The Girdle of St. Thomas

Speaking of relics you can find in Tuscany, let's turn to Prato Cathedral where we can find a knotted woven cord in a golden reliquary (see illustration). It is the Girdle of Thomas; that's the "Doubting Thomas" who would not believe that Jesus was resurrected until he was allowed to put his fingers in the nail wounds on the hands and feet of Jesus.

The girdle is a cincture used to tie around a tunic or robe at the waist. It wasn't worn by Thomas; it is called by his name because it was a gift to him. Thomas is also known for his mission to India, during which he missed another important event from the Bible: the Assumption of Mary.

The Assumption of Mary is when she was taken bodily to Heaven because of her innate holiness. I've covered the Assumption and Thomas' absence here. Because Thomas was not present when Mary died/disappeared, his skeptical nature was countered by Mary appearing to him in a vision and dropping her girdle to him as evidence. Another version has him miraculously transported from India to the Mount of Olives to be present for the actual Assumption, and she drops her girdle to him in front of everyone.

The Girdle is supposed to be beneficial for pregnant women. It is reputed to have other protective powers. In 1402, the Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, invaded Florentine territory. The girdle was carried around Prato as protection, and given credit for Visconti not attacking the city.

The image of Mary rising above the apostles—or Mary above Thomas alone—and dropping her girdle became a popular Italian art subject. But the story itself inspired other examples of Mary's girdle, and tomorrow we will look into just how many belts she carried and dropped to Thomas, so that they could be in different locations in the Modern Era. See you then.

Decline of the Republic of Siena

After a number of different governing bodies (a pun will become clear once you read this), Siena turned to Gian Galeazzo Visconti to lead them against the threat of Florentine expansion. He was thrust out of power five years later, however, and they went back to a council, in this case the Ten Priors. In an even more surprising move, they allied with Florence against Naples' King Ladislaus.

Also, although the Noveschi families had been exiled, a prominent Sienese named Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini became Pope Pius II, and his influence allowed the nobles to return. The head of the Noveschi was Pandolfo Petrucci, who spent his time gathering political power until finally he was able to set himself up as a tyrant.

As with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, sometimes a strong individual is needed to get a government back on track. (Machiavelli's advice on this came about a decade after Petrucci's coup.) He did lead Siena back to greatness, promoting arts and sciences. Unfortunately, the Petrucci family was power-hungry. Pandolfo was succeeded by his son Borghese, but four years later Borghese was ousted by his cousin Raffaello. Raffaello was a cardinal, and his duties forced him to hand the control his nephew Francesco, who managed a year before Pandolfo's youngest son Fabio ousted him. Fabio was not well-liked, and in 1525 Siena exiled him.

With the Petrucci family gone, Siena saw even more internal strife. Once again the Noveschi were ousted. They were supported by Pope Clement VII, who sent an army to Siena, but it was defeated. Taking advantage of the chaos, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V installed a Spanish garrison about 1529, but Siena got rid of them in 1552 with help from France. Charles sent an army with Florentine help to lay siege to Siena, who endured for 18 months before giving up, surrendering to Spain. Since King Philip II of Spain owed large sums to the Medicis, he gave Siena to Florence. Self-rule was denied them for a long time.

One of the creations of the Republic was the Monte di Pietà or "mount of piety," founded in 1472, where poor people could get loans with manageable interest. It got its funds from charitable donors, and loans would be assured by the borrower handing over possessions as collateral. Yes, it functioned more like a pawnbroker, or an organized charity, but it helped numerous people and inspired similar arrangements all over Europe. This Siena institution never stopped functioning. Today it is called the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and qualifies as the oldest continuously functioning bank in the world.

Pope Pius II has been mentioned before, once even involving politics, but I'd like to look at him more closely, especially because he has a link to an even more interesting character that you all have heard of, but has not yet been mentioned here. More tomorrow (and, of course, the next day).

Republic of Siena

According to legend, Siena was founded by Senio and Ascanio, who were sons of Remus (who founded Rome with his brother Romulus). More verifiably, Romans established a military outpost in 30CE.

