CESTARI, Giuseppe. – Priest, born in 1751 in Naples, where he lived in the reputation of a Jansenist, together with his brother Gennaro, belonging to that group of philosophers and regalists concerned only with asserting the sovereign’s rights over the appointment of prelates, over churches and their property, over the discipline of priestly ordinations, monastic professions, and marriages.
He collaborated with Francesco Mario Pagano and Giuseppe Logoteta in drafting the Constitution of the Neapolitan Republic of 1798. His principal work, *Dimostrazione di titoli della S. Sede sulle Sicilie* (Naples 1789), is a response to Cardinal Stefano Borgia’s *Breve istoria del dominio temporale della sede apostolica nelle due Sicilie* (Rome 1788). Another of his works is *L’Esame della pretesa di nazione fatta da s. Arrigo II imperatore alla S. Sede* (Naples 1785), which provoked bitter controversy. He commented on Giannone’s *Istoria* and continued the *Annali del Regno di Napoli* of F. A. Grimaldi. He served as prefect of the Archives of the Royal Mint and of the Royal Chamber of the Sommaria.
Later, along with the other Neapolitan Jansenists and regalists, he participated in the Republic of 1799 and was killed in combat at the entrance of the masses led by Cardinal Ruffo for the restoration of the monarchy.
**