404 BuoniCattolici
Clergy from both the Mother Church and the chapel of the contrada had
jealously guarded places in the funeral procession. In late-twelfth-century
Bergamo, churches litigated over whose pall, processional candles, cross,
holy-water vessel, aspergillum, and censer would be carried at funerals.^152
Don Alessandro of San Silo, the cross-bearer of Sant’Alessandro, who cer-
tainly knew the customs of his city, explained them in detail.^153 On the occa-
sion of state funerals, the cross of San Vincenzo, the cathedral, went first,
followed by the crosses of the various cappelle and their people. Then came
the cross of the canons of Sant’Alessandro and the rest of the clergy. At the
funeral of an ordinary citizen, the cross and candles of his own parish went
before the bier.^154 The parish community dominated the funeral procession;
the neighborhood had first place in committing its dead to God.^155 Clergy
and commune legislated to protect the deceased’s cappella cross from being
overshadowed by those of other churches and corporations.^156 But citizens
belonged to other corporations than the cappella. These brought their own
paraphernalia and claimed their space, if not in the funeral itself, at least in
a separate procession to the bereaved family’s house to pay condolences.^157
As the death bell of the cappella rang, the procession left the house. Led
by the priest, acolytes and other clerics took up the cross and other items
needed for the funeral. The men carrying candles followed, two by two.
After them came the bier, the widow, and last of all the women. The proces-
sion might stop along the way to let the women raise the pianto; clerical
liturgists preferred that the procession not stop until it reached the church.^158
Even if it did not stop, the procession passed through the major streets of the
contrada, the deceased paying one last visit to his neighborhood.^159 Along
the route, clergy and laity raised their voices in song. The laity had dirges in
the vernacular to accompany the procession, but these are sadly lost.^160 The
clergy usually intoned the chant ‘‘Subvenite’’ on approaching the church.^161
In this responsory, the community bade farewell to their deceased, com-
223 – 24 (no more than three mourning companions—sotii). Only Bologna Stat.ii( 1288 ), 4. 91 , 1 : 245 – 46 ,
tried to exclude female mourners entirely.
152. ‘‘Instrumentum Litis’’ (September 1187 ), 6 ,p. 215 ; on which, see Valsecchi,Interrogatus, 77 – 78.
153. ‘‘Instrumentum Litis’’ (September 1187 ), 4 ,p. 192 ; repeated in ibid., 8 , pp. 268 – 69.
154 .Rituale di Hugo [di Volterra], 304 – 5.
155. Vauchez, ‘‘Conclusion,’’La parrocchia nel Medio Evo,ed. Paravicini Bagliani and Pasche, 313.
156. E.g., Reggio Stat. ( 1277 ), p. 48 ; Bologna Stat.ii( 1288 ), 4. 91 , 1 : 246.
157. Milan, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense,msAC.viii. 2 , fols. 32 v– 33 v; Mantua Stat. ( 1303 ), 1. 44 ,
2 : 94 , allowed two crosses in ordinary funeral processions.
158. Reggio Stat. ( 1277 ), p. 46.
159. Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), 3. 58 ,p. 350 , provided for this, but forbade processions through the rest of the
city.
160. Hyde,Society and Politics, 88.
161. Verona, Biblioteca Capitolare,ms dccxxxvi, fol. 35 r;Ordo Senensis, 2. 93 , pp. 499 (where the
‘‘Credo Meus Redemptor’’ and the ‘‘Libera’’ might also be sung if the procession was long). Milan and
Volterra rituals provided psalms during the procession:Manuale Ambrosianum, 1 : 101 – 2 ; Volterra, Biblioteca
Comunale Guarnacci,ms 273, fol. 58 v. At Bergamo, the usual chants were ‘‘De Terra Formasti Me’’ and
then ‘‘In Regnum Dei’’ on entering the church: ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 1. 1 , pp. 173 – 74.