List of people executed in the Papal States

Most executions were related to the punishment of civil crimes committed within the Papal States, with the condemned convicted within the civil courts of the Papal States; for example, in 1585, Pope Sixtus V initiated a "zero tolerance" crackdown on crime, which according to legend resulted in more severed heads collected on the Castel Sant'Angelo bridge than melons in the Roman markets.

[2] Before 1816, the most common methods of execution were the axe and noose (with burning at the stake used in high profile instances); after 1816, the guillotine (installed by the French during their control of Rome) became the norm.

[1] However, after 1816, two other methods—the mazzatello (crushing of the head with a large mallet, followed by a cutting of the throat) and drawing and quartering (sometimes, but not always, after a hanging)—continued to be used for crimes that were considered "especially loathsome".

[1] Papal law prescribed a payment of only three cents of the Roman lira per execution for the executioner to "mark the vileness of his work" but did not prohibit the free lodging, tax concessions, and large pension awarded to Bugatti.

[1] Note: Girolamo Savonarola, Domenico da Pescia and Fra Silvestro executed in Florence (May 23, 1498) were condemned by a Florentine court.