Massacro o repressione? I morti di Pontelandolfo e Casalduni

The Pontelandolfo massacre is one of the most successful themes of the recent neo-Bourbon rhetoric. In the general context of the brigandage war, it was a minor episode, which lasted a few days, and with a relatively limited number of deaths. Despite this, the episode went from being a marginal event of the first history of Italy united, to a story, and then a myth, of the legitimist and now neo-Bourbon rhetoric. In the last ten years, the two countries have been at the centre of a heated debate, as well as the subject of scientific research. Above all, several authors have turned Pontelandolfo into the place of southern martyrdom, coming to theorize a genocide. Through hasty and inaccurate reconstructions and the forced use of some sources, this narrative had its conceptual strong point in proposing an exponentially larger number of victims than that demonstrated by the sources, even comparing the story to the massacres of Marzabotto or Stazzema. From here, the episode turned into a massacre of hundreds, or thousands, of civilians killed by wicked soldiers and thirsting for revenge. Therefore, the quantification of the number of deaths appears to be an essential aspect to justify, deconstruct, or simply understand the myth of Pontelandolfo. The article proposes an estimate, based on unpublished sources and an extended rereading of those already known, as well as through the comparison with testimonies and archival documents still unknown.

Keywords: Pontelandolfo; Brigandage; War; Unification