WorldWithoutEnd.Amen. 399
dead,’’ Requiem Mass, and the blessing of the body. Then, for the last time,
the chapel bell rang the death knell, and the procession went to the cemetery
for deposition of the body, final prayers, and the closing of the grave.^109
Although it was not part of the Church’s rites, a memorial meal for mourners
hosted by the deceased’s family always followed the deposition.
Funerals were an exercise in parish and neighborhood solidarity; a proper
‘‘send-off ’’ was both a duty and an honor. Local priests took pride in a
good clerical presence at parishioners’ funerals; the family collected as many
mourners as possible. Priestly confraternities required member priests to at-
tend funerals at each other’s chapels and to bring their laity with them.
During the 1200 s, funerals of ordinary people with more than ten priests in
attendance were not at all unusual; in the next century cities sought to end
such displays.^110 The chants of the Mass and burial were among the most
evocative and well known of the entire liturgy. They were, however, com-
plex, and only a good clerical presence ensured their proper execution. Fam-
ily and neighbors expressed their solidarity and identity by a good turnout.
Individual family members invited groups ofsoci(companions) to support
them in their grief and swell the ranks of mourners.^111 Wealthier families
competed to invite city officials, in particular council members and the cap-
tain of the people.^112 The podesta and hisfamiliamight attend funerals of
prominent citizens. Brescia allowed its officials to attend the processions but
made them wait outside the church during the funeral Mass.^113 Municipal
societies, guilds, and confraternities required members, sometimes under
pain of fine, to attend their wakes, processions, Masses, and depositions.^114 A
poor turnout reflected badly on the bereaved and hindered the progress of
the deceased’s soul through purgatory.
Laypeople were no passive presence at funerals. They had their own ‘‘lit-
urgy’’ to perform, thepianto,known in Latin sources as theplanctus.There
was nothing retiring about communal mourning: it was public, dramatic,
obtrusive, and noisy. It was choreographed. Even in faraway Paris, Italian
funerals were famous for their professional, paid mourners.^115 Wealthy Ital-
- Sicardo,Mitrale, 9. 50 , cols. 427 – 30 ;Ordo Senensis, 2. 93 – 100 , pp. 498 – 506 ; for comparison, see
Reggio Stat. ( 1277 ), pp. 45 – 48. - For priestly confraternity legislation on funerals, see Rigon, ‘‘Congregazioni,’’ 16 , citing Treviso,
Archivio di Stato, Notarile,i, 20 , fol. 12 r; for city legislation limiting the number of priests at a funeral,
see Bologna Stat.ii( 1288 ), 4. 91 , 1 : 247 (a limit of eight); Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), 3. 58 , pp. 350 (a limit of ten);
Mantua Stat., 1. 44 , 2 : 94 (only two allowed). - Florence restricted suchsocito three in town and two in the country: Florence Stat.i( 1322 ), 5. 7 ,
pp. 222. - Pisa Stat.ii( 1313 ), Popolo 81 and 152 , pp. 519 , 627 , forbade such appearances of officials ‘‘per
coequalita`dei nostri citadini.’’ - Brescia Stat. ( 1313 ), 1. 130 , col. 40.
- Bologna presents many examples: Bol. Pop. Stat., 2 (Callegari, 1254 ,c. 20 ), 253 (fines of 12 d.
bon.); 1 (Aquila, 1255 ,c. 10 ), 239 ( 3 s. bon.); 1 (Vari, 1256 ,c. 27 ), 342 ; 1 (Matteo Griffoni, 1258 ,c. 10 ), 310
( 10 d.); 1 (Spade, 1262 ,c. 28 ), 332 ; 2 (Lana Bisella, 1288 ,c. 13 ), 364 ( 12 d. bon.). - Trexler,Christian at Prayer, 42 , citing Peter the Chanter,Verbum Abbreviatum(PL 205 : 97 ) on the
‘‘ploratores et ploratrices Longobardorum.’’