Guido Franceschini, a nobleman of Arezzo, in Tuscany, had stayed for
some time here in Rome in the service of a person of some eminence. He
decided to take a wife with dowry enough to be of advantage to his own
house. When he had revealed this desire to a certain hairdresser _near
the Piazza Colonna_, she proposed to him the Signora Francesca
Pompilia, thirteen years of age, the daughter of a certain Pietro
Comparini and Violante Peruzzi. For beside the promised dowry, she was
heir to the reversionary interest in bonds and other properties worth
about 12,000 scudi. When he had heard of this advantageous dowry,
which seemed to him to be quite to his point, he lost no time in
revealing it to his brother Abate Paolo, who had dwelt here in Rome
for many years in the service of a Cardinal. He went along with Guido
to the mother of the young woman, as they flattered themselves that
they would succeed better in this way than by demanding her of the
father, who was somewhat hard to approach. When they had made it
appear that their income was of considerable amount, they succeeded in
their intent; although it was then found out that their entire capital
did not amount to the total of their income as given in that note.
It was easy for Franceschini to win over this woman, as _she was
driven by the ambition of establishing her daughter in the home of
persons of good birth_. She gave her own consent, and so worked upon
her husband as to induce him to sign the marriage bond. Then when
Comparini had been informed by a person who knew the resources of
Franceschini, that they were quite different from what they had been
represented to him, he changed his mind, nor did he wish under any
consideration to carry out the marriage. _He gave as a pretext the
very tender age of his daughter_, along with other reasons. The mother
of Francesca, however, not seeing any chance to give her daughter to
Franceschini, had her secretly _married during December_, 1693, _in
San Lorenzo in Lucina_.
When this marriage reached the ears of Comparini, he was much angered
at Violante. But she had such a gift of gab that Comparini not only
agreed to it, but beside the dowry of 2,600 scudi, _on which he had
already paid 700 scudi, he also made gift of his entire
possessions to the couple_.
After several days, Franceschini decided to conduct his wife and her
parents back to Arezzo, _and this took place in the same December_.
When they had arrived there, the parents of the wife could see that
the state of their son-in-law was much worse than they had imagined
it. Therefore they were all the more embittered at the penuriousness
they showed in the food, and many other matters. _One morning while
they were at the table they heard their daughter_ [Violante according
to _The Book_] _denied fire for warming her bed_, and saw the
Franceschini practise many other cruelties toward her. They were much
troubled at it, and _all the more so when they saw a Canon of the
Franceschini household, a brother of the husband, rush upon their
daughter_ [Violante according to _The Book_]. _He struck Francesca
with a dagger in his hand, who had to make her escape by running into
a room and shutting the door. Then one evening her father went to
visit a friend, and when he had come back home he found the door shut.
Therefore his daughter, who was still awake, was obliged to go
downstairs to open it for him, but not without first having called her
husband, who never even opened an eye. Then when she had gone down to
open the door and had gone outside a few steps to meet her father, all
of a sudden she found herself shut outside the house along with her
father. For that reason they were both of them obliged to sleep
outside of the house that night, her father at the inn and the
daughter at one of the neighbours._ Therefore, more and more, as the
days passed, the Comparini decided to return to Rome. But as they were
without money they were obliged to beg it of Franceschini, who
_scarcely gave them the necessary expenses of the journey_.
When the old Comparini had departed, Franceschini thought to hide what
had happened. He constrained his wife to write to Rome to the Abate,
his brother, to tell him that she cherished in her heart his memory.
This letter was dictated by the husband himself. The ignorant girl did
as Guido wished, whose purpose was to have it believed that his
parents-in-law were the fomentors of the dissension which prevailed
between the couple and the relatives of Franceschini.
When the Comparini had reached Rome, ill-contented as they were with
the house of their son-in-law, for whom they now saw they had
sacrificed their daughter, they did not know how to hold their peace
about that matter, of which they themselves had been the cause. All
the more so when they were harassed for the remainder of the dowry,
beside the fact that they saw the rest of their property in danger.
