On the evening of 18th August 1878, soldiers seized a large quantity of papers and documents belonging to the Davidic community on Monte Labbro, and arrest warrants were issued for Lazzaretti’s followers. Arcidosso’s prison register, which is on display in the last room of the museum, lists the names of the prisoners who were being held on the evening of 18th August and the following days. Other arrestees were taken to and held in the prisons of Santa Fiora. The trial of Lazzaretti's followers opened before the Court of Assizes in Siena on 24th October 1879. The court was crowded, there were a lot of press, and the hearings were published in pamphlets. The defendants who had languished for a long time in prison, some of whom had even died there, were accused of very serious crimes: a coup aimed at overthrowing the state and starting civil war, pillage and devastation. The charges were refuted by the defence attorneys and firmly rejected by the accused, who were finally acquitted in November 1879.
