HolyPersons andHolyPlaces 195
Pietro ran into the members of the Bargello family who were responsible for
night guard. Although he had technically broken curfew, they let him off.
The next day Pietro turned himself in to the podesta and insisted on paying
the fine for his infraction. The chagrined podesta assured him that ‘‘the law
was not made for you, but for transgressors and other bad livers’’; Pietro did
not need to pay. The city offered him exemption from the curfew and city
taxes. Much to the podesta’s astonishment, Pietro declined the curfew ex-
emption and insisted on paying not only his fine but also the upcoming
taxes.^97 No tax audit ever found this Sienese in arrears; he was a man of his
city.
Writing of the saints of communal Italy, Andre ́ Vauchez remarked,
‘‘These saints were not at all fictional or mysterious beings but well-known
people, nearby in time and place, who brought themselves to the attention
of their contemporaries while still alive.’’^98 Riccobaldo of Ferrara, when
asked by an inquisitor what locals thought about Armanno Pungilupo, re-
plied that they called him a ‘‘friend of God’’ (amicus Dei) because he consoled
the sick, visited those imprisoned, and encouraged his friends. His was a
compassionate and generous piety. People liked that. Unlike the inquisitor,
they did not ask what Armanno thought about Cathars and heretics.^99 Alber-
tano of Brescia, the thirteenth-century lay theologian, emphasized that true
piety showed itself in practical fruits. Gherardo dei Tintori of Monza, Gual-
tiero of Lodi, Raimondo Palmerio of Piacenza, Facio of Cremona, and other
communal holy men founded or ran hospitals.^100 God gave Raimondo Pal-
merio, the most famous of the hospital founders, his mission. As Raimondo
was returning from pilgrimage to Rome, God appeared to him and told him
to found a house for ‘‘indigents and pilgrims’’ back home at Piacenza. God
also warned him that the Piacentines were factious, stiff-necked, and unlikely
to honor their hometown prophet. God designed the habit Raimondo was
to wear: sky blue (coloris aetheriei), falling below the knees, with large sleeves,
a cross on the shoulder, and no capuche. So dressed, Raimondo presented
his plan to his bishop, who was delighted to approve it.^101 At least the bishop
could recognize a good thing when he saw it. By the time of his death, in
1202 , Raimondo had won over the entire city by his service. They took to
- Ibid., 8 ,p. 81.
- Vauchez, ‘‘Saintete ́laı ̈que,’’ 35 – 36 : ‘‘Ces saints ne sont pas en effet des eˆtres fictifs ou myste ́rieux
mais bien des personnages connus, proches dans l’espace et le temps, qui se sont impose ́s de leur vivant
de ́jaal’attention de leurs contemporains.’’ - Gabriele Zanella, ‘‘Armanno Pungilupo, eretico quotidiano,’’Hereticalia, 12. Zanella seems sur-
prised that the inquisition would be interested in such a harmless person. Perhaps such interest reflected
the inquisitors’ belief that doctrine mattered as much to holiness as did social service. See also Lansing,
Power and Purity, 83 – 84 , on Armanno’s ‘‘orthopraxis.’’ - Andre ́Vauchez, ‘‘Comparsa e affermazione di una religiosita
laica (xiisecolo–inizioxivsec- olo),’’Storia dell’Italia religiosai: L’antichitae il Medioevo,ed. Andre ́Vauchez (Rome: Laterza, 1993 ), 404 – 8 ;
on Albertano, see ibid., 415 – 17. - Rufino of Piacenza,Vita et Miracula B. Raymundi, 3. 31 , pp. 650 – 51 ; Canetti,Gloriosa, 198 – 204.