48 LaCitadeSancta
feasts.’’^203 Cathedral constitutions required them to be on hand for such
events and to be suitably attired—no bare feet and no wooden clogs al-
lowed.^204 At these times, the bishop himself preached to his clergy and peo-
ple. Bishop Nicola Maltraversi of Reggio was doing just that when the great
earthquake hit at noon on Christmas in 1222.^205 No one forgot that sermon.
The neighborhood chaplain, orcappellano,was the people’s minister.^206 In
congregations as small as those typical of communal cities, chaplain and
parishioners enjoyed a close, almost suffocating, relationship. The congrega-
tions of rural pievi elected the incumbent by canonical right. This was a
jealously guarded privilege, at times defended by force.^207 More likely than
not, the people of the urban cappella also presented candidates for the chap-
laincy, at least informally. While city chapels subordinate to the Mother
Church had no legal right of election, the new cappelle of the neighborhood
societies (societa`) in the popular communes of the 1200 s did, as did the associa-
tions of the arts for their churches.^208 In Pisa, where monasteries played a
special role in the expansion of pastoral care during the 1100 s, abbots ap-
pointed the rectors. But they usually did so in collaboration with important
families of the chapel.^209 Synods legislated to ensure the propriety of parish
elections and the rapid ordination of the candidates presented.^210 The city of
Siena itself threatened to strip any citizen of his right to vote for cappellano
if he broke into the church when the priest was away.^211
The cappellani of the communes are elusive, but when we catch a
glimpse, the image is not unflattering.^212 Consider poor Don Giacomo Be-
nintendi, cappellano of San Tommaso del Mercato in Bologna, who in the
1290 s brought an elderly ex-Cathar parishioner the sacraments, visited her
- ‘‘Instrumentum Litis,’’ 3. 28 ,p. 170.
- Cremona Cath. Stat. ( 1247 ), p. 453.
205 .Mem. Pot. Reg.( 1223 ), col. 1104 ; Alberto Milioli,Liber( 1222 ), 504. - In Florence, however, ‘‘cappellano’’ also named the lay heads of the associations of the Popolo.
I thank Prof. Katherine Jansen for calling this to my attention. - Cherubini, ‘‘Parroco,’’ 382. This privilege lasted until the end of the Middle Ages: Denys Hay,
The Church in Italy in the Fifteenth Century: The Birkbeck Lectures, 1971 (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1977 ), 24. - Cattaneo,‘‘Basilica Baptisterii,’’ Atti del convegno di Parma ( 1976 ), 30.
- Ronzani, ‘‘Organizzazione,’’ 44 – 45 ; local families presented the candidates for rectors of chap-
els at Rieti: Robert Brentano, ‘‘Vescovi e collocazione socio-culturale del clero parrocchiale,’’Pievi e
parrocchie,ed. Erba et al., 241 ; at San Gimignano, the patrons of the chapels presented the candidates:
San Gimignano Stat. ( 1255 ), 4. 30 , pp. 725 – 26. - Grado Council ( 1296 ), 25 ,p. 1170 , excommunicates any who rigged elections of priests. On rapid
ordinations, see Lucca Synod ( 1308 ), 16 ,p. 178 ; Ravenna Council ( 1317 ), 3 ,p. 602 ; and Lucca Synod
( 1300 ), 15 ,p. 217. - Siena Stat.ii( 1310 ), 6. 68 , 2 : 259 – 60.
- Charles M. De La Roncie
re, ‘‘Dans la champagne florentine auxivesiecle: Les communaute ́s
chre ́tiennes et leurs cure ́s,’’Histoire ve ́cue du peuple chre ́tien(Toulouse: Pivat, 1979 ), 1 : 312 – 13 ; but cf. Grado
G. Merlo,Eretici e inquisitori nella societa`piemontese del trecento(Turin: Claudiana, 1977 ), 130 – 31 ; Zelina Zafar-
ana, ‘‘Cura pastorale, predicazione, aspetti devozionali nella parrocchia del basso Medioevo,’’Pievi e
parrocchie,ed. Erba et al., 1 : 531 – 32. Andenna, ‘‘Alcune osservazioni,’’ 703 , suggests that the negative
image of medieval parish priests in modern scholarship comes from historians’ privileging of literary and
moralizing sources. He places the rate of concubinage among rural clergy at 20 percent (ibid., 701 – 2 ).