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ferent concerns.^31 After 1260 , at least, both men and women drew up wills,
and they did so with almost the same frequency. This contrasts with practices
before that date, when few, if any, women made wills.^32 Those represented
in this sample were all lay penitents, but their wills are suggestive. The men
thought first of making restitution for sin by generous gifts to the poor. Decco
Caponsacchi of Florence, who drew up his will about 1296 – 97 , left £ 500
flor. parv. for the ministers of the Brothers of Penance to buy clothing for
the poor, after first deducting restitution for any usury he might have taken.
He left the rest of his money, mostly in small £ 10 –£ 25 donations, to religious
houses, hermit groups, and hospitals. The largest sum went to the Francis-
cans.^33 Decco’s focus on Christ’s poor is mirrored in the 30 January 1275
will of Cittadino Bonasere of Passignano, a married Black Penitent who left
everything to the penitent-fraternity leadership. They were to dispose of it
‘‘for the good of his soul and that of his family.’’^34 Lotteringo Orlandini, on
9 May 1258 , left £ 400 to Christ’s poor and to a long list of religious institu-
tions in the city of Florence. His largest bequests went to the Dominicans at
Santa Maria Novella and the Franciscans at Santa Croce (both £ 20 ). The
next group of bequests (£ 10 each) went to three groups of sisters, a hospital,
the Humiliati, and the abbey of Settimo, which was to purchase land to
support the poor. Unique in this group of published wills, his also provided
a£ 5 offering for a Requiem Mass.^35
In contrast to these men, thepinzocheraDonna Palmeria on 19 June 1281
left the bulk of her entire wealth, £ 325 flor. parv., to relatives; of it, £ 300
went to female relatives. Widows of her acquaintance received £ 50 and her
household goods. The remaining £ 145 went for the Crusade, houses of nuns,
local churches, and the Dominicans and Franciscans (£ 10 each).^36 Donna
Lippa of Florence, a Gray Penitent, wrote a will resembling that of Palmeria.
She favored individuals, all of them religious: Fra Taddeo Carini, O.F.M.,
got £ 50 ; Fra Giovanni Carini, O.P., £ 3 ; Fra Tommaso Carini, O.Hum.,
- This sample is taken from ‘‘Cartulaire,’’ 12 – 18 , 22 , 26 – 27 , 28 , Meersseman,Dossier, 193 – 202 ,
206 – 8 , 212 – 16 , 220. These are wills of penitents from Tuscany dating 1257 to 1300. A more comprehensive
study could be done for Bolognese or Modenese wills, since these are well preserved. For Bologna, see
Bertram, ‘‘Bologneser Testamentei’’ and ‘‘Bologneser Testamenteii.’’ On Modena wills, equally abun-
dant, see ibid., pp. 237 – 40. - See the statistics in Bertram, ‘‘Bologneser Testamentei,’’ 208 – 12 , for the Dominican and Francis-
can deposits. In the period 1260 – 1320 , the Franciscan wills vary (by decades) from 35 percent to 55. 3
percent women testators, the Dominican from 39. 6 percent to 60. 9 percent. In both cases, all but two
decades have a female majority. Dominican preserved wills are always more heavily female than the
Franciscan. The gender statistics for wills in notarial registers are similar: see id., ‘‘Bologneser Testamente
ii,’’ 210 – 13 ; although in the years surveyed ( 1265 – 68 and 1348 ) the women represent a minority, in only
one year are they under 40 percent, 1267 ( 30 percent). In the period before 1260 , men always outnum-
bered women, by as much as 5 to 1 : ibid., 205. There seems to have been a revolution in women’s will-
making in the 1260 s. This deserves further study. - ‘‘Cartulaire,’’ 26 , Meersseman,Dossier, 212 – 13.
- Ibid., 14 , pp. 196 – 97.
- Ibid., 12 , pp. 193 – 95.
- Ibid., 17 , pp. 200 – 201.