Chronica Mundi
Volume 11 Issue I 2016
eISSN 2282-0094
Banditi e banditismo
Bandits and Banditry
Bandidos y bandidaje
Chronica Mundi
Reg. al Trib. di Pesaro n. 576 del 28/06/2010
Editor in Chief
SARA DELMEDICO
Editorial Board
ALBERTO MARIO BANTI
Università di Pisa (Italy)
STEFANO BELLUCCI
International Institute of Social History (The Netherlands)
FABIO CAMILLETTI
University of Warwick (United Kingdom)
ESTER CAPUZZO
Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (Italy)
ANDREA CARTENY
Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (Italy)
VICTOR CRESCENZI
Università degli Studi di Urbino (Italy)
ANNA FALCIONI
Università degli Studi di Urbino (Italy)
IRENE FOSI
Università di Chieti (Italy)
JEAN-YVES FRÉTIGNÉ
Université de Rouen (France)
VALERIE MCGUIRE
European University Institute (Italy)
MARÍA NOGUÉS BRUNO
Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (Italy)
STEFANO ORAZI
Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano (Italy)
ANA MARIA RODRIGUES
Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)
EDUARDO ROZO ACUÑA
Università degli Studi di Urbino (Italy)
MAURICIO SÁNCHEZ MENCHERO
UNAM (Mexico)
ROLAND SARTI
University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA)
ROY SMITH
Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom)
ROSA NELLY TREVINYO-RODRÍGUEZ
Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico)
ANA VÁZQUEZ HOYS
UNED (Spain)
Contents
Preface
7
Peer-reviewed articles
Lutero, Müntzer e la guerra dei contadini: l’accusa di banditismo
come delegittimazione della Riforma radicale
STEFANO ZEN
9
Bandolerismo y sociedad en la Corona de Castilla a finales del
siglo XVIII
MANUEL MARTIN POLO
38
Gavillas y bandoleros entre Ameca y Guachinango (1857-1877)
ANGÉLICA PEREGRINA
59
El bandido como “traidor” y la dicotomía del “bandidaje” en
Aguascalientes, 1861-1880
VÍCTOR MANUEL CARLOS GÓMEZ
85
Amnesty and Conflict of Interest in the Dilessi Murders (1870)
KALLIOPI KEFALAS
120
El bandolerismo a través de las noticias de sucesos durante la
Restauración española
VÍCTOR JOSÉ ORTEGA MUÑOZ
146
Banditry and Separatism in the Greek Island of Samos (19141925)
NIKOS VAFEAS
171
Doing Politics with violent means: The threshold bandits of the
Violencia Tardía in Tolima (Colombia)
LUKAS REHM
198
Shifting the Present: Francesco Rosi’s Salvatore Giuliano
FABRIZIO CILENTO
231
Invited article
Il brigantaggio in Italia tra Risorgimento e questione
meridionale: un’introduzione al tema
ANDREA CARTENY
249
Translated abstracts
272
Translated abstracts
Lutero, Müntzer e la guerra dei contadini: l’accusa di banditismo
come delegittimazione della Riforma radicale
Stefano Zen
Abstract: When Luther’s booklet Against the Murderous, Thieving
Hordes of Peasants appeared in May 1525, the peasants’ revolt had
already reached the point of maximum expansion. Luther harshly
attacked peasants and the revolutionary Christianity of Thomas
Müntzer, using the accusation of banditry to delegitimize their action
and show the incompatibility of their claims with the word of God.
Luther’s words aimed to discredit his opponent and accused him of
being a bandit. He frequently resorted to insinuations and virulent
denunciations, thus it is not surprising that Müntzer and his followers
are depicted in the leaflet in dark, threatening hues. Müntzer, however,
who was equipped with remarkable theological training, responded
in the language of a biblical prophet, rooted in German mysticism.
His reading included Erasmus, perhaps even Plato in Ficino’s version.
Müntzer was also influenced by More’s Utopia, which had been a
great publishing success, and sought to put these ideas into practice.
In particular, the issue of common property, which brought the
theories of Plato and More into conversation with evangelical
Christianity, became Müntzer’s battle cry and the basis on which he
began to construct the millennial reign of Christ on earth, sweeping
away priests, monks and princes. According to Luther, nothing was
‘more poisonous, harmful and evil than a subversive’, therefore one
needed to ‘strike, slaughter, massacre’ Müntzer and his farmers, as
God himself ‘desires that the kings are respected, the seditious are
defeated’. His cynical exaltation of repression, together with his
accusation of banditry, laid the theoretical foundations for the tragic
massacre of Frankenhausen.
