Penitenziagite

“Do penance.”

The word Penitenziagite comes from the Latin Poenitentiam agite—a call to repentance—and, in another reading of its Greek roots, πένητες διάγετε (penites diagete), meaning “live as paupers.” It became the rallying cry of a 13th-century movement led by Fra Dolcino, one of the most feared and ferocious heretics in medieval Europe. His story unfolds in the rugged mountains surrounding Biella, in northern Italy’s Piedmont region—also the birthplace of Luca Costa. There, Dolcino’s followers built a refuge high in the snow-covered hills, defying both Church and Empire, preaching equality, rejecting wealth, and surviving through famine, siege, and blood.

“The group hanged many Christians, including a boy of ten… they cut off the lips and noses of some women… burned churches, disfigured statues of the Virgin Mary, and stole books, chalices, and ornaments.”

— Anonymous chronicler, early 14th century

Yet these accounts were written by priests—the only ones with access to literacy and the power of reproduction. In a world where the Church controlled every book, every parchment, and every written word, truth itself was dictated by those who could write it. Fake news existed long before our time: dissenters were branded monsters, their names twisted into symbols of evil, and their stories reshaped to justify their torture and destruction.

By 1307, Dolcino and his companion Margherita da Trentalago were captured after a long siege on the frozen heights above Biella. Starved and surrounded, their small commune fell to papal forces led by the Bishop of Vercelli. Dolcino was tortured publicly for days—his flesh torn with heated pincers before being burned at the stake—while Margherita was executed before his eyes. The Church celebrated their deaths as the victory of order over heresy; history remembers them as the silenced voices of faith turned rebellion. Even Dante Alighieri immortalized Dolcino in the Divina Commedia, placing his name among the sowers of discord in the Eighth Circle of Hell.

Amerigo Film Inc. has acquired the film rights to Penitenziagite, a trilogy of novels by Fabio Cosio inspired by Dolcino’s true story—a sweeping cinematic saga of rebellion, propaganda, and the unrelenting struggle to reclaim truth from those who control it.

The project is currently in development.