Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes 1125-1325

(Darren Dugan) #1

 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.

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