Bandolerismo y sociedad en la Corona de Castilla a finales del
siglo XVIII
Manuel Martin Polo
Abstract: During the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the
early nineteenth century, banditry acquired unprecedented
proportions and intensity in the Crown of Castile. This article
investigates presence and impact of banditry on the territory and tries
to assess the size of the phenomenon by considering the volume of
assaults compared to other regions, the approximate number and
identification of bandits and the evolution of the number of those
executed, together with other qualitative and organisational aspects.
The analysis of the socioeconomic structure reveals that this wave of
banditry was not accidental, and an unambiguous explanation of the
phenomenon is not possible. The challenge to public order resulted
in a strong militarisation from the 1780s, with the Instrucción de
malhechores of 1784, although the results did not match the initial
expectations.
Gavillas y bandoleros entre Ameca y Guachinango (1857-1877)
Angélica Peregrina
Abstract: Banditry in Mexico was so entrenched during the
nineteenth century to be considered real social plague. It was not
limited to specific areas, but had become a truly endemic
phenomenon. In Jalisco, a federal state in western Mexico, the
presence of groups that disrupted public order and security was
particularly significant in the years from 1857 to 1877. Due to a
number of crises ignited by internal wars that arose throughout the
nineteenth century, politicians found themselves unable to quell
bandits and banditry. This article focusses on the incidence of
banditry in the regions of Ameca and Guachinango, especially in
rural areas and small villages. Since Ameca and Guachinango, which
are located in the western area of the state of Jalisco, were sparsely
populated and with few communication routes at that time, bandits
found them quite attractive places to be, as the terrain itself offered
them protection and allowed them to roam more freely.
El bandido como “traidor” y la dicotomía del “bandidaje” en
Aguascalientes, 1861-1880
Víctor Manuel Carlos Gómez
Abstract: This article explores the definition of banditry and the
specific meanings it had been attributed by different social groups. It
would allow to understand banditry as a broad phenomenon in which
bandits as well as those who were affected directly and indirectly
participated. Bandits were also used by different actors as a political
means to achieve their own goals. In the time frame and areas covered
by this study, banditry had been a dichotomous phenomenon: on the
one hand, the political opponents raised in arms, on the other, the
assailants on the way. The bandit-factious attempted to eradicate the
liberal political class, because it hampered the exercise of the
government, questioned legitimacy and prevented the consolidation
of the state. He was depicted as traitor of the country, since he was
believed to infringe the institutional order and national security. The
bandit-robber instead mostly affected people living in villages and
ranches. His dishonest way of earning a living was perceived as a
dishonourable act, since villagers valued a lot honest work. Moreover,
bandits also disrupted the neighbourly ties and private property.
Therefore, they were judged as despicable men worthy of repudiation
and deserving rejection.
Amnesty and Conflict of Interest in the Dilessi Murders (1870)
Kalliopi Kefalas
Sommario: Nell’aprile del 1870 a Dilessi, in Grecia, una banda di
briganti tenne in ostaggio per dieci giorni un gruppo formato da
quattro uomini inglesi ed un italiano. La richiesta principale nella
trattativa con le autorità inglesi e greche per il loro rilascio fu
l’amnistia per i reati commessi che, negata dal governo greco, portò
alla loro uccisione. Se da un lato la Grecia fu inflessibile nel cercare
un’alternativa alla concessione dell’amnistia per la natura
incostituzionale di quell’atto, dall’altro, gli inglesi fecero pressione
affinché si sospendesse temporaneamente la costituzione per salvare
la vita dei sudditi britannici, mettendo in luce il ruolo dei briganti e
del brigantaggio nel plasmare i rapporti con lo stato. In questo
articolo, illustro l’importanza della questione dell’amnistia negli
omicidi di Dilessi e cerco di chiarire le cause per cui un evento
apparentemente marginale abbia avuto un simile impatto sia in
Grecia che in Inghilterra, e in particolare sulle relazioni anglo-greche.
Il caso particolare e le reazioni che suscitò nella stampa inglese,
unitamente alle varie discrepanze delle cronache greche e inglesi
della vicenda, sono rilevanti in un dibattito più ampio sulla sovranità
dello stato e dimostrano come l’Inghilterra, a quell’epoca, trattasse la
Grecia come una cripto-colonia.
El bandolerismo a través de las noticias de sucesos durante la
Restauración española.
