94 LaCitadeSancta
who is our advocate,
by us always to be praised. Amen.^155Service toCity andChurch
Communes called on penitents to fill positions in city administration, al-
though the brothers and sisters theoretically enjoyed exemption from public
service.^156 Very early, the penitents themselves accommodated communal
needs. Parma statutes of the 1240 s, among the earliest extant for any com-
mune, show countlessfratres(brothers) in city functions. From 1 September
to 29 September (the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel), two penitents
and a judge were annually sequestered to revise city statutes. The city pro-
vided them with a cook and messengers.^157 Another penitent, who was also
a notary, registered and took pledges for back taxes, while yet another kept
the city seals, receiving £ 5 imp. for the task.^158 Penitents assumed responsibil-
ity for keeping the city books and records in 1242.^159 Thedugarolusin charge
of waterworks and drains was, from the early 1240 s, always a penitent.^160 A
commission of four brothers, chosen by the podesta and his council, oversaw
weights and measures in consultation with the ‘‘minister’’ of the Parma peni-
tents. Their broad commission gave them oversight of sales in grain, flour,
and wine. One brother ran the city office where people could bring bread to
have it tested for weight, quality, and color. At this brother’s direction, the
commission could fine delinquent bakers up to £ 12 parm.^161 Brothers also
served in charitable tasks such as dispensing municipal alms.^162 Finally,
Parma relied on penitents for supervision of municipal elections until the
1260 s.^163 By 1288 , Parma penitents held the monopoly for bread and wine
sales during famine, to ensure that no one would lack food on account of
poverty.^164
Though not as early or complete as those of Parma, the statues of other
communes show conversi in similar roles. At Bologna, the brothers served
- Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale,msII.iv. 686 , fol. 21 v: ‘‘Questa vita e come vento,che
in un ponto passa via.Chi ci vole stare contento,preghi la vergine Maria;la quale e nostra avocata,
da noi sempre sia laudata. Amen.’’ - For papal assertion of exemption, see the 21 May 1227 decree of Gregory IX, in ‘‘Bullarium,’’ 4 ,
Meersseman,Dossier, 43 – 45 ; and for later reaffirmations: Gregory IX, 27 March 1232 (‘‘Bullarium,’’ 12 ,
ibid., 49 ); Innocent IV, 30 July 1244 (‘‘Bullarium,’’ 19 , ibid., 55 ); Gregory IX, 4 June 1230 (‘‘Bullarium,’’
8 , ibid., 50 ;BF 1 : 65 ; Potthast,Regesta, 8565 ; Lucien Auvray,Les registres de Gre ́goire IX[Paris: Thorin,
1896 – 1955 ], 1 : 463 ); Gregory IX to the bishop of Siena, 20 April 1239 (‘‘Bullarium,’’ 17 , Meersseman,
Dossier, 53 – 54 ); Innocent IV to Florence, 17 October 1251 (‘‘Bullarium,’’ 31 , ibid., 62 ); Innocent IV to
Mantua, 31 May 1252 (ibid., 64 ). - Parma Stat.i( 1241 ), p. 29.
- Ibid. ( 1242 ), 114 ; (before 1241 ), 27.
- Ibid. ( 1242 ), 125.
- Ibid. ( 1243 ), 146 – 47.
- Ibid. ( 1242 ), 157 ; (before 1243 , perhaps before 1233 ), 26. The commission received £ 10 parm. a
year for their services. - Ibid. ( 1221 ), 31 , and ( 1241 ), 18 , where a frater supervised the list of those banned from the city.
- Ibid., 14 ; cf. 414 , for the year 1259 , when mendicants replaced them.
164 .Chronicon Parmense( 1288 ), 55.