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the ancient bishop in the San Sepolcro, or ‘‘Golgotha’’ chapel, workmen
found other relics, mostly connected with Christ’s Passion. Those relics were
a godsend to Santo Stefano, with its chapels modeled on the Holy Sepulcher.
This gave the complex a physical connection with the holy places in Jerusa-
lem. Petronio remained of secondary interest. By the 1180 s, a Santo Stefano
monk had provided Petronio with his first Latin vita, which is preserved in
the martyrology of the monastery (fig. 39 ).^92 The codex was for refectory use,
and the long life of Petronio was its centerpiece. Soiling and marginal notes
show that the life was the most heavily used section of the codex. The author
focused on Petronio’s connection to the monastery, especially his role in its
reconstruction.^93 But Petronio’s episcopacy is not ignored. His appointment
as bishop, the author reports, resulted from a revelation to Pope Celestine.^94
The life tells how the ancient bishop played a central role in the rebuilding
of the city after Theodosius I had destroyed it in retaliation for the murder
of an imperial legate.^95 For this act and no other, the author says, Saint
Ambrose of Milan excommunicated the emperor.^96 The life focuses on Pe-
tronio’s relic hunting in the Holy Land and Italy—a project that explained
the great hoard discovered in 1141.^97 The stories are fictions, but suggestive
of things to come.
In the late 1100 s, Petronio’s cult was still restricted to the monastery. As
late as the 1240 s, Saint Peter, the titular of the duomo, remained the sole
patron of the city and alone appeared on the seal of the Popolo.^98 Even after
Petronio was adopted as a city patron at midcentury, few Bolognese were
named after him. Pietro, Domenico, and Francesco were the most common
Bolognese names. These were the names of the patron of the duomo and
the two mendicant founders.^99 The city was slow to adopt Petronio. Jurists
of the university did not cancel classes on his feast day.^100 But sometime
between 1257 and 1267 , indifference turned to adoration. In that period, the
city fathers ordered the offering of forty candles at Saint Petronio’s shrine
altar each year on his feast.^101 The old Latin life inspired the forgery of
- Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473,Vitae Sanctorum et Vita S. Petronii;printed editions inAS
50 (Oct.ii), 454 – 64 , and Lanzoni,San Petronio, 219 – 40. Ibid., 39 – 49 , describes the life. On a possible
earlier Latin life, see Antonio Ivan Pini, ‘‘Origine e testimonianze del sentimento civico bolognese,’’La
coscienza cittadina nei comuni italiani nel duecento, 150 – 51. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473, fol. 259 r;Vita S. Petronii, 2. 12 ,AS 50 (Oct.ii), 458 – 59 ;
Lanzoni,San Petronio, 231. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473, fols. 257 r–v;Vita S. Petronii, 1. 6 ,AS 50 (Oct.ii), 455 – 56 ;
Lanzoni,San Petronio, 227 – 28. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473, fols. 262 r– 263 r;Vita S. Petronii, 2. 19 – 20 ,AS 50 (Oct.
ii), 460 – 61 , Lanzoni,San Petronio, 235 – 36. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473, fols. 260 v– 262 r;Vita S. Petronii, 2. 15 – 18 ,AS 50 (Oct.
ii), 459 – 60 ; Lanzoni,San Petronio, 233 – 35. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1473, fols. 264 v– 265 r;Vita S. Petronii, 3. 24 – 25 ,AS 50 (Oct.
ii), 462 – 63 ; Lanzoni,San Petronio, 239 – 40. - Bol. Pop. Stat. ( 1248 ), 2. 12 , 1 : 510.
- Pini, ‘‘Origine,’’ 186.
- Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 329.
- Bologna Stat.i( 1257 – 67 ), 1 : 441.