CommunalPiety and theMendicants 421
consecrated the new high altars of the Franciscan and Dominican churches
in two grandiose ceremonies. He gave the Franciscans a sumptuous set of
paraments in commemoration of the occasion.^10 The Augustinians at Bolo-
gna began the construction of their large church of San Giacomo in 1267
and completed it in 1290 , just as the Carmelites began their San Martino
dell’Aposa, a project that would last into the 1300 s.^11 Setbacks in these proj-
ects concerned the entire city. When two vaults under construction at San
Francesco collapsed in 1254 , causing many injuries and breaking the legs of
the director of construction, Fra Andrea, the podesta, Ubertino of Udine,
came with his council to console the friars. The city took over the construc-
tion costs.^12
Monumental mendicant churches affected the spaces around them. Cities
rerouted streams and canals to provide the new communities with water.^13
The friars acquired land around their convents for expansion and for gar-
dens and vineyards. The acquisition process often spanned many decades.
Dominican land purchases at Bologna left a paper trail extending more than
thirty years.^14 Siena undertook some of the earliest urban planning, helping
the friars acquire and clear areas in front of their churches so as to create
monumental squares and wider access streets.^15 Cities evicted unseemly
neighbors, such as brothels and taverns, from the new mendicant preserves.^16
The friars could be quite aggressive. At Reggio, the sons of Saint Francis
expended large sums of money evicting their neighbors and pulling down
houses to expand the streets and piazza fronting on their church of San
Giacomo.^17 Such construction generated resistance. At Bologna, the city for-
bade the Dominicans’ neighbors from throwing trash and dead animals onto
convent property. The commune also reined in rock throwers around the
Franciscan convent, who were disturbing the Mass and Office.^18
This construction added an overlay of major churches that redefined the
city’s religious space. These new squares and churches created cultic centers
that competed with that of the duomo. The sacred space of the city was
‘‘decentered.’’ Mendicant buildings usually formed a ring outside the early
- Matteo Griffoni, 112 ;CCB:Vill., 130.
- Supino,Architettura, 55 – 75. These projects competed for support with those at San Michele in
Bosco and San Giovanni in Monte: ibid., 85 – 91.
12 .CCB:Bol., 136 – 37. - E.g., at Bologna and Parma: Bologna Stat.i( 1250 ), 7. 144 , 2 : 147 (for the Dominicans), and ( 1252 ),
- 351 , 2 : 520 (for the Franciscans); Parma Stat.i(before 1255 ), pp. 379 (for the Franciscans) and 381 (for
the Dominicans). - See Mario Fanti, ‘‘Il ritrovato originale del contratto fra s. Domenico e Pietro di Lovello del 7
giugno 1221 ,’’AFP 36 ( 1966 ): 389 – 94 , and V. Alce, ‘‘Documenti sul convento di s. Domenico in Bologna
dal 1221 al 1251 ,’’AFP 42 ( 1972 ): 5 – 45. - Siena Stat.i( 1262 ), 1. 276 , pp. 109 – 8 ; Bologna Stat.i( 1250 – 67 ), 2 : 373.
- E.g., at Reggio: Reggio Stat. ( 1265 , 1270 ), 4. 5 , pp. 238 – 39 , for the Dominicans and Franciscans.
17 .Mem. Pot. Reg.( 1272 ), col. 1134 ; Sagacino Levalossi and Pietro Della Grazata,Chronicon Regiense
( 1272 ), col. 5. - Bologna Stat.i( 1250 ), 8. 66 – 70 and 82 , 2 : 257 and 268 – 69 (Dominicans); ( 1250 , 1252 , 1259 , 1260 –
67 ), 8. 31 , 2 : 226 – 27 (Franciscans).