TheMotherChurch 19
azza of the commune were the same. The piazza of the duomo was a privi-
leged area, different from all others.^20 Buildings fronting it, sometimes even
small churches, were removed at city expense to enhance its size and beauty.
When the demolition involved an old church, however, the city erected a
covered cross on the spot to remind passersby that they trod on consecrated
ground.^21 At Parma and Pisa, the duomo and its piazza were a single legal
entity, with carefully defined boundaries, protected by special laws against
violence and insult.^22 At Modena, perpetual banishment punished those who
profaned the duomo or its piazza.^23 The Sienese podesta’s oath of office
committed him, first of all, to protect physically and legally the religious
spaces and institutions of the city, above all the duomo of the Glorious Vir-
gin.^24 When an outrage occurred in the cultic center, reaction could be vis-
ceral and violent. At Bologna in 1262 , robbers carrying off money and
church plate murdered Don Enrico, the sacristan of San Pietro, and his
nephew Bernardino. The seven perpetrators were apprehended while at-
tempting an escape to the roof. Citizens threw one malefactor to his death
from the top of the episcopal palace; four they quartered (stasinati) in the
piazza. The remaining two escaped by night from prison. The man set to
guard them, a servant of the bishop, was tortured for information. He died
on the rack.^25 The site of the crime more than its victims triggered this savage
retribution.
Like most cities, Padua made do with heavy fines to keep its cultic center
pure, clear of noisome leavings.^26 In other cities, the bishop and commune
collaborated and hired a custodian to police the area and clean up trash.^27
By 1277 , Brescia had hired avir religiosusto keep the church of San Pietro
cleared of wood and swept clean.^28 This city bound the podesta under oath
to prevent scrap parchment from being thrown out the windows of the city
offices onto the duomo. He could fine litterbugs up to 40 s.^29 The city fathers
of tiny Biella near Vercelli protected the dignity of their religious center with
a vigor equal to that of the great communes. In 1245 , they imposed a fine of
22 s. on anyone who dared to climb the facade of a city church—one can
imagine small boys!—unless, of course, the climber was doing repairs.^30 Not
atypically, Biella excluded gamblers and prostitutes from its cultic center.^31
- On the civic role of the piazza duomo, see Pini,Citta`, comuni e corporazioni, 29 – 32.
21 .CCB:A( 1285 ), 227 : At Bologna, Santa Maria de Rustigani in Piazza Maggiore came down this
way. - Parma Stat.i(by 1255 ), pp. 286 – 87 , 295 – 96. Pisa Stat.i( 1286 ), 1. 23 , pp. 81 – 82.
- Modena Stat. ( 1327 ), 4. 18 , pp. 388 – 89 , forinsultoormislancia—that is, for insult or assault.
- Siena Stat.ii( 1310 ), 1. 6 – 12 , 1 : 48 – 64.
- Matteo Griffoni ( 1262 ), 16.
- Padua Stat. (pre- 1236 ), 3. 6 , pp. 257 – 56 , no. 781.
- E.g., Parma Stat.i( 1233 ), p. 320 , and Brescia Stat. ( 1313 ), 1. 109 , col. 33.
- Brescia Stat. (before 1277 ), col. ( 185 ).
- Ibid. ( 1313 ), 1. 35 , col. 13.
- Biella Stat., 1. 3. 13 ( 73 ).
- Brescia Stat. ( 1313 ), 2. 30 , col. 72 (gambling); Lucca Stat. ( 1308 ), 3. 152 ,p. 228 – 29 (prostitution).