After the fall of Rome and prior to the Republic of Siena, for many years the city and area was run by the bishops. During a territorial dispute with Arezzo, the bishop asked for help from the nobility, who demanded a greater say in administering the city in exchange. This led eventually to ending the control by the bishops and the founding in 1125 by a consular government.

Siena prospered under the Republic, becoming a center of money-lending and the wool trade. It expanded its influence over Southern Tuscany. In 1286 the government evolved to the Nove, "The Nine," chosen from the Noveschi political party of wealthy merchants. Under the Nove Siena rose to new heights of power, producing the Cathedral of Siena and improving the city walls.

Under the Noveschi, Siena's political and economic power grew in southern Tuscany until it became a rival to Florence. Of particular issue was the fact Siena was predominantly Ghibelline versus the Florentine Guelphs. This post explains the difference; Dante mentions their conflict in his Commedia. With help from Manfred of Sicily, Siena defeated Florence in the 1260 Battle of Montaperti. Some 15,000 Florentines were killed in the battle, and Siena entered a Golden Age until...

...the Black Death. Siena was devastated, In 1355, just as they might have been recovering from the plague, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg entered Siena and the population decided to throw out the Nove and the power of the Noveschi, replacing it with the Dodici, "The Twelve." They were presently replaced by the Quindici, "The Fifteen" in 1385, then the Dieci (Ten, in 1386), then the Undici, (Eleven, 1388-1398), followed by the "Twelve Priors" from 1398-99. Ultimately, all these experiments in governing by councils ended when the fear of Florentine expansion motivated the city to turn to a single strong ruler, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the first Duke of Milan.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the return of the Nove, the decline of the Republic, and (my favorite), the "mount of piety," which still exists.

The Dream of a United Italy

Italy was not unified as a country until 1861; before then, the separate regions/cities saw themselves as unique sovereign entities. This led frequently to rivalries that could become wars, but many often looked back to the glory of Rome, when such wars did not happen.

Gian Galeazzo Visconti (16 October 1351 - 3 September 1402) was the first Duke of Milan. He himself made Milan into a duchy in 1395, after being granted the title of duke from Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (after paying Wenceslaus 100,000 florins).

He was lord of Milan earlier, a position he gained by overthrowing his uncle Bernabò. He did this by faking a religious conversion, inviting Bernabò to a celebratory ceremony, and capturing him; Bernabò was imprisoned, but not for long: his death came in short order, supposedly from poison.

He brought the same ruthless efficiency to conquering Verona, Vicenza, and Padua (he spent 300,000 florins to divert the course of the River Brenta that supplied Padua with water and transportation). He wanted to unite all of northern Italy, re-creating the old Lombardy. Of course, he wanted to unite it under himself, which did not sit well with some city-states such as Bologna and Florence. Still, the hope of a powerful empire on/of Italy inspired poets and politicians. One modern website reports:

Poets talked again of “un solo re,” the King above race and party, who would bring back the Roman peace and turn the cities from their path of fratricidal war; patriots feared the engulfing of those cities within the belly of the Viper.

The hopes and fears were centred upon one man, Giangaleazzo Visconti, Count of Virtue and first Duke of Milan, the greatest of a family that had been climbing to the position of supreme power in Lombardy for over a hundred years. It was said that the Duke had taken the Iron Crown from its safe-keeping and was preparing his coronation robes. [link]

Italy might have done worse. Visconti was more than just a power-mad potentate. He built monasteries and continued the work on the cathedral of Milan. At Visconti Castle he expanded the library's scientific papers and illuminated manuscripts. He may have created the "first modern bureaucracy" in that he established a department for the purpose of improving public health.

Health was to be his undoing. Shortly after subjugating Bologna, and with Florence failing against his attack because of problems with famine and disease, he fell ill to a fever. He died on 3 September 1402. An extraordinary statesman who might have, given another several years, made the peninsula a force to be reckoned with instead of a series of separate states.

But what about the hapless Bernabò? It's easy to see him as just a stepping stone to power for Gian Galeazzo, but there must be more to his story...and there is, including a link to my favorite English poet. This next one may have lots of links to previous posts.