FromConversion toCommunity 83
one should care about God, not worldly things.^88 His habit was gray-brown
probably from dirt. Nothing in Pietro’s life suggests that he understood his
penance as somehow Franciscan. The ‘‘Memoriale’’ merely specified that
the cloth for male penitents’ clothing cost no more than 6 s. rav. per yard. It
vetoed fancy dress with slashes and required that the brothers’ gowns be
closed. For women, a bit of vanity was permitted: their cloth might cost 12 s.
rav. a yard, and they could carry a leather purse on a plain strap. Fripperies
like embroidered belts, waistbands, and tooled straps were out, as were elab-
orate dress pleats. No penitents might wear furs. Rather, they were to be
content with lamb’s wool.^89 Penitents were to dress plainly, in a way that
reflected their state. Nothing here suggests a standardized ‘‘habit.’’ By the
1260 s, legislation, admittedly rudimentary, standardized the color of the un-
dyed cloth used in penitents’ clothing. It excluded black; perhaps Francis-
cans, the Gray Friars, were behind this new regulation.^90
Clothing new penitents with the habit was managed on an ad hoc basis
by local lay leadership. The ministers simply examined each candidate and
decided among themselves about admission. The ‘‘Memoriale’’ did little to
standardize this procedure. It told the ministers to explain carefully the obli-
gations of the society and make sure that a candidate was at peace with his
neighbors and had no outstanding debts.^91 Elaborate statutory guidelines
regarding admission and expulsion criteria do not appear until the early
1300 s, although earlier examples may be lost.^92 The most important change
in the rule of 1221 , a change made by the later 1200 s, was the provision for
a one-year testing period, or novitiate, before the candidate committed him-
self to the life.^93 This reflects papal legislation, certainly not an imitation of
the religious orders. Popes struggled to get orders like the Dominicans to
postpone life profession of vows until after the year of testing in the novi-
tiate.^94 If a penitent misbehaved, the ministers had discretion to punish him,
but little or no statutory guidance. Specific statutory penalties for infractions,
like those of the Lombard Penitents in 1280 , came later. When they arrived,
these took the form of fasts and fines.^95
Legal privileges followed on wearing the habit. City fathers knew this.
The Florentines promulgated statutes forbidding any but truepinc ̧ocheri(the
local name for penitents) from wearing the conversi habit.^96 Church councils
- Pietro of Monterone,Vita del beato Pietro Pettinajo da Siena,trans. Serafino Ferri, ed. Maestro de
Angelis (Siena: Rossi, 1802 ), 2 , pp. 12 – 13. - ‘‘Memoriale,’’ 1 – 4 , Meersseman,Dossier, 93 – 95.
- ‘‘Expositiones Regule,’’ 1 , Meersseman,Dossier, 114 ; ‘‘Memoriale,’’ 29. 2 , ibid., 107 – 8 , prescribes
the drab undyed material associated with public penance; on which, see ibid., 107 – 8 n. 292. - ‘‘Memoriale,’’ 29. 1 – 3 , Meersseman,Dossier, 106 – 8.
- E.g., for Padua; see De Sandre Gasparini,Statuti,xxxvi–xl, esp. xxxvi.
- ‘‘Memoriale,’’ 30. 1 , Meersseman,Dossier, 109.
- See Simon Tugwell,Way of the Preacher(Springfield, Ill.: Templegate, 1979 ), 39 – 40.
- ‘‘Chapitre de Pe ́nitents Lombards’’ ( 1280 ), 1 – 12 , Meersseman,Dossier, 163 – 65.
- Florence Stat.ii( 1325 ), 5. 9 ,p. 371.