Davide Lazzaretti

Davide Lazzaretti

Davide Lazzaretti (also: David Lazzeretti , born November 6, 1834 in Arcidosso , † August 18, 1878 in Bagnore, Santa Fiora ) was an Italian preacher and mystic . He worked in Tuscany in the 19th century , especially in the area of ​​Monte Amiata . Because of his visionary ideas and his tragic end, he is also known as "Christ of Amiata" ( Cristo dell'Amiata ) or "Prophet of Amiata" ( Profeta dell'Amiata ). The movement of Giurisdavidismo ( Chiesa Giurisdavidica , German "Church according to the law of David") is connected to his name .

Life

David Lazzaretti was born in Arcidosso , on Monte Amiata, into a poor farming family. His parents were Giuseppe Lazzeretti and Faustina Biagioli. From 1873 onwards Lazzeretti used the modified Lazzaretti form. In doing so, he was not only referring to the person of Lazarus from the Gospel , but also alluding to a character from the novel Manfredo Pallavicino by Giuseppe Rovani , in which there is a Lazzaro Pallavicino who is said to be from a miracle worker in France descend. Early on, he claimed to have dreams and visions. However, these religious phases alternated with phases of completely disordered life. The visions initially had no influence on the life of the poor young man who earned his living as a carter and transported Siena paint from Arcidosso to Grosseto or Siena and sometimes even to Rome . He married in 1856 and had five children. From 1859 he was a volunteer with the Piedmontese cavalry and in 1860 took part in the battle of Castelfidardo against the papal troops.

The visions and the foundation of the Chiesa giurisdavidica

Plaque on the house of Lazzaretti in Arcidosso

Lazzaretti claimed that through successive visions until 1868 he had been announced a great mission, that he himself should bring it to the Pope and that he should lead a life of hermitage and preaching. His mission had with Pius IX. In 1869, a year before the Porta Pia ( Breccia di Porta Pia ) was taken and the secular power (potere temporale) of the papacy ended, no success whatsoever. Lazzaretti nevertheless retired to the abandoned hermitage of Sant'Angelo , near Montorio Romano . There his mystical thoughts and his beliefs matured, which he would use in the following: He created an interpretation for his symbol: two letters "C", which crossed each other and thus should form the symbol of the future church ( Chiesa Christiana ).

He then returned to Arcidosso and a following quickly formed from residents of the area. Between 1870 and 1872 Lazzaretti founded three religious institutes with the consent of the ecclesiastical authorities. An "instrument for popular cultural resistance to the new Italian state" was expected. Three buildings were built on the slopes of Monte Labbro , including a new church: the Santa Lega . Among other things, it served the Società delle famiglie cristiane (community of Christian families), whose members gave the wages of their work to the common property and wanted to live according to the spirit of the original Christian church, while the Pio Istituto degli eremiti penitenzieri e penitenti was strictly religious Community was shaped by the millenarian and messianic spirit according to the tradition of Joachim von Fiore , who expected a coming kingdom of the Holy Spirit .

Davide Lazzaretti preached in the small towns around Zancona and the Le Macchie faction and made proselites all over Tuscany, all the way to France , where he appeared in 1873. In doing so, he took up a messianic and overt streak that was typically French, especially since he called for the restoration of the Capetian monarchy . He proclaimed himself "Re dei re" (King of Kings) and "Unto del Signore" (Anointed of the Lord), the effect of which was mainly caused by his charismatic charisma. He often retired to his hermitage on Isola di Montecristo , but one day he returned to Arcidosso with a red flag that read "La Repubblica è il Regno di Dio" (The Republic is the Kingdom of God).

Lazzaretti's visionary socialism claimed to lead humanity into the "era dello Spirito Santo" (Age of the Holy Spirit). This should be done by the "legge di Diritto" (Law of Right) after the "era del Padre" (the age of the father), by the "legge di Giustizia" (law of justice), which Moses with the 10 Commandments received and the "era del Figlio" (Age of the Son), which were concluded by Jesus with the "legge di Grazia" (law of grace).

His community, called Giurisdavidica (According to the Right of David), was based on the "diritto di Davide" (Right of David) and had the character of a mystical and utopian socialism : Davide Lazzaretti defended the Paris Commune and also found support from personalities within the Church, who were on the side of the socially disadvantaged, such as Don Bosco .