While affairs were in this state a Jubilee was announced; under these
circumstances Violante Comparini revealed in confession that Francesca
Pompilia, who was married to Franceschini, was not their daughter, but
that the birth had been pretended. She had in fact been born of a
_poor widow, a foreigner_, and had then been adopted to bring it about
that the reversionary interest would fall to their house, and hence to
make good the many debts of her husband. _When the confessor heard
this, he charged her to reveal all the affair to her husband himself.
Violante obeyed, and Comparini was greatly surprised at it, and
rebuked his wife sharply._ He then submitted the matter to judgment
before Monsignor Tomati; the following was spoken in sentence: It
should be maintained that Francesca Pompilia shall be and is in
quasi-possession of her relationship as daughter. Therefore appeal was
taken by Comparini to the Tribunal of the Sacred Rota, but the suit
still remains undecided. In the meantime the Franceschini, seeing that
they had been deluded by this circumstance, since they could not get
possession of the residue of the dowry, redoubled their cruelties to
the poor Pompilia even to the point of threatening her with death.
Hence she was very often obliged to save herself by fleeing into some
other house, or before the authorities, or even into the presence of
the Bishop, _whom she finally begged to save her by putting her in
some monastery_. But this prelate thought it better to send her back
to her husband's home, urging him not to mistreat her.
When the unfortunate woman saw that the admonitions of this Bishop had
been useless, and that this way of softening the heart of her husband
and his relatives had proved vain, and when they reproved her for
sterility and for coquetry, and for other faults of their own
imagining, she betook herself to an Augustinian, Romano, that he might
write to his Superiors or to her parents to find some provision for
her. But although the Father promised to do as she desired, his
letters never reached their destination. The wretched woman was
therefore desperate and determined to get to Rome in some manner or
other. She told the whole matter to Canon Conti, a relative of the
Franceschini, to whom she made a most pathetic picture of her
situation. He was moved thereby, and answered that he would aid her,
as he did, by offering to have her taken to Rome by Canon
Caponsacchi, his friend, since he himself ought not and could not do
it. When the circumstances had been told to Caponsacchi, he was
opposed to it, for fear of incurring the anger of the Franceschini;
but when he had been urged both by Conti and the woman, he consented
thereto. And on the last Monday of April the wife arose from bed as
soon as day dawned, without her husband knowing about it. She took
some things of her own, some jewels, and money, left the house, and at
the gate of the city found Caponsacchi, who was awaiting her with a
carriage. They mounted together and set out on the road toward Rome.
When Franceschini awoke and discovered the flight of his wife, as he
already suspected that she had started for Rome, he began to pursue
her, and on the following Tuesday [should be Wednesday] overtook her
at Castelnuovo in the post-house, where she was in company with
Caponsacchi. The young woman was not at all terrified at the sight of
her husband, but on the contrary she mustered her courage and reproved
him for all the cruelties practised upon her, because of which she had
been forced to this step. Then Franceschini was thunderstruck, and did
not know how or what to respond. Hence he thought it best to have
recourse to the authorities. The fugitives were arrested by the
Governor of the place, and both of them were taken to Rome and placed
in the New Prisons, and were charged with adultery because they had
run away together. He tried to prove the charge by certain
love-letters which had been found, and by the deposition of the
driver. But as the adultery was not proved, the Canon was condemned
for three years to Civita Vecchia, and the wife was shut into the
monastery of the Scalette on the Lungara.
When the husband therefore saw that this had not helped him in gaining
the dowry, he decided to go back to his own country, leaving the care
of his case in the hands of his brother, the Abate, who was in the
service of a Cardinal. But although the Abate tried by many a turn to
succeed in his intent before the tribunals, he could not achieve it.
