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

(Darren Dugan) #1

TheCityWorships 255 


a twenty-four-pound focaccia made with saffron and cumin (aromata groci et


cumini). The swordmakers preferred a white loaf made of fine flour, valued


at 18 d. bon. The societies enacted more legislation on their Eulogia’s quality,


size, and production than that on the Mass itself.^127 This was natural. The


priest chanted the Mass; the blessed bread was a distinctive work of the laity.


All partook of it together. They took it home for the sick and the elderly.


People kept pieces as a divine protection in times of distress. In emergencies,


it might have to replace the sacramental Communion of the dying. The


Eulogia extended the fruits of the Mass to all who believed but could not be


present.^128


TheFaithful atChurch


Instructions emanating from the medieval Church hierarchy instructed the


faithful to be silent and still during Mass. The impression is one of imposed


passivity. Since the people were quite active when presenting their offerings,


kissing the Pax, and sharing the Eulogia, the image of passivity is certainly


deceptive. How silent were they? Not very. Well-known strictures against


noise and motion concern, not the adults, but the children they brought


with them.^129 Italian devotional literature expected not passive presence but


attentive engagement, and stipulated that this be signaled by bodily gestures.


The thirteenth-century writer Bonvesin de la Riva, after advising readers to


attend Mass as frequently as possible, urged them to arrive at church in time


for the sprinkling of holy water, the Asperges. Entering the building, the


faithful first directed their eyes to the image of Christ Crucified above the


screen and, after coming forward, knelt in view of the altar. They made the


sign of the cross as the priest sprinkled them.^130 While hearing Mass, they


stayed in one place and avoided unseemly acts, such as spitting. Bonvesin


told them to direct their ears to what was chanted and to greet the singing


of the Gospel by making a small cross on their foreheads. Whenever the


priest or deacon chanted the name of Jesus or Mary, all bowed their heads.^131


To catch audible cues like the holy names and respond with a gesture asks


a level of attention uncommon at modern church services. These instructions


flatly contradict the notion that the Italians of the communes paid, or were


expected to pay, little attention to Mass except at the offertory and the Con-


secration.^132 One anonymous treatise on the Mass dating to the mid- 1200 s


focused on the words of Mass as of the greatest importance. The author


compared negligence in listening to the Gospel to allowing the Body of



  1. Bol. Pop. Stat., 1 (Toschi, 1256 ,c. 16 ), 96 ; 2 (Spadai, 1283 ,c. 33 ), 342.

  2. On the fruits of Mass, see Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana,msPl.xix 29(xivcent.),
    fol. 257 v.

  3. E.g., Grado Council ( 1296 ), 3 ,p. 1166.

  4. Bonvesin de la Riva,Vita Scholastica, 62 – 63 , lines 321 – 326 , 331 – 36.

  5. Ibid., 65 , lines 381 – 94.

  6. E.g., Cattaneo, ‘‘Partecipazione,’’ 411.

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