The oppression

The activities of Lazzaretti and his community put the Catholic Church and the Italian government on alert: in March 1878, through the Sant'Uffizio , the Church condemned Lazzaretti as a heretic , excommunicated him and put his writings on the index . However, he continued his activities, proclaiming himself Cristo Duce e Giudice (Christ, leader and judge) and affirming that he had come to complete the Christian revelation.

On the morning of August 18, 1878, shortly after the death of Pius IX. and at the beginning of the pontificate of Leo XIII. , Lazzaretti led a procession from Monte Labbro , which he had renamed Monte Labaro , to Arcidosso. There they were met by a battalion of Carabinieri and the military , whom they approached without hesitation. It was the military, more precisely a soldier named Pellegrini, who killed Lazzaretti. More shots were fired at those taking part in the procession, killing three people and injuring about forty.

Lazzaretti was brought dying to the Croce di Cansacchi farm , where his followers called a doctor. This came from Santa Fiora because the Arcidosso doctors refused to treat him. From there he was brought to the village of Bagnore near Santa Fiora, where he died.

His body was buried in unconsecrated ground in Santa Fiora, but was soon exhumed by the anthropologist Cesare Lombroso , the founder of criminal anthropology , who used the remains for studies. He wanted to find clues to the organic origins of a criminal disposition. Remnants of the broken processional procession such as flags, banners, banners, robes, tunics ( bandiere, labari, gonfaloni, vesti, tuniche ) that Lazzaretti had already left behind when entering Arcidosso, along with other objects, were with the estate for about a century which Lombroso had bequeathed to the Museo di Anatomia Criminale in Turin , and then partially transferred to the Centro studi David Lazzaretti in Arcidosso. On October 24, 1879, the trial of twenty-three supporters of Lazzaretti was opened in Siena. They were charged with “assassinations against the security of the state, by perpetrating acts which were directed against the government and intended to change it, not only to provoke civil war, but also to bring destruction and looting to the community of the state ". However, they were all acquitted.

After Lazzaretti's death, most of his supporters dispersed. Few continued to adhere to the teachings and utopian socialism of their late founder. Today only about a dozen followers of the religious community still live in the area around Monte Amiata and in Maremma , where individual remains of buildings of the simple Comunità giurisdavidica have been preserved. In Macchie there is still a school building, in Zancona the archive of his followers has been preserved. The last priest of the religious community, Turpino Chiappini , died in 2002.

Works

• Il risveglio dei popoli: preghiere, profezie, sentenze , (Sermons, prophecies and sentences) 1870
• Sogni e visioni , (Dreams and Visions) 1871
• Avviso profetico alle nazioni e ai monarchi d'Europa , (prophetic admonitions to the nations and monarchs of Europe) 1871
• Le livre des fleurs célestes , (Book of Heavenly Flowers) 1876
• Manifeste de David Lazzaretti aux peuples et aux princes chrétiens , (Manifesto from DL to the peoples and the Christian princes) 1876
• La mia lotta con Dio ossia Il libro dei Sette Sigilli , (My struggle with God, the book of the seven seals) 1877
• Rivelazioni , (Revelations, published after death) 1881
• Ultimi scritti: i 29 editti , (last writings: the 29 decrees, published after death) 1921

effect

There is a wide variety of literature on Amiata and Lazzaretti. Some consider him “il Santo” (the saint). Others consider him a visionary socialist ante litteram , still others, such as Lombroso, for a madman ( monomaniaco ). His figure appeared at a historical, dangerous moment in which the state and church institutions were in a state of upheaval. This led to the victim because his movement represented a kind of pacifist and mystical social experiment and addressed the people who were harassed by taxes and social conditions, while the Catholic institutions saw their control function threatened.

