112 LaCitadeSancta
the Blessed Virgin. Mary had shown her special favor.^61 But in the 1260 s,
invocation of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Hilary of Poitiers came to
replace that of the Virgin in Parma’s statutes and decrees, reflecting new
victories under their patronage. Nevertheless, the Virgin remained dear to
the commune, now more a patron of peace than a patron of victory. When
Guelf Parma and Ghibelline Cremona ended their long war in 1281 , they
returned each others’ carrocci on 7 September, the vigil of the Virgin’s nativ-
ity.^62 Cremona, like Siena, tended toward the imperial party, but devotion
to the Glorious Virgin transcended mere political differences.
Survival of republican institutions became even more closely linked to
heavenly intervention in the later 1200 s, when princely domination threat-
ened them with destruction. Patron saints presided over revolts against tyr-
anny. On the night of 26 January 1306 , the Modenese, in league with Parma,
Mantua, Verona, and Bologna, finally threw off the yoke of Azzo VIII
d’Este, lord of Ferrara. They drove out his garrison with shouts of ‘‘Death,
death to the marquis!’’ The next day Reggio also threw off Este control.
Modena ascribed the liberation to the ancient patron of their commune, San
Giminiano. On 22 January 1307 , the city, in the person of the podesta, Gil-
berto of Correggio, celebrated their freedom from slavery to Pharaoh by
declaring Saint Giminiano’s feast a civic holiday for all time. For a week,
criers circulated through the streets, summoning all citizens to the duomo.
There, on the steps, the city had erected an altar decorated with precious
draperies and golden vessels. On the eighth day, Bishop Giacomo presided
at a solemn Mass in honor of Saint Giminiano, chanted—loudly!—by the
city clergy. The open-air location allowed attendance by the whole popula-
tion, which would not have fit inside the cathedral. None would have missed
the event, since the arm bone of Saint Giminiano was also offered for public
veneration.^63 At the Mass, the restored societies of the commune presented
offerings to construct a victory chapel in honor of God, the Blessed Virgin,
and Saint Giminiano. At the city’s request, the bishop blessed the event with
an indulgence of forty days. He appointed a priest to serve the new chapel
at city expense.^64 The city fathers soon expressed renewed faith in the patron.
That spring, the podesta moved to launch a new campaign against the Este.
The General Council of the Eighty approved it, again invoking Saint Gimi-
niano and again calling ‘‘for the destruction and death of the marquis!’’^65
Saintly patronage became so much part of civic identity that would-be
princes tried to appropriate it. At Mantua, after the Bonacolsi monopolized
control of the commune in 1272 , they preserved the old forms. Bardellone
61 .Chronicon Parmense( 1248 ), 18 ; on Saint Mary at Parma, see Miller,Bishop’s Palace, 134.
62. Alberto Milioli,Liber, 555 – 56.
63. Modena Stat. ( 1306 / 7 ), 1 : 99 – 100 ; Webb,Patrons, 216 – 21.
64. Modena Stat. ( 1306 / 7 ), 2 : 157 – 59.
65. Ibid. ( 15 July 1306 ), 1 : 216.