118 LaCitadeSancta
imperial charters—ascribed to the emperor Theodosius—defining the city
boundaries and granting privileges to the university. TheRegistrum Novumof
the commune enshrined these privileges in law.^102 After 1279 , under Bolo-
gna’s anti-imperial Guelf-dominated government, Saint Petronio first joined
the ‘‘anti-imperial’’ Saint Ambrose on the seal of the Popolo and then re-
placed him entirely.^103 Petronio reached the height of his popularity in the
years after 1284 , when, under the leadership of Rolandino Passaggeri, the
city again asserted its independence from imperial control. The manuscript
of new vernacular vita produced in this period includes a miniature showing
the saint holding the city in his hands.^104 By 1295 , the city honored Saint
Petronio and Saint Procolo, another newly discovered saint, by processions
and candle offerings at their respective shrines.^105 Images of Saint Ambrose
and Saint Petronio decorated the Bolognese carroccio and its military ban-
ner.^106 Central to the later diffusion of Petronio’s cult was a miracle-produc-
ing well (still visible today) in the San Sepolcro chapel of Santo Stefano.
The faithful came to drink and wash there. On Pentecost Sunday of 1307 ,
miraculous healings began.^107 The commune had eagerly adopted the for-
merly monastic cult, but the clergy of the Mother Church lagged behind.
Perhaps they were jealous for their cathedral’s titular, Saint Peter, who was
slowly lapsing from public recognition. Not until 1310 did the canons adopt
Petronio’s feast and institute a procession to his tomb on 4 October, the now
traditional feast day.^108
The rationale for the city’s devotion to Petronio is found in his vernacular
vita, dated about 1257.^109 The life is by an anonymous Bolognese, probably
a layman.^110 Drawing on the Latin vita, the author invented or embellished
narratives reporting how Petronio secured rights and privileges for the city,
defended its independence, and laid out its sacred spaces and shrines.^111 The
vita is an expression—perhaps the first literary expression—of Bolognese
communal identity.^112 The Saint Petronio of the vita never ceases to speak
- On these forgeries and the life, see Lanzoni,San Petronio, 125 – 34 , and Pini, ‘‘Origine,’’ 166 – 67.
- Lanzoni,San Petronio, 151 – 53 ; Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 285 – 86.
- Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 324.
- Lino Sighinolfi, ‘‘Il culto di s. Procolo nella storia di Bologna,’’Atti e memorie della Deputazione di
storia patria per l’Emilia e la Romagna 8 ( 1942 / 43 ): 305 – 30 , esp. 307 – 8. - Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 320 – 21 , quoting C. Ghirardacci,Della historia di Bologna(Bologna, 1597 ), 1 : 429.
- Matteo Griffoni ( 1307 ), 31 ; Girolamo de’ Borselli,Cronica Gestorum( 1307 ), 36 ;CCB:A, Vill., 280 ,
282 ; andCCB:B, Bol., 282. - See cathedral statutes of 1310 inStudia Gratiana 8 ( 1962 ): 447 – 552 , and Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 300.
- Because it uses a forgery dated to that year: Lanzoni,San Petronio, 143 – 44 ; but cf. Orselli, ‘‘Spir-
ito,’’ 341 – 42 , who suggests a later date. - Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 2060(xivcent.),Vita e li meriti del glorioso messer s. Petronio.
Later copies are found in Biblioteca Universitaria,mss 696and 1680 ; fragments in Bologna, Archivio di
Stato, Cod. cartaceo 31 / 1883 .ms 2060is edited by Maria Corti inVita, 1 – 50 ; on which edition, see the
review inAnalecta Bollandiana 82 ( 1964 ): 464 – 65 , and B. Terracini, ‘‘Intorno alla vita di San Petronio
(Testo bolognese del secoloxiii),’’Archivio glottologico italiano 48 ( 1963 ): 27 – 51. - See Orselli, ‘‘Spirito,’’ 331 – 43.
- So Pini, ‘‘Origine,’’ 148 ; see also Lanzoni,San Petronio, 137 – 76.