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...
, and then brought down on the head of the prisoner, similar to a contemporary method of slaughtering cattle in stockyards. The condemned was usually knocked unconscious rather than being killed instantly, so the throat of the prisoner would then be slit with a knife.Quigley, Christine. 1996. ''The Corpse''. McFarland. . p. 143.


Earliest recorded use

Early evidence can be found in the 15th-century jurist Stefano Infessura's report on the execution of Christoforo Castanea, Count of Castel Leone, in May 1490 in Rome for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
and the attempted murder of
Cem Sultan Cem Sultan (also spelled Djem or Jem) or Sultan Cem or Şehzade Cem (22 December 1459 – 25 February 1495, ; ; ; ), was a claimant to the Ottoman throne in the 15th century. Cem was the third son of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, Mehmed II and ...
and
Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...
(the Castanea Conspiracy; the plot to poison Cem and Pope Innocent VIII foiled). Castanea was struck on the head with a large wooden mace and, afterward, pierced with an iron dagger in the chest and heart. Upon his death, his body was divided into four parts: the arms with the head and the chest were suspended at the gate of the Castle (
Castel Sant'Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo ( ), also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian (), is a towering rotunda (cylindrical building) in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. ...
); another part at the gate of Porta San Paolo; another at the gate of Porta San Giovanni; and the rest at the gate of Porta del Popolo. Similarly,
Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
described the execution of the Italian noble Giacomo Cenci in 1599. Giacomo, a co-conspirator with his sister Beatrice Cenci and their stepmother Lucrezia, who were beheaded for their part, was executed for his role in the
patricide Patricide (or paternal homicide) is the act of killing one's own father. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Latin language, Latin word ''pater'' (father) and the suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricide is a sub-form of parricide, wh ...
of their abusive father, Count Francesco Cenci. Francesco had repeatedly
raped Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person w ...
his daughter Beatrice during her youth and had violently abused the other members of his family. Giacomo was first tortured with red-hot tongs, then struck to death with a mace (executed by ''mazzatello''), and finally quartered. The sensational murder trial and the events leading up to it sent shockwaves across Europe and deeply affected the people of Rome, who protested against the
papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...
tribunal's decision. A variation of this method appears in chapter 35 of
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
' novel ''
The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' () is an adventure novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. It was serialised from 1844 to 1846, and published in book form in 1846. It is one of his most popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers'' (184 ...
'' as ''la mazzolata'' and '' mazzolato'', when a prisoner sentenced to execution is bludgeoned on the side of his head with a mace. Along with drawing and quartering (sometimes, but not always, after a hanging), ''mazzatello'' was reserved for crimes that were considered "especially loathsome".Allen, John L., Jr. 2001, September 14.

. ''National Catholic Reporter''.


See also

*
Breaking wheel The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century ...


References


Bibliography

* * {{Capital punishment Execution methods Papal States