The Scold's Bridle

Author: Adolfo Polidori
Pages:260
Publisher: La Rapida, Fermo - Italy

The scold's bridle is an instrument of torture to punish the blasphemer, it was used by the gendarmerie of the Papal State.

This historical novel runs between the 1817 and the1846 at Ripatransone, a small town in the Marches region, in Italy.

The main characters are Adamo Caporossi and Giuseppe Cardini.

Adamo is a farmer apparently rude, but with a noble soul.

Despite his inability to read and write, Adamo was aware and in favor of the unity of Italy.

In the Marches region, ther were an imminent transaction from a pontifical state to a democratic state.

Giuseppe Cardini was a doctor from Pollenza a town in the province of Macerata.

He was a clever and honest man with an ideal: The Unity of Italy, he was known with the appellation of "Carbonaro"

The Charcoal Burners (Carbonari) were a secret and revolutionary society founded in the 19th century.

Their revolution was to built a patriotic and liberal state with a great and shared ideal: the Italian unification.

Adamo e Giuseppe, enter the scene, during the failed revolution of 1820.

We will know their wife and sons and an accurate description of the life during those hard times, full of misery, love, human dignity and death.

The second part takes place describing the life of their loved sons: Cardini Giovanni and Caporossi Domenico.

They are completely different but united by a true friendship and a common ideal.

The nickname of Giovanni is Nino.

Nino is an handsome man intelligent, sensible, educated in a convent and respectful of God

For him, the concept of revolution does not necessarily mean violence, you can be a revolutionary without the use of arms.

Menico (Domenico) is a man of few words, due to his character he will be the shadow of Nino.

On this historical novel there is a perfect mix between true and fictional facts, and some curiosities.

One is that inside the papal prisons there were a section called and dedicated to the "Politician"

The second one is a dialect words for the papal policy i.e. "Sgherri" and "Regnicolo" a nickname for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Naples.

The historical facts of this novel, are true and verifiable, like the "Horse Fire" the papacies.

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The Gleaner of Sapri's Manuscript (Written by the poet Luigi Mercantini)

At the top floor of the museum there is the original manuscript of The Gleaner of Sapri, Written by Luigi Mercantini. "They were three hundred, they were young and strong, and they died." This is the famous refrain of what is probably one of the most famous poems of the Risorgimento, the gleaner of Sapri, composed by Luigi Mercantini in memory of the enterprise attempted by Carlo Pisacane in 1857 to unification Italy. In these sections of the Historical Museum is dedicated to the poet Risorgimento Luigi Mercantini with an Historical Ethnographic Collection. This floor, dedicated to the Italy of nineteenth, allows visitors to immerse themselves during the time of National Unity, capturing the feelings that animated the young patriots who infuocavano the Italian Province. Songs and poems encouraged the barricades and political struggles of an Italy that joining was preparing to enter Europe. Sapri The Gleaner of Sapri Luigi Mercantini (1821–1872) Ano...

Christ on the Sepulchre Madonna and Child Enthroned between Saints Sebastian and Cosmas Saint Lucy

Pietro Alamanno (Choetbei, between 1430 and 1440 – Ascoli Piceno, 1498) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor of Austrian origin. Montefortino, Fortunato Duranti Art Gallery Description At the top is the suffering Christ, partially in the tomb, with the instruments of the Passion hanging on a wooden panel against a red background to highlight it. The Madonna is seated on a throne, praying and looking at her Son, who is resting on her knees. On the left is Saint Sebastian, pierced by numerous arrows and looking at the baby Jesus. On the left there is Saint Cosima, wearing a red turban and holding a house in her hands. Saint Lucy is the only saint who looks at the observer; we see her holding a tray with her eyes and the palm of her martyrdom.

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Description This painting was painted in 1485, when many people in San Ginesio were falling ill and dying from the plague. In the centre there is the Madonna who wears a large cloak, beneath there are people praying for her protection. Outside the cloak some people are pierced by arrows and dying, guilty of not believing in God. The sky is dark, and on either side are two groups of monstrous-looking demons, spewing hailstones at the people. On the far left there is a devil blowing a hunting horn, a symbol of war and hunting. On the far right are devils with bows and arrows. In the background there is an urban area. Why San Ginesio? He is the protector of San Ginesio and Vincenzo Ferrer, a Dominican friar who is invoked against the plague.

The Ripatransone Digital Library

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