OrderingFamilies,Neighborhoods,andCities 169
of the Opera del Duomo. At Modena in the 1260 s, the districts of the city
entered the duomo by the Porta Regia and approached the altar itself to
make their offering. The corporate banners along with the candles remained
on display throughout the octave of the feast.^179 Sworn representatives of the
commune usually witnessed the offerings. At Siena, a notary carefully re-
corded each candle as the one offering handed it over.^180 Brescia, not satis-
fied with mere witnesses and notetakers, conducted a candle audit after the
ceremony.^181 When the officials were satisfied that everything had been done
with honesty and order, sacristans placed the candles of the various districts
on display in the great church as a sign of the city’s self-oblation to the
Queen of Heaven.^182 The candles remained on view until the next year’s
offering, after which they were dedicated to altar use. Surplus candles were
then sold and the proceeds dedicated to the fabric of the Mother Church.^183
Candle offering was no mere sign of devotion and piety. It was a display
of civic identity and political order.^184 Political identity became visible as the
companies of each district marched into the piazza for the marshaling that
preceded the offering. Political order manifested itself as they queued up to
make their offerings. The political nature of the ritual dictated that citizens
and no others—be they foreigners, women, or children—march with the
corporations of the commune. The noncitizens acknowledged the city by
their presence as observers, looking on from upper windows or street cor-
ners. As a company passed through its own district to the city center, it
became a representative of those left at home. Passing through other districts
of the city, it claimed its space in the political fabric. Whether the march was
orderly or disorderly, the claim was made. Unlike Vespers, which the canons
began whether everyone had arrived or not, the offering could not begin
until every neighborhood was present. Arrival in the piazza followed a pre-
scribed order, for nothing is more divisive than waiting for late groups to
make their appearance. The podesta and officials ensured that protocol was
followed, lest the unity of the city be compromised.
In candle offering size mattered. The greater gave greater offerings ac-
cording to a careful hierarchy; the powerful came first. The candle offering
at Pisa had a precise order of precedence for the four quarters, and a hierar-
chy of districts within each quarter. In each delegation’s offering, quarter
officials offered first, followed by the individual cappelle.^185 Candles showed
the importance of their bearers by size and design. At Vicenza, the podesta
- This thirteenth-century legislation is included in a 1326 law in Modena Stat., 6. 1 – 2 , pp. 680 – 85.
- Siena Stat.ii( 1310 ), 1 : 66 (again in legislation dating to 1200 ); Brescia Stat. ( 1273 ), col. ( 121 ).
- Brescia Stat. ( 1313 ), 1. 118 , cols. 35 – 36.
- Parma Stat.i( 1248 ), p. 203 ; Siena Stat.ii( 1310 ), 1 : 67 – 68 ; Lucca Stat. ( 1308 ), 1. 42 ,p. 46.
- Florence Stat.ii( 1325 ), 4. 1 ,p. 303.
- A reality captured nicely by Paolo Nardi, ‘‘I borghi di San Donato e di San Pietro a Ovile:
‘Populi,’ contrade e compagnie d’armi nella societa`senese dei secolixi–xiii,’’Bullettino senese di storia patria
73 – 75 ( 1966 – 68 ): 41 – 42. - Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), Popolo 131 – 33 , pp. 571 – 87 ; Pisa Stat.ii( 1324 ), pp. 1226 – 28.