Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes 1125-1325

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of the candles ( 3 s. bon.).^154 But they still went in procession and offered real


beeswax. And Florence, at least, continued to institute new candle offerings


well into the fourteenth century.^155


Honoring theVirgin and theCity


That some wax offerings became routine did not rob the candles of their


popularity and symbolic power. By the late 1200 s, in nearly every city, one


candle offering took on a new life, that on the Assumption of the Blessed


Virgin into heaven, the feast of Saint Mary in August. The doctrine that


Christ’s mother was taken up—assumed—bodily into heaven at the end of


her life, and its celebration on 15 August, were both very ancient by the


thirteenth century. The Church liturgy of the day was innocent of any can-


dle rituals. The August offering was distinctly civic, a fusion of two lay devo-


tions: communal candle offering and petition to the Mother of God in times


of distress. As a celebration of Mary the intercessor in heaven, this feast


rivaled, even overshadowed, the other great feast of the Virgin, Saint Mary


in Lent ( 25 March), when the archangel Gabriel made the Annunciation of


the birth of Christ. As the feast of Mary’s entry into heaven, the Assumption


recommended itself as the time for ritualizing homage to Mary as intercessor


at God’s side. On this date, the cities paid republican homage to their heav-


enly queen. Only cities that early lost their republican government, for ex-


ample, Mantua under the Bonacolsi or Ferrara under the Este, failed to


establish the Assumption offering. They too developed Marian candle offer-


ings but avoided the image of Mary as the city’sdominaby having them on


some other feast.^156


The August offering was nearly universal, and its rites were remarkably


similar everywhere. Publicity for the event began as much as two months


ahead.^157 It peaked a week before, when the commune dispatched heralds


and trumpeters to the city and countryside.^158 Messengers received new liv-


ery for the occasion, that they might fulfill their task with decorous splen-


dor.^159 During preparation week, the militia suspended exercises. Proper


observance demanded a time of peace during which each citizen could be


on hand to offer his candle, even if this meant recalling the army from the


field. Only in the most dire circumstances might troops make their offerings


while on campaign.^160 Within the walls, the podesta hired street cleaners to


remove trash and obstructions from the streets and squares where proces-



  1. Ibid. (Lombardi, 1291 ,c. 18 ), 67.

  2. E.g., at Florence in 1325 : Florence Stat.ii, 5. 48 ,p. 395.

  3. Ferrara Stat. ( 1287 ), 2. 116 ,p. 93 , on candles for Saint George; Mantua Stat., 3 : 93 , on offering
    and palio for Saint Peter. On the palio, see Golinelli, ‘‘Dal santo,’’ 22 – 23.

  4. E.g., Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), 1. 207 , pp. 222 – 24.

  5. As in Brescia Stat. ( 1273 ), col. ( 121 ).

  6. As in Parma Stat.ii( 1266 ), 164 ; Parma Stat.iii( 1316 ), 114 , 144 – 45.

  7. See Parma Stat.i( 1248 ), p. 203 , on the purpose of the feast, and ibid. (by 1255 ), 84 , on the
    suspension of military actions. See also Parma Stat.iii( 1316 ), 113 – 14.

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