Francesco Maria Pratilli (1689-1763) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 priest, scholar, antiquarian

Antiquarian

An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

, whose name is known, from the XIX century, for being involved ina a vaste serie of skilled forgeries.

Life and works

Born in Santa Maria in Сapuа

Santa Maria Capua Vetere

-External links:*...

, where he was canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

, he lived mostly in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 where he died.
King Charles III of Bourbon

Charles III of Spain

Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

 made him a member of the Accademia Ercolanense.

Works

His writings span both ecclesiastical, theological, numismatic topics, often disseminated by his historical forgeries.

Among his works are:

• Della Via Appia, libro IV, Naples, 1745.
• Lettera sopra una moneta singolare del tiranno Giovanni, Naples 1748.
• Dissertazione su i consolari della Campania
  Campania
  Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
  
  , Naples, 1757.
• Della Metropolis ecclesiastica della chiesa di Capua
  Capua
  Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
  
  , Naples 1758.
• Relazione della concessione de' pontificati fatta da Benedetto XIII
  Pope Benedict XIII
  -Footnotes:...
  
   al capitolo di Capua, Naples, 1725.
• Lettera sopra un antico marino in cui si fa parola di Giove Ortense, volumen 28 della raccolta del Calogera.
• Lettera sur l'antico equatutico.
• Lettera sur una moneta di Guglielmo II il Buono
  William II of Sicily
  William II , called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy...
  
  .
• Lettera sur la colonia in Bauli
  Bacoli
  Bacoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 15 km west of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 27,402 and an area of 13.3 km².-History:...
  
  .
• Vita di Camillo Pellegrino-De monasterio Theanensi
  Teano
  Teano is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 30 km north-west of that town on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the south-east foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina.- Ancient times and Middle Ages:...
  
   (volumen 1 della Historia principum Longobardorum).
• De familia et patria Divi Thomae de Aquino.
• De Ludovico Imperator Augusti captivate-De Liburia.
• Chronicon Cavense, an alleged 12th century chronicle, which in 1847, due to the conclusive work of Pertz
  Georg Heinrich Pertz
  thumb|Georg Heinrich PertzGeorg Heinrich Pertz , was a German historian born at Hanover.From 1813 to 1818 he studied at the University of Göttingen, chiefly under A. H. L. Heeren...
  
   and Köpke
  Rudolf Köpke
  Rudolf Köpke was a German historian who was a native of Königsberg.From 1832 he studied theology in Berlin, but his interest changed to history under the influence of Leopold von Ranke...
  
  , it revealed to be "one of the most audacious forgeries of the eighteenth century".