322 BuoniCattolici
rona, the unity of the clergy and their link with Christ and the apostles were
symbolized by having twelve priests flank the bishop during the Canon of
the Chrism Mass. There the bishop distributed the oils to the archpriests of
baptismal churches at the Communion.^76 For the clergy, Holy Thursday
included the greatest festive meal of the year. The gathered clergy enjoyed a
banquet with the bishop, recalling Christ’s Last Supper. At Bergamo, Pisa,
and Siena, the bishop hosted the meal at his palace and invited prominent
laymen.^77 During this private event, the bishop fulfilled the Mandatum,
Christ’s command that his disciples wash each other’s feet. At Pisa, the arch-
priest of the duomo did the honors, washing twelve canons’ feet while the
archbishop watched. At Bergamo, the twelve ‘‘apostles’’ included six priests
from the cathedral and six from the collegiate church of Sant’Alessandro.^78
Their meal ended with the bishop’s gift of an Easter bonus of 12 d. to each
of the canons and smaller gifts to the lay domestics.^79 The modern evening
Mass of Holy Thursday, with its public washing of parishioners’ feet by the
parish priest, is probably one of the best-known ceremonies of the contempo-
rary Catholic Church. The parallel medieval Mass of Thursday, uniquely
celebrated in the evening, lacked theMandatum.It did have John’s story of
Christ’s action as its Gospel and other peculiarities, such as the omission of
the Pax ceremony—because Judas had profaned the kiss of peace in the
betrayal of Jesus.^80 But this Mass had little place in the piety of the commu-
nes. It was performed principally to consecrate the Host for the bishop’s
Communion on Good Friday.^81 When the Dominican Giordano of Pisa
preached on Holy Thursday, 31 March 1306 , he captured the lay experience
of the day by preaching on the Jews’ journey in the desert. He ignored the
rituals of the church.^82
Along with the day’s reconciliation of penitents, Holy Thursday’s Vespers,
with its stripping of the altars and washing of the church, captured some lay
attention. In this ceremony, the sacristans removed the cloths and decora-
tions from the altars of the church. The cathedral clergy then washed the
altars and floors with a mixture of wine and water. For Bishop Sicardo, the
washing of the floors was the more important, since it reminded observers
of Christ’s command to wash each other’s feet and symbolized the cleansing
- On these rites at Verona, seeCarpsum, 256 – 59 (Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare,ms xciv, fols.
41 v– 44 r). - For Brescia, see ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 6. 25 ,p. 229 , and Valsecchi,Interrogatus, 103 – 5 ; for Pisa,
see Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1785, Rolando the Deacon,Liber de Ordine Officiorum,fols. 23 r–v;
for Siena, seeOrdo Senensis, 1. 149 – 53 , pp. 131 – 33. - As Giovanni Occa, custodian of Sant’Alessandro, explained: ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 6 ,p. 212 ;as
did others: ibid., 3. 28 ,p. 179 ; 4 ,p. 187 ; 1. 6 ,p. 139. - Ibid., 6 ,p. 229 ; 7 ,p. 250.
- Sicardo,Mitrale, 6. 12 , col. 310 C.
- In churches other than the cathedral, it was the only Mass of the day: Grado Council ( 1296 ), 31 ,
p. 1171. - Giordano of Pisa,Quaresimale, 84 , pp. 405 – 9.