The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-08-31 00:00:00

DAVID LAZZARETTI, THE PROPHET
OF MONTELABRO.

The correspondent of the Globe, writing from Rome on
August 25, gives the following particulars of "David the
Saint," as he was called by his followers :
-

The Republican newspapers in Italy express much
sorrow for the death of David Lazzaretti, the hermit
of Montelabro. Lazzaretti, a man of very humble
birth, and almost illiterate, fought under General
Garibaldi for the unity of Italy. He was subsequently
a cart driver. Becoming inspired with a loftier
ambition, he indulged in dreams and visions. and
established 'himself as a hermit, devoted to fastings
and penitence, on the hill of Montelabro, which
forms part of the lofty mountain of Monte Amiata.
The hermit was visited by the peasants, and
soon formed a sect or company of followers who
believed in him as a prophet. They built a
temple and tower on the summit of Montelabro,
which is over 3,00 U feet above the level of the
sea, the materials for these edifices being carried on
the shoulders of his votaries on successive Sundays to
the top of the mountain. The society which Lazza-
retti founded was decidedly communistic. It com-
menced on the let of January, 1872, and was to last
until December, 1890. Every member gave all his
goods to the society, and his wife, and, if possible, his
children were to obey the society. There were three
classes of members, the nobles, the men of property,
and the peasants and workmen, All were to serve
the society and earn their own maintenance by
labour. The society undertook to feed, educate,
and provide for the health of the members. Any
one leaving the society before the expiration of three
years from the date of joining it lost all right to
pecuniary profit. Until their establishment as
a regular Order the members might live in
their own houses, but always in dependence on the
society, which alone was entitled to the produce of the
lands. But whether the members lived in private
houses or in community, they were to dress in uni-
forms supplied by the society, The men were bound
to let their beards grow, and to wear a woollen tunic
of ash colour, bordered with black, long boots, and a
hat with an ash-coloured band. The women were.
to use dark dresses, black and red stockings, and
Polish boots. The St. David's attire was to be
grey, and he was to carry a long stick, made in
three joints with a huge bulb at the upper ex-
tremity. All the members were adorned with a
brass medal, with an emblem of unknown signi-
fication, and this emblem was to be affixed also to
the doors of their habitations. Such was the civil
constitution of the society founded by Lazzaretti, and
its religious tenets are laid down in the creed of 24
articles and in the works printed and published by
the Prophet as well as in his Sunday orations de-
livered to his followers upon Montelabro. Lazza-
retti was entitled David the Saint, his tower was
called David's Tower, and the saint heard con-
fessionb, gave absolution, and administered com-
munion, in the shape of pieces of bread, to
his flock. He had twelve assistants, whom he called
disciples, and among his converts were two Catholic
iests, one of whom acted as his secretary. The pub-
lications of the saint were formally condemned by the
Congregation of the Index at Rome in July last. But
this Papal denunciation was lightly regarded by the
sect of David. The civil authorities from time to
time prosecuted the saint for fraud, but he escaped
from the tribunals of Grosseto and Perugia by the
aid of his lawyers. The ex-Minister of Justice,
Signor Mancini, the best advocate in Italy, pleaded
successfully the cause of Lazzaretti before the
Appeal Court of Perugia. Many of the peasant
proprietors conveyed their lands to Lazzaretti, who
gradually become master of a considerable tract of
country near Montelabro. Latterly the prophecies
of the saint becoming alarming, and related to
slaughter, destruction, and raiine, and confiscation
of all property into the hands of the sect, with Laz-
zaretti himself as head distributor and divider of the
spoil. The hermits of Montelabro, within the brief
space of twelve years, were to conquer the world, to
exterminate all priests, and to slay two-thirds of the
human race for the benefit and purification of the
survivors. There was to be but one empire in the
universe, with twelve subject kingdoms, one of the
latter being the Popedom, which was to issue laws to
all mankind. There was to be but one Church, one
faith, and one worship. Every man has two spirits, one
the spirit of the body and the other the spirit of the
soul, and both are immortal. The one spirit, that of
the body, was evil, the other was good, and both were
to live in a future state, which contained, besides hell,
paradise, and purgatory, a fourth division, that of the
kingdom of hope.
Lazzaretti recently went to France where he placed
his two sons at school. He then returned to Monte-
labro, a, d resumed his life as a hermit and preacher.
In April last he had prophesied that the 14th of
August would see the destruction of Rome as the
capital of Italy, and the erection of a new city on
Montelabro. On that day, the 14th, he planned
an expedition which was to commence the regenera-
tion of the world by the deposition of the parish
priest of Arcidosso, a small town in the plain under
Montelabro. Several hundred men met on that day
in the woods of the mountain, but nothing was done,
and all went back to the tower of David. On
the 18th of August the great attempt was made,
and early in the morning some three thousand fanatics
descended from the mountain and marched on Arci-
dosao. The banners were red ; the Prophet wore a
red shir_ ,t and carried in his hand his iron-bound
mace. He had tattoed his forehead with the emblem
, of the cross between reversed marks of parenthesis,
I thus " ) x (." Arcidosso possesses but eight car-
' bineers and one or two municipal guards. The
local delegate of public security, undismayed by the
thousands-of fanatics, marshalled his small force of
nine men' and prepared to oppose the advance of
the foe. The prophet was sualmoned to halt and
disperse his followers. He refused, and shouted
" I am the King," and "Viva la Repubblica," at the
same time using his heavy mace and calling on the
men of David to defend him. The carbineere were
obliged to fire, and "David the Saint" was struck by
a ball in the forehead on the sign of the cross. The
fall of their chief seems to have astonished the multi-
tude, who retreated carrying with thetinheritounded
saint, who died at 9 p.m. The carbineers were tOo

few to pursue them, for two them and the delegate
himself were wounded, but on the next day, when
reinforcements came in from the neighbouring towns,
many of the " Davideans " were arrested.