Hence he also decided to leave Rome. And he was spurred all the more
by its becoming known that his sister Pompilia was with child. For
this reason, the Governor of Rome had constrained him to consent that
she should keep her own home as a prison, under security of 300 scudi
to present herself at every demand of the Tribunal. The Abate indeed
was unwilling to give his consent unless Pietro Comparini should first
assume obligation, by an official document, to furnish her with food.
_And then, when he had obtained the permission of his Cardinal, he
sold his furniture and books_, and when he had made them pay over the
47 scudi which had been found upon Pompilia at Castelnuovo, he left
Rome. After that Pompilia bore a son, _whom she named Gaetano, after
the saint to whom she made her vows_.
Franceschini, who was now overwhelmed with manifold troubles, and was
urged on now by honour and again by self-interest to take vengeance,
at last yielded to his base thoughts and planned to kill his
sixteen-year-old wife and her parents. When four other criminals had
been admitted to the scheme, he left Arezzo, _and on Christmas eve
reached Rome. He stopped at Ponte Milvio, where there was a villa of
his brother. There he remained in hiding with his followers until a
time opportune for the execution of his designs should come._
They spied out all the ways of the Comparini family, and on January 2,
_which was Thursday_, at about seven o'clock in the evening, he
approached the Comparini home with his companions. He left on guard at
the street door Biagio Agostinelli and Domenico Gambassini, and
knocked at the door. When he had said that he brought a letter of
Canon Caponsacchi from Civita Vecchia the door was opened to him.
Immediately this cut-throat Franceschini, assisted by the other two
criminals, leaped upon Violante who had opened it and struck her dead
to the ground. Pompilia in this crisis extinguished the light, hoping
thus to escape the assassins, _and ran to the neighbouring door of a
locksmith crying out for help. But when she saw that Franceschini was
provided with a lantern she went to hide under the bed_; but she was
dragged from there, and was barbarously slain _with 22 wounds_ by the
hand of her husband. Not content with that, he dragged her to the feet
of Comparini, who was likewise wounded by one of the other assassins,
_and was crying out_ "_confession_."
_When the uproar of this horrible slaughter was heard abroad, people
ran thither, but the criminals succeeded in escaping. But in their
haste one of them left his cloak, and Franceschini his cap, which
betrayed him afterward._ The unfortunate Francesca Pompilia, under the
burden of such wounds as those with which she had been cut to pieces,
_implored the Holy Virgin for the favour of confession, and obtained
her prayer_. Hence she survived some little while, and _was able to
tell about this horrible crime. She told that after the deed was done
her husband had asked of one of the cut-throats who had done the
murder with him, if she were indeed dead. When that one had assured
him, he replied: "Let us lose no time, but return to the vineyard."_
And so they made their escape. _In the meantime the police had been
summoned, and came with a captain. A confessor was quickly called and
also a surgeon who gave his attention to the luckless girl._
When the Governor had been informed of the outcome, he _immediately
despatched Captain Patrizi_ to arrest the criminals. _When the posse
arrived at the vineyard, he found that these were no longer there, but
that about an hour ago they had left in the direction of the highway.
Then Patrizi followed without interrupting his journey, and when he
had reached the inn he learned from the host that Franceschini had
demanded horses with threat of violence, but they had been denied him,
because he lacked the necessary order._ Hence he had travelled afoot
with his companions toward Baccano. _Patrizi continued his march, and,
after taking the necessary precautions_, arrived at the tavern of
Merluzza. There he found the assassins, who were straightway arrested.
