Baron Francesco Bentivegna (March 4, 1820 – December 20, 1856) was an Italian patriot, who led various revolts in Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 against the Bourbon

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

 rulers between 1848 and 1856.

Early life

Bentivegna was born in Corleone

Corleone

Corleone is a small town and comune of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy....

, to father don Giliberto de Cordova, Marquis of Giostra Florence and mother was donna Teresa de Cordova, from the Bourbon-Orleans. His parents originally wanted him to become a priest as the Bentivegna family was very involved with the Roman Catholic Church and regularly donated large sums of money. This is dated back to St. Benidict. Fancesco became more fascinated, and involved, with his countrymen's aspirations of independence from their Bourbon rulers.

Struggle against foreign occupation

He initially fought against the Bourbons in Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

 in 1848. To honor his bravery, the provisional governor appointed Bentivegna to be the military governor of the Corleone district. He accepted the position but refused to be paid for his services.

Within 16 months the Bourbon forces reoccupied Palermo. The Bourbon governor offered amnesty to the renegades if they would pledge fealty to the French rulers. Bentivegna refused to make the pledge. On January 27, 1850, he once again attempted a coup against the Bourbon government of Palermo. Barely escaping, he managed to live more than two years as a wanted fugitive, continuing to organize the Italian revolutionaries. He was finally arrested on February 25, 1853 in the Albergheria quarter of Palermo. He was released on July 25, 1856 before his lawyers could plead his case in court.

After his release, Bentivegna deemed it was the right time for a full revolt of Italy from foreign domination. In 1856, with fellow revolutionary Salvatore Spinuzza, he attempted to create an uprising of the people. Bentivegna organized squadre of peasants to attack Mezzojuso and Villafrati

Villafrati

Villafrati is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 25 km southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,350 and an area of 25.6 km²....

, while Spinuzza centered his activities in Cefalù

Cefalù

Cefalù is a city and comune in the province of Palermo, located on the northern coast of Sicily, Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea about 70 km east from the provincial capital and 185 km west of Messina...

. Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...

 promised to aid Bentivegna with his group, La Giovine Italia

La Giovine Italia

Young Italy was a political movement founded in 1831 by Giuseppe Mazzini. The goal of this movement was to create a united Italian republic through promoting a general insurrection in the Italian reactionary states and in the lands occupied by the Austrian Empire...

.

Arrest and execution

Before the 1856 uprising in Mezzojuso could occur, he was betrayed by Ignazio Milone, a Corleonese who had been promised a knighthood and an annual salary of 300 ducats. Bentivegna was arrested on December 2, 1856 while hiding in a house in the Punzonotto Contrada

Contrada

Contrada is a generic name given to various types of Italian city subdivisions, now unofficial. Depending on the case, a contrada will be a località, a rione, a quartiere , a borgo, or even a suburb.The best-known contrade are the 17 Contrade of Siena, since they form the teams in the Palio...

 of Corleone. After a summary process the next day, he was sentence to death by firing squad. The execution took place on December 20, 1856 at Mezzojuso

Mezzojuso

Mezzojuso is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 34 km southeast of Palermo...

.

Bentivegna's death sentence was pronounced based on the charges for his arrest in 1853. But since he was released without having been given a trial at that time, his capital punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

 has historically been considered illegal.

Eyewitnesses recount that Bentivegna requested his estate be given to his mother, but this was prohibited by law since surviving males of the line inherited automatically. In signing his last will and testament, he noted that the cosigning notary's hand was shaking and commented wryly that one would think the notary was the one who was about to be executed. He had a last cup of coffee and requested that he not be blindfolded (the request was denied). He was then executed.

Fate of corpse

Following his execution by firing squad, Bentivegna's corpse was thrown into an ossuary

Ossuary

An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...

, but was quickly, and secretly, removed and hidden.

On June 23, 1860, after Sicily had been liberated by Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...

, Bentivegna's body was transported to Corleone. One year later, wrapped in the Italian tricolor flag

Flag of Italy

The flag of Italy is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white, and red, with the green at the hoist side...

, he was entombed in the chapel of San Biagio (St. Blaise) in Cefalù, where a monument was erected in his honour.