Bandits in Baroque Calabria

Throughout the early modern period Calabria suffered raiding and pillaging on the part of a group of powerful and numerous bandits. They were led by men who would quickly become famous such as Marco Berardi, called re Marcone (king big Marco), who took over Crotone after having defeated the Spanish garrison and who was only defecate by a veritable army, led by the Marquis of Cerchiara Fabrizio Pignatelli. Other famous bandits of the period were Marcello Scopelliti, Nino Martino called il Cacciadiavolo (the devil catcher), the brothers Pipino di Seminara, Ercole Ravese di Varapodio, Giovanni Canino. Favoured by the weakness of central power, by the code of silence, by the protection which was often guaranteed by convents or families and by periodic pardons and amnesties, banditry constituted one of the many endemic evils of Calabria. Nonetheless, bandits contributed to forging the image of the Calabrian in the early modern period, a fiery and courageous opponent of despotism and of the abuse of power of the barons.