On them were found, still stained with blood, those daggers with which
they had done the murders, and _upon Franceschini were found 150 scudi
in money. This arrest indeed cost the life of Patrizi, because having
been overheated and wounded with a slight scratch he died in a few
days._
_Franceschini's dagger was of a Genoese pattern, triangular, and with
certain hooks made in such a way that in wounding they could not be
drawn from the wound without such laceration as to render the wound
incurable._
_When the criminals were known to be at Ponte Milvio, in that very inn
they were heard on their preliminary examinations by notaries and
judges sent there expressly, and satisfactory confession was had._
_When the capture of the delinquents was known in Rome, a countless
throng of people rushed thither to see them, while all the criminals
were tied to their horses and conducted to Rome. It is told that
Franceschini, while making the journey, asked one of the officers how
in the world the crime had ever been discovered. And when he was
answered that his wife, whom they had found still living, had revealed
it, he was so astounded that he was, as it were, deprived of his
senses. About five o'clock in the evening they reached the prisons. A
certain Francesco Pasquini, of the town of Castello, and Alessandro
Baldeschi of the same town, both of them 22 years old, along with
Guido Franceschini had been the slayers of the Comparini. And
Gambassini and Agostinelli were those who had stood guard at the
street door._
_In the meantime there were exposed in San Lorenzo, in Lucina the
bodies of the assassinated Comparini, who were so disfigured, and
especially the wife of Franceschini, by wounds in the face that they
were no longer recognisable._ The unfortunate Francesca, when she had
taken sacrament and had pardoned her murderers, and had made her own
will, died, not yet having completed her seventeenth year. This was on
the 6th, which was the day of the Epiphany. She was able to justify
herself against all the calumnies inflicted by her husband. _The
surprise of the people at seeing the said bodies was great, because of
the atrocity of the deed, which truly made them shudder_, seeing that
two old septuagenarians and a young girl of 17 years had so wretchedly
perished.
As the trial of the criminals advanced, there were many arguments made
on the matter, laying stress on all the more aggravating circumstances
which accompanied this horrible massacre. Others also were made in the
defence with much erudition, especially by the Advocate of the Poor,
who was a certain Monsignor Spreti. He succeeded in delaying the
sentence, because Baldeschi made denial, even though "the cord" was
administered to him twice, under which he swooned. Finally he
confessed, and the others did likewise. _They also revealed that they
had planned to kill Franceschini himself, and to rob him of his money,
because he had not kept his word to pay them as soon as they left
Rome._
On February 22 was seen _in the Piazza del Popolo a great platform
with mannaia, and two great gallows, which had been built for the
execution of the criminals. Many stands were constructed for the
accommodation of those curious to see such a terrible execution, and
so great was the concourse of people that some windows brought as much
as six dollars each. At the eighth hour [2 a.m.] Franceschini and his
companions were informed of their death and were placed in the
Consorteria. There they were assisted by Abate Panciatichi and
Cardinal Acciajoli, nor did they delay in preparing themselves to die
well. At the 20th hour [2 p.m.] the Company of Death and of Pity
arrived at the Prisons. The condemned were made to go downstairs, and
were placed upon separate carts to be drawn to the place of
execution._
_The first to mount the cart was Agostinelli, the second Gambassini,
the third Pasquini, the fourth Baldeschi, and the fifth Franceschini,
who showed more intrepidity and composure than the others, to the
wonder of all._
_They left the Prison and followed the Pilgrims Street, the Street_
_of the Governor, of Pasquini, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza
Colonna, and the Corso._
_The first who was executed was Agostinelli, the second Gambassini,
the third Pasquini, the fourth Baldeschi, and the last Franceschini.
When the last-named had mounted the platform, he asked pardon for his
sins, and begged them to pray for his soul, adding that they should
say a Pater, an Ave, and Salve Regina for him. When he had made the
confessor announce that he was reconciled, he adjusted his neck upon
mannaia and, with the name of Jesus on his lips, he was beheaded. The
head was then shown to the people by the executioner._
_Franceschini was low of stature, thin and pallid, with prominent
nose, black hair and a heavy beard, and was_ fifty years of age. _He
wore the same garb as when he committed the crime--that is a coat of
brown cloth, black shirt, a vest of goatshair, a white hat and cotton
cap; clothed presumably as he had been when he had set out from
Arezzo._
The execution took place during the _Pontificate of Innocent XII._, in
1698.