22 March 1796 – 17 August 1864 (68 years, 148 days)
Giovanni Battista Bugatti holding the head of an executed woman
Giovanni Battista Bugatti (1779–1869) was the official executioner for the Papal States from 1796 to 1864. He was the longest-serving executioner in the States and was nicknamed Mastro Titta, a Roman corruption of maestro di giustizia, or master of justice.[1] At the age of 85, he was retired by Pope Pius IX with a monthly pension of 30 scudi.
Biography
Bugatti's career in charge of executions lasted 68 years and began when he was 17 years old, on 22 March 1796, and lasted until 1864. Up until 1810, the method of execution in the Papal States was beheading by axe, hanging or mallet. The French introduced the use of the guillotine, which was continued after the Papal States regained their sovereignty (the first Papal guillotining occurred in 1816) until the last executions. Over his 68 years as official executioner, Bugatti carried out a total of 514 executions, an average of 7 per year (in his notebook, Bugatti noted 516 names of executed, but two prisoners are subtracted: one was shot and the other because he was hanged and quartered by the adjutant).
Bugatti is described as being short and portly, and always well dressed, frequenting the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina. He was married but had no children; when not carrying out his official duties, Bugatti and his wife sold painted umbrellas and other souvenirs to tourists. He referred to his executions as “justices” and the condemned as “patients”.
He could not leave the Trastevere neighborhood unless on official business. Officially, this was for his own protection, in case relatives of those he had executed decided to take revenge on him. This was probably due to superstition regarding his part-time job: when he was seen crossing the bridge, Romans were alerted an execution was to take place, and crowds would gather to witness the popular event.
His blood-stained clothes, axes, and guillotines are now on display at the Museum of Criminology at Via del Gonfalone in Rome. The guillotine as used in the Papal States is of peculiar construction, with a straight blade and V-shaped neck-piece.
