CAPECE ZURLO, GIUSEPPE. - Cardinal, born in Naples on 3 January 1711, died there on 31 December 1801. Of noble family, he entered the Congregation of the Theatines, demonstrating great attachment to religious life and a profound interest in studies, which he pursued brilliantly until obtaining university degrees.
Appointed Bishop of Calvi, he was later created cardinal in 1782 and on 16 December of the same year Archbishop of Naples. During the events of 1799 he also revealed himself to be a man of action, adopting a resolute stance even toward the fleeing sovereign, as occurred aboard the *Vanguard*, when Capece Zurlo exhorted Ferdinand IV to place himself at the head of his subjects and defend the fatherland’s institutions and traditions with arms in hand. During the Parthenopean Republic he continued to concern himself especially with the needs of the people, apart from any dynastic or political issues. This earned him harsh reproach at the Restoration, with consequent exile to the monastery of Montevergine, where he died at the age of ninety.