The mythical archetype of the brigand and the
symbolic constellation of the “God of Thieves” probably date back to
the beginnings of humanity and the figure of the “divine trickster”.
The common theme in the various essays in this book entitled Le vie spirituali dei briganti,
(“The spiritual ways of brigands”), the third volume in the Viridarium
series, edited by Alessandro Grossato, is religious phenomena in the
decidedly anomalous category of individuals and organisations, which
have always lived at the edge of their respective societies. Here
spiritual phenomenology is rather complex and until recently little
documented because of its undoubtedly problematic nature. There are six
essays in the book. The first by Carlo Donà examines the theme of the
redemption of the brigand in the Mediaeval narrative tradition,
beginning from the evangelical figure of St Dismas, the “good thief”.
Still in the Mediaeval Western world, Franco Cardini illustrates the
opposite paradoxical case of the noble crusader Reginald of Châtillon,
Lord of Krak and Montreal (West Central Jordan), who was almost
celebrated as a Christian martyr, despite having carried out untold
robberies to the detriment of harmless Muslim pilgrims. Angelo
Iacovella describes some details and little-known forms of organised
brigandry in Mediaeval Islam. In the fourth essay Alexandro Gossato
considers the spiritual way of thieves in Hinduism: from the figures of
their patron divinities right up to the extreme form of the thags,
stranglers devoted to Kali, who plundered the trade routes of India
until the second half of the 19th century. Attilio Andreani analyses
the emblematic figure of the bandit Zhi,
while, lastly, Giorgio Arduini traces a highly significant historical
and anthropological profile of the ambiguous criminal organisation of
the Yakuza, and its rituals
and symbols, especially those connected to the practice of tattooing.
Arguably even more than the others, given it survives today, this
Japanese example reveals what can really happen when the “way of
excess” encounters in its own particular fashion the “way of the gods”.

CONTENTS

Alessandro Grossato
Introduzione. Le vie spirituali dei briganti in Europa e in Asia

Carlo Donà
Pessimae vitae finis optimus: la santità dei briganti nei racconti religiosi del Medioevo

Franco Cardini
Martire o brigante? Una nota su Rinaldo di Châtillon

Angelo Iacovella
Ayyarùn e Futuwwa

Alessandro Grossato
La via dei ladri in India

Attilio Andreini
Il Bandito Zhi: empietà e virtù

Giorgio Arduini
Yakuza: quando la via dell’eccesso incrocia la via degli dèi

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