HASPINGER, JOACHIM. - Capuchin and noted Tyrolean patriot, b. at S. Martino Casies on 27 Oct. 1776, d. at Salzburg on 11 Jan. 1858.
As priest and soldier he embodied the Tyrolean popular spirit in the defence of his homeland against Napoleonic domination (1809–10), and for this reason he was nicknamed by the people themselves Roi-Bart, that is, Barbarossa. Of those memorable events he left an important diary (Tagebuch), published posthumously (Vienna, 1903), which constitutes a valuable historical source. He later lived, owing to particular circumstances and by special indult, as a secular priest, receiving from 1856 onward a modest pension granted by the Austrian government. Even in 1848 he served as chaplain to the bands of Tyrolean students who opposed the Garibaldian troops.
