Cities of God: The Religion of the Italian Communes 1125-1325

(Darren Dugan) #1

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did include a nuptial Mass (Missa pro sponso et sponsa). This Mass inserted


special prayers for the couple into the Canon, the most sacred prayer of the


Mass.^40 If it had not been given at the time of the vows, the priest imparted


the nuptial blessing to the couple during Mass, after the recitation of the


Lord’s Prayer. This blessing invoked God’s care for the couple and asked


that they be conformed to all the holy married couples of Scripture. Follow-


ing the ancient and Pauline preference that a Christian marry only once, the


blessing was given only at a first marriage, even when a subsequent marriage


occurred after the death of a spouse.^41


After the chanting of Mass, the procession returned to the home of the


groom for the wedding banquet. To this day, in Italy, the banquet overshad-


ows the solemnities at the church. Oddly, in the Middle Ages, the couple


departed before the banquet, leaving the festivities to the families and invited


guests.^42 The spouses presumably had other things on their minds. At this


midday feast, one course followed another, and wine flowed freely. Those


who could afford it hired mimes and minstrels to entertain at the party.^43


There was dancing, and when the crowds grew large and boisterous, there


might be problems. After Don Scanabecco de’ Ramponi of Bologna had


married the daughter of Don Scappo de’ Scappi, his faithful retainer Gurono


of Sala drew blood from a guest of the bride’s family, Bartolomeo de’ Becca-


delli, because the latter had performed a lewd dance with a certain ‘‘woman


of low character’’ (domicella minus honesta). This had dishonored the family and


the couple. Bartolomeo probably meant it as a joke, but relatives on both


sides unsheathed their swords. The podesta himself had to come and recon-


cile the parties.^44 Weddings could make families, but wedding parties could


cause feuds. Both were a public matter. Many concerns led late-thirteenth-


century communes to limit the numbers present at wedding banquets. But


even they excepted men of rank, such as doctors, lawyers, and university


professors, from limits on the number of wedding guests.^45


Communities inProcession


Like families, the larger communities of neighborhood and city created and


expressed their order and unity by public rituals. As for families at weddings,


processions provided a finely tuned expression for corporate identity. Any-



  1. For the Roman rite, see Pont. Rom. (xii), 37. 1 – 15 , pp. 260 – 61. On this pontifical, see Cyrille
    Vogel,Introduction aux sources de l’histoire du culte chre ́tien au Moyen Aˆge(Spoleto: Centro Italiano di Studi
    sull’Alto Medioevo, n.d.), 206 – 8. For a local Italian version, see Gabriella Airaldi,Le carte di Santa Maria
    delle Vigne di Genova ( 1103 – 1392 ),Collana storia di fonti e studi, 3 (Genoa: Bozzi, 1969 ), docs. 113 – 15 ; even
    monastic rituals included this Mass, as in Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria,ms 1767, fol. 114 v.
    41 .X 4. 21. 1 and 3 ; Pont. Rom. (xii), App. 8. 1 – 23 , pp. 300 – 302.

  2. As is implied in Florence Stat.i( 1322 ), 5. 12 , pp. 226 – 27.

  3. See Ravenna Council ( 1286 ), 1 ,p. 615.

  4. Girolamo de’ Borselli,Cronica Gestorum( 1269 ), 29.

  5. Ferrara Stat. ( 1287 ), 77 ,p. 399 (six women, ten men); Florence Stat.i( 1322 ), 5. 7 ,p. 222 (ten of
    each sex—exceptions for professionals); Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), 3. 59 , pp. 352 – 53 (ten of each sex); Modena
    Stat. ( 1327 ), 4. 176 ,p. 478 (no more than twelve total).

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