Many religious critics, philosophers and writers have analyzed David Lazzaretti's movement. These include religious historians such as Emil Rasmussen, Ambrogio Donini (1913–1991), Antonio Moscato (* 1936); Writers like Guy de Maupassant , Lazzareschi , Imberciadori , Arrigo Petacco , Gadda-Conti; Philosophers and politicians such as Giacomo Barzellotti , Eric Hobsbawm , Antonio Gramsci , Ernesto Balducci (1922–1992). The outstanding work of the scientists rate the "profeta dell'Amiata" as a genuine social protest that arose from the difficult economic situation that prevailed in similar Tuscany after the unification of Italy . David Lazzaretti embodied with an unusual charisma religious redemption and the hopes of a widespread millenarianism . Many of the community approaches that have emerged speak of great innovation and progressive thinking, such as social care, communalisation of land and other resources, universal suffrage, and compulsory schooling.

In an attempt to discredit the works and ideas of David Lazzaretti, the predominant culture of the 19th century had to seek help from obscure theories such as Cesare Lombroso's, which classified humans as criminals or madmen and sought, on the basis of physical characteristics or the nature of the brain to detect abnormalities. Lombroso condemned Lazzaretti on the basis of skull examinations as a "madman" ( follia ) with a "mystical paranoia" ( paranoia mistica ) and a potential danger to society, but without ever having known him. He had done all the examinations post mortem. This conclusion was adopted by other Italian psychiatrists such as Andrea Verga (1811–1985) or Eugenio Tanzi (1856–1934), who, however, took Lazzaretti's living conditions into account. This ideological and doctrinal stance of contemporary medicine, which proceeded from a positivist approach and established a social norm and then tried to devalue deviations from this "normality", was completely abandoned by the following generations of psychologists. The only health finding that is still recognized today is the report of two doctors who attested before the court of Rieti ( Tribunale di Rieti ) in 1874 that Lazzaretti was in full possession of his mental abilities. Whether the passion of his sermon is an indication of a spiritual disorder, or whether the provocative statements against the institutions of the state and the church are just different forms of social provocation, remains the subject of research, especially as a movement with more than a thousand followers and large ones political relevance has arisen.

The interactions between Lazzaretti and his supporters were also the subject of medical-psychiatric investigations. An attempt was made to explain the emergence of movements like that of Amiata and to show how mystical and social aspects can lead to corresponding mass movements. The dramatic ending was also influenced by a messianic prophecy: after a three-day waiting period, it was clear that the followers no longer had to wait for the other prophecies to be fulfilled.

Lazzaretti in popular culture

The character "David Lazzaretti" has a permanent place in newspaper articles and magazines on a supranational level. There are television games and documentaries, plays (especially in the "Teatro povero", Monticchiello), folk songs, ballads, right up to a song by the group Gang Fuori dal controllo (Out of Control) on the album of the same name, as well as reenactment actions . In 1976 the Canzoniere Internazionale under Leoncarlo Settimelli created an entire play and a long-playing record entitled "Vita profezie e morte di Davide Lazzaretti detto il nuovo Messia" (Life and death of DL, called the new Messiah). In 2004 the jazz musician Jimmy Villotti published a literary memorial with "In memoria di David Lazzaretti". Mirco Mariottini has created a suite entitled "Visioni in Musica sugli scritti di David" (Visions in music based on the writings of David). A documentary by Marianna Febbi, directed by Nicola Ragon and Michele Nanni, deserves a special mention in the film. With a certain regularity, further contributions come from universities abroad.

In 2015 Simone Cristicchi performed a play called "straordinaria vicenda di Davide Lazzaretti", Il secondo figlio di Dio ( Eng . The extraordinary life of D. Lazzaretti, The Second Son of God), written by Cristicchi and Manfredi Rutelli.

