236 BuoniCattolici
of Bologna, who had fallen afoul of the Bolognese inquisition, to the ‘‘pen-
ance’’ of confessing once a year and going to Mass on feast days (but not
Sundays?). The Bolognese inquisition sentenced a Paterine of Vicenza to
visit the Franciscan church there, to genuflect three times, and to say an Ave
Maria and a Pater Noster.^4 Orthodoxy followed from participation in the
religious life of the Catholic community and in the practice of its devotions.
Even an intellectual like Fra Guido, with his sometimes painfully doctrinal
understanding of orthodoxy, knew that reforming dissenters meant reimmer-
sing them into the community of believers and that community’s devotional
life.
TheHouse ofPrayer
Every church or chapel, whether public or private, was part of the greater
religious entity of the diocese. In theory, at least, no individual, clerical or
lay, could erect an altar, chapel, or oratory without the permission of the
bishop.^5 Whatever the law about permission, the local chapel was the collec-
tive property of those who worshiped there. The people built it, and they
paid for it. Provision of the vestments, Mass books, and other paraphernalia
was a responsibility shared half-and-half by priests and people. Clergy and
people owned the altar goods in common.^6 But some vestments belonged to
the laity alone, such as those made from the gifts of their dress clothing. The
emperor Henry VII gave his cloth-of-gold gown to the church of Sant’Eu-
storgio in Milan to make paraments and a cope. Donna Berirama from the
parish of Oppreno did the same, in a more modest way, when she gave a
silk dress to her church.^7 Donors could see their benefactions in use on any
given Sunday or feast. Attachment to the chapel and its rights was intense.
Bishop Lanfranco Civolla of Bergamo announced from the cathedral pulpit
in 1187 that the priests and people of San Giovanni, San Salvatore, Sant’
Agata, and Santa Grata delle Vigne were henceforth to go to the collegiate
church of Sant’Alessandro for Mass on Sundays and feasts. This was an
abridgment of local autonomy and caused an outburst of murmuring. The
bishop explained in self-defense that he acted on order of Pope Urban III
himself.^8 Throughout a diocese or ecclesiastical province, the same rituals
and celebrations created unified liturgical culture, but the place of prayer,
its equipment, and the organization of worship there were always a local
matter.^9
4 .ASOB, 1 : 147. On these examples, see Gabriele Zanella, ‘‘Malessere ereticale in valle padana ( 1260 –
1308 ),’’Hereticalia, 64 – 65.
5. Milan Council ( 1287 ), 24 , pp. 879 – 80.
6. Ravenna Council ( 1311 ), 8 ,p. 454.
7. Galvano Fiamma,Cronica Maior( 1311 ), 338 – 39.
8. ‘‘Instrumentum Litis’’ (September 1187 —Alberto Vacca, priest), 1. 8 ,p. 141.
9. On the unifying effects of shared rites, see Antonio Rigon, ‘‘Organizzazione ecclesiastica e cura
d’anime nelle Venezie: Ricerche in corso e problemi da risolvere,’’Pievi e parrocchie,ed. Erba et al.,
2 : 706 – 7.