CommunalPiety and theMendicants 423
sum, although actual figures are lacking.^26 With money came city involve-
ment. At Pisa in 1286 , the city appointed its own overseer for city-financed
construction at the Franciscan convent, supposedly at the friars’ request.^27
Ad hoc grants and exemptions never disappeared, but after the 1260 s,
cities regularized their almsgiving.^28 Only Padua seems to have resisted mak-
ing support for the mendicants a recurring budget item, but ad hoc construc-
tion subsidies to the friars proliferate in city statutes from 1265 to 1277.^29
Elsewhere, cities established rosters of subsidized entities, each of which re-
ceived yearly or twice-yearly donations. To itemize these alms lists would be
tedious, but overall patterns emerge clearly. Alms grants were generally
smaller than outlays for construction. Alms usually ran between £ 20 and
£ 50 a year and sometimes included provision of food.^30 Recipients multi-
plied, and the burden increased over time. The provisions created a custom-
ary and perpetual burden. Such grants eclipsed or put pressure on municipal
support for the duomo and the cathedral complex. Only at Siena, where the
late 1200 s saw a major new cathedral-building project, did expenditure on
the old cultic center outclass grants to new orders and foundations. But even
there the three major orders each received a recurring £ 100 a year.^31
In the early 1200 s, the lay Brothers of Penance provided their cities with
needed public servants. They served in sensitive positions, overseeing char-
ity, finances, elections, and other tasks demanding nonpartisanship and in-
tegrity. After the friars arrived, this changed. During 1240 , in an early
example of government involvement by friars, Cremona decided that hence-
forth mendicants would select the notary who assisted the city financial offi-
cer (massarius).^32 Reggio in 1260 determined that themassariuswould himself
be a friar.^33 Within twenty years, the friars would come to predominate.
Bologna’s statutes reveal the creeping mendicant takeover. By the end of the
1250 s, those advising the podesta on selection of his successor had to be
Dominican, Franciscan, or Augustinian friars. They sat ‘‘on the bench’’ with
the podesta during the election. By the 1260 s, the Augustinians of San Gia-
como Maggiore had become responsible for keeping Bologna’s books of con-
demnations and lists of those under the city ban.^34 The Lombardi made the
Dominicans custodians of their statute book in 1291.^35 By the end of the
- Siena Stat.i( 1262 ), 1. 40 – 91 , pp. 36 – 47.
- Pisa Stat.i, 1. 180 ,p. 337.
- For examples of later ad hoc charity, see Girolamo de’ Borselli,Cronica Gestorum(Bologna, 1313 ),
37 ; Cremona Stat. ( 1313 ), 105 ; Florence Stat.ii( 1325 ), 4. 62 ,p. 351 ; Modena Stat. ( 1327 ), 1. 61 , pp. 52 – 53 ;
Mantua Stat., 5. 4 – 9 , 3 : 94 – 99. - Padua Stat., 4. 12 , pp. 351 – 52 , no. 1151 – 55 ; 4. 13 ,p. 355 , no. 1163.
- See examples of such alms lists in Parma Stat.ii( 1266 ), 100 – 101 ; Pisa Stat.i( 1286 ), 1. 57 , pp.
133 – 43 ; Bologna Stat.ii( 1288 ), 11. 5 , 2 : 191 – 92 ; Ravenna Stat., 355 , pp. 169 – 70. - Siena Stat.ii( 1310 ), 1. 54 , 1 : 77 – 83.
- Cremona Stat., 99.
- Reggio Stat., 2. 3 , pp. 150 – 51.
- Bologna Stat.i( 1262 ), 11. 125 , 3 : 386 – 87.
- Bol. Pop. Stat., 1 (Lombardi, 1291 ,c. 23 ), 70 – 71.