Fra Diavolo (lit. Brother Devil; April 7, 1771–November 11, 1806), is the popular name given to Michele Pezza, a famous Italian brigand leader who resisted the French occupation of Naples and is remembered in folk legends and in the novels of the French writer Alexandre Dumas as a popular guerilla leader. The nickname "Fra Diavolo" was given to him by his school teacher, because of his excessively lively character and because of the monk's habit he always wore; the reason behind this was that when he was five he fell ill, and his mother swore an oath to always dress him in such a habit if he survived^[1]. April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Alexandre Dumas, père, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (July 24, 1802 – December 5, 1870) was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. ...

He was born of low parentage at Itri. Little is known with certainty of his early life, though he apparently was known for committing murders and robberies. When the Kingdom of Naples was overrun by the French and the Parthenopaean Republic established in 1799, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, acting on behalf of the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV, who had fled to Sicily, undertook the reconquest of the country. For this purpose he raised bands of peasants, prisoners, bandits and other lazzaroni (the lowest class of the people) under the name of Sanfedisti or bande della Santa Fede (bands of the Holy Faith). Ruffo pardoned Pezza for murders and made him a leader of one of these bands. Pezza waged untiring war against the French troops, cutting off isolated detachments and murdering stragglers and couriers. Owing to his unrivalled knowledge of the country, he was successful in disrupting enemy communications, but failed to prevent the capture of Naples by the French in January 1799. Itri is a small city in the central Italian region of Latium and the Province of Latina. ... Capital Naples Government Monarchy King  - 1285-1309 Charles II  - 1815-1816 Ferdinand I History  - Established 1285  - Union with Sicily 1816 The Kingdom of Naples was an informal name of the polity officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily which existed on the mainland of southern Italy after of the secession... The Parthenopaean Republic formed a brief interlude in the history of the Kingdom of Naples, the result of activities of France in the aftermath of Jacobinism to export revolution . Origins of the Republic On the outbreak of the French Revolution King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Queen Maria Carolina did... Fabrizio Ruffo (September 16, 1744 - December 13, 1827) was a Neapolitan cardinal and politician. ... Also see:  Early Modern France The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. ... King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (January 12, 1751 - January 4, 1825). ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ...

Pezza, like his fellow-bandit warriors under Ruffo, styled himself the faithful servant and subject of Ferdinand, wore a military uniform and held military rank, and was even created duke of Cassano. Despite this, Pezza became known for committing many atrocities. On one occasion he threw some of his prisoners, men, women and children, over a precipice, and on another he had a party of seventy shot. His excesses while at Albano were such that the Neapolitan general Naselli had him arrested and imprisoned in the castle of St Angelo, but he was liberated soon after. When Joseph Bonaparte was made king of Naples, tribunals were established to control banditry, and a price was put on Fra Diavolo's head. The name Cassano may refer to: Cassano dAdda — a town in Lombardy, Italy Cassano allo Ionio — a town in Calabria, Italy Antonio Cassano — an Italian football player This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... There are communes that have the name Albano in Italy: Albano di Lucania, in the province of Potenza Albano Laziale, in the province of Rome Albano SantAlessandro, in the province of Bergamo Albano Vercellese, in the province of Vercelli This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte, King of Naples, King of Spain (January 7, 1768 – July 28, 1844) was the older brother of French Emperor Napoleon I, who made him King of Naples and Sicily (1806–1808) and later King of Spain. ...

After spreading terror through Calabria while raising an army to return and expel the French, he crossed over to Sicily, where he engaged in further attacks on the French. He returned to the mainland at the head of 200 convicts, and committed further excesses in the Terra di Lavoro. But French troops were on the alert to capture him and he had to take refuge in the woods of Lenola. For two months he evaded his pursuers, but at length, hungry and ill, he went in disguise to the village of Baronissi, where he was recognized and arrested, tried by an extraordinary tribunal, condemned to death and hanged in the public marketplace. Cliffside dwellings in Tropea. ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Terra di Lavoro is the name of a historical region of southern Italy. ... Lenola is a indie rock group formed in New Jersey in 1994, originally envisioned as a four-track project by lead man Jay Laughlin, but with the addition of guitarist David Grubb and drummer Sam Byrne, eventually became a standard band. ... Baronissi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. ... A tribunal is a generic term for any body acting judicially, whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. ...

Legacy

Auber's opera, Fra Diavolo, is founded on traditions associated with the legend, but has very little historical accuracy. Laurel and Hardy starred as "Stanlio" and "Ollio" in the 1933 feature film Fra Diavolo (sometimes titled as The Devil's Brother) based on Auber's opera. Daniel François Esprit Auber (January 29, 1782 - May 13, 1871), French composer, the son of a Paris print-seller, was born in Caen in Normandy. ... Fra Diavolo, ou Lhôtellerie de Terracine (Fra Diavolo, or The Inn of Terracina) is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 28 January 1830. ... Laurel and Hardy, in a promotional still from their 1937 feature film Way Out West. ... Fra Diavolo or The Devils Brother is a 1933 film starring Laurel and Hardy. ...

Paul Féval, père used the character of Fra Diavolo in his Les Habits Noirs book series. In it, Michele Bozzo (sic) is the nearly immortal Colonel Bozzo-Corana, feared leader of an international criminal brotherhood. Paul Henri Corentin Féval, père (17 September 1817 - 8 March 1887) was a French novelist and dramatist. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... A book series is a sequence of books with common characteristics, typically written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher. ...

Fra Diavolo is also the name given to a spicy sauce for pasta or seafood. Most versions are tomato-based and use chili peppers for spice, but the term is also used for sauces that include no tomato, or that use cayenne or other forms of pepper. Authors of cook books often assert that the dish was named for Pezza, but documentation is lacking. The devil had been portrayed disguised as a monk long before Pezza was born (see The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Marlowe for an example), so this point must remain doubtful. For the computer protocol, see SAUCE. Or see source. ... Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... Spaghetti with seafood (Spaghetti allo scoglio). ... For other uses, see Tomato (disambiguation). ... The chile pepper (also chili or chilli; from Spanish chile) is the fruit of the plant Capsicum from the nightshade family (Solanaceae). ... Cayenne is the capital of the French overseas région of French Guiana. ... Species C. annuum (incl. ... The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story (Faustus is Latin for Faust), in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. ... Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593?) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. ...

External links

• Notes about Fra Diavolo on Around Napoli

References

1. ^ http://www.fradiavoloitri.org/

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.