literature

• Franco Pitocco:  LAZZARETTI, David. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 64:  Latilla – Levi Montalcini. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2005.
• Pietro Nocito e Cesare Lombroso, Davide Lazzaretti , in "Archivio di psichiatria, antropologia criminale e scienze penali", 1–2, I, 1880.
• Giacomo Barzellotti, David Lazzaretti. Di Arcidosso, detto il santo. I suoi seguaci e la sua leggenda , Bologna, Zanichelli 1885.
• Giacomo Barzellotti, Monte Amiata e il suo profeta (Davide Lazzaretti) , Milano, Fratelli Treves 1910.
• Ambrogio Donini, Lineamenti di storia delle religioni . Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1964.
• Eric J. Hobsbawm , I ribelli. Forme primitive di rivolta sociale (1959), Torino, Einaudi, 1966, cap. IV.
• Ambrogio Donini, Enciclopedia delle religioni . Voce Davide Lazzaretti , Milano, Teti, 1977.
• Antonio Moscato, Davide Lazzaretti, il messia dell'Amiata , Roma, Savelli, 1978.
• Carlo Pazzagli. Davide Lazzaretti e il Monte Amiata: protesta sociale e rinnovamento religioso. Atti del Convegno, Siena e Arcidosso, 11-13 maggio 1979 . Firenze, Nuova Guaraldi, 1981.
• Arrigo Petacco , Il Cristo dell'Amiata - La storia di Davide Lazzaretti , Milano, Mondadori, 1982.
• Giuseppe Fratini, Davide Lazzaretti, il profeta dell'Amiata, Quaderni dell'Amministrazione Provinciale di Grosseto. Grosseto 1983.
• Anna Innocenti Periccioli, David Lazzaretti. Il profeta toscano della fine Ottocento nelle memorie trasmesse dalla figlia alla nipote , Milano, Jaca Book, 1985. ISBN 88-16-40147-8
• Antonio Areddu, Il Messia dell'Amiata Davide Lazzaretti, il suo ruolo sovversivo contro lo Stato unitario ei finanziamenti sospetti del legittimista francese Leon Du Vachat. ( Nero su Bianco , n ° 3, Grosseto December 12, 1988).
• Paolo Pisani e AA.VV. - 'David Lazzaretti e la Massoneria del suo tempo' (Atti del Convegno del GOI a Grosseto October 29, 2005)
• Antonio Areddu, La riabilitazione di Davide Lazzaretti. Il Cristo dell'Amiata . (Nero su Bianco n.3, Grosseto December 12, 1988).
• Alfio Cavoli, Il Cristo della povera gente. Vita di Davide Lazzaretti da Arcidosso , biography with an introduction by Ernesto Balducci, Siena, Nuova immagine, 1989.
• Francesco Bardelli, David Lazzaretti. La Comunità Giurisdavidica nell'Amiata Ottocentesca , Montepulciano, Edizioni del Grifo, 1989.
• Enrica Tedeschi, Per una sociologia del millennio. David Lazzaretti: carisma e mutamento sociale , Marsilio, Venezia 1989.
• Luciano Ghersi, La vera storia , Viterbo, Nuovi Equilibri, 1998.
• Roberto Gremmo, Davide Lazzaretti: un delitto di Stato , Biella, Storia Ribelle, 2002.
• Alessandro Hellmann, David Lazzaretti. Vita, morte e miracoli di un figlio di Dio , Nuovi Equilibri / Stampa Alternativa, collana Eretica, Viterbo, 2013.

Web links

Commons : Davide Lazzaretti  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Davide Lazzaretti  - Quotes (Italian)

• studi David Lazzaretti
• Progetto Amiata Archivio documenti su David Lazzaretti e la Comunità giurisdavidica
• Il processo dell'Inquisizione a Davide Lazzaretti (pp. 3–7 del file pdf)
• A. Pii , Davide Lazzaretti
• Il movimento giurisdavidico di David Lazzaretti
• Prophetic movements

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Lo strumento per una resistenza culturale, popolare, al nuovo stato italiano". F. Pitocco, Lazzaretti David , in “Dizionario biografico degli Italiani”, LXIV, ad vocem .
2. ↑ Carlo Fruttero , Massimo Gramellini: La patria bene o male . Mondadori, Milano, 2010, p. 43
3. ↑ Filippo Imperiuzzi: Storia di Davide Lazzaretti profeta di Arcidosso . Siena, Tipografia Nuova, 1905, pp. 472-475.
4. ^ «Attentato contro la sicurezza interna dello Stato, per aver commessi atti esecutivi diretti a rovesciare il Governo ed a mutarne la forma, nonché a muovere la guerra civile ed a portare la devastazione ed il saccheggio in un Comune dello Stato»
5. ↑ Il movimento giurisdavidico di David Lazzaretti - La Fratellanza Giurisdavidica
6. ↑ Simone Cristicchi ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Il Secondo Figlio di Dio teatrotorbellamonaca.it, May 23, 2015