Víctor José Ortega Muñoz
Abstract: The press is a major source for historical studies, for it
gives insight on events and people, who are generally forgotten by
history. By considering two Spanish newspapers, La Unión Mercantil
of Malaga and La Vanguardia of Barcelona, this article highlights the
image of the bandits, and the ideology delivered by these two models
of modern bourgeois press. The time-period covers the Spanish
Restoration, that is, from 1875 to 1923, when the dictator Primo de
Rivera rose to power. This study also speculates that the image of
banditry elaborated by the press, differs from the one conceived by
popular imagination and foreign travellers visiting Spain in the
nineteenth century. Far from being considered a fascinating
phenomenon, banditry was presented as a socially destabilising
element, which affected the established order, and therefore, had to
be eliminated as soon as possible.
Banditry and Separatism in the Greek Island of Samos (19141925)
Nikos Vafeas
Sommario: L’articolo esamina una serie di movimenti armati che si
diffusero nell’isola greca di Samos tra il 1914 e il 1925 ad opera di
famosi ex briganti, i fratelli Yagas. Questi movimenti ebbero inizio
solo qualche anno dopo l’annessione di Samos allo stato-nazione
greco (1912) ed acquisirono gradualmente un carattere separatist.
Ancora oggi occupano un ruolo significativo nella tradizione orale
della popolazione locale, sebbene siano stati piuttosto trascurati dalla
storiografia ufficiale, sia da quella nazionale che locale. L’articolo
descrive dettagliatamente e analizza le varie forme di azione
collettiva intraprese nel corso di questi movimenti, ponendo
un’attenzione particolare agli usi e ai discorsi dei ribelli.
Doing Politics with violent means: The threshold bandits of the
Violencia Tardía in Tolima (Colombia)
Lukas Rehm
Resúmen: Enfocando en el departamento del Tolima (Colombia), el
artículo investiga a los combatientes irregulares de origen liberal
conocidos como bandoleros sociales y bandoleros políticos que
actuaban a finales de los años 50 e inicios de los 60 del siglo XX,
durante la etapa final de la guerra civil colombiana que se conoce
como la Violencia Tardía. Retomando las diferentes definiciones del
bandolerismo de Eric J. Hobsbawm y Anton Blok el autor argumenta
que los bandoleros colombianos no pueden ser diferenciados de una
manera tan estricta como lo proponen los dos científicos. Analizando
tanto expedientes judiciales contemporáneas como la prensa de la
época concluye que los bandoleros de los primeros gobiernos del
Frente Nacional mejor se conceptualizan como ‘personas liminales’
según el concepto del antropólogo Victor Turner.
Shifting the Present: Francesco Rosi’s Salvatore Giuliano
Fabrizio Cilento
Abstract: Salvatore Giuliano di Francesco Rosi ricostruisce la storia
del leggendario bandito siciliano attraverso uno stile di montaggio
non ortodosso, utilizzando numerosi balzi temporali che
frammentano la cronologia del film. Tutto ciò che appare
in Giuliano è frutto della versione della misteriosa morte del bandito
fornita dalle istituzioni, dalla stampa, e soprattutto dai reportage
televisivi. Rosi non usa la trama per produrre informazione, ma
l’informazione stessa costituisce il nucleo narrativo del suo lavoro. Il
film esplora i confini del miracolo economico e considera il sud
d’Italia come un avamposto coloniale dell’economia del nord,
ritraendo una nazione destabilizzata da un intenso regionalismo.
Focalizzandosi sul fenomeno del banditismo, Rosi esemplifica come
il nuovo spazio geopolitico globale si trovi a coesistere con la
persistenza di un arcaico passato.
Il brigantaggio in Italia tra Risorgimento e questione
meridionale: un’introduzione al tema
Andrea Carteny
Abstract: This article, through a critical and historiographical
approach, uses banditry in post-unification Italy as a key fact to
interpret the Italian Risorgimento and the related Southern Question.
By providing a political and ideological overview of banditry, several
traits of the anti-Risorgimento movement, a cultural current opposing
as an anti-canon the Risorgimento canon, and reminiscent of proBourbons supporting parties, are highlighted. These traits are clearly
distinguishable in the oral and written narrative, belonging to the
cultural collective memory of Southern Italy, of banditry as a
counterrevolutionary and popular phenomenon. Military repression
of banditry, which grew up to take on the characteristics of a civil
conflict, has left several issues still unresolved in the cultural debate
started immediately after the Unification of Italy and recently
renewed on the occasion of its sesquicentennial anniversary and the
centenary of the Great War.
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