Author: Jovana Pikulić
The medieval procession is exactly as you imagine it to be: one long column with no end in sight, with the strangest, most terrifying scenes – hooded black figures screaming about the end of the world, naked men with maddened looks whipping themselves to exhaustion, sick people walking with the last atoms of their strength. towards the goal, the main city cathedral. Today’s processions are equally chaotic and terrifying, despite not being as bloody anymore (due to the general crowding and chaos, unfortunately, injuries and some accidental deaths still occur today). To get an impression of the epic proportions of a procession, it is enough to watch (online, although the question is in what form the upcoming one will be held) the largest procession in this part of the world: the Feast of St. Agata (Festa di Sant’ Agata), which is celebrated on February 5 in the Sicilian city of Catania.
Here we will present the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) in late medieval Ferrara. Historical sources of the 15th century present this religious procession as one of the most significant celebrations of the city. The description of the procession, as we find it in the chronicles of the city of Ferrara, is a peculiar expression of late medieval society. It represents a type of collective liturgy, characteristic of the late Middle Ages, in which the faithful become responsible for the ritual through their participation. This leads to folk interpretations of events from Christian history becoming increasingly graphic, turning the procession into a form of religious theater. The procession has its own political and social character, since the celebration that gathers the entire people, i.e. all social strata, becomes an opportunity to highlight one’s own importance and function within society. It represents a mirror of society, since the places the participants occupy within the procession column reflect their real social position.
Historical sources convey the celebration in its most developed and most magnificent form, when the rulers of the city stand at its head and determine its course. The note that inaugurates the chronicler’s exhaustive descriptions is from 1472, when the holiday was celebrated as part of the great celebrations organized on the occasion of the anniversary of Ercole I D’Este receiving the title of duke.
The chronicler notes that “[…] there was a big solemn procession, as usually happens on Corpus Christi Day in Ferrara[…]”, and that on that occasion “[…] all workshops were closed and lessons (at the University) were interrupted, as if is Sunday[…]” (PARDI 1928: 81).
The central place, at the head of the procession, is occupied by a canopy under which there is a table with a host (lat. hostia, communion bread). It is worn by church bishops and male members of the d’Este family, dressed in golden cloth (PARDI 1928: 81), accompanied by their wives and children, knights, court advisors, ambassadors, university rectors and other important people from the court (FERRARINI 2006: 44). . Behind the courtiers are representatives of church orders and monastic communities, followed by members of religious associations, and the people follow them in the rear. The route of the procession is carefully planned as it encircles the ancient core of the city, including all major religious centers, places where the relics of the city are stored and centers of religious associations of charity. The walk ends with the laying of the host in the main town square where the bishop distributes the forgiveness of sins to the people (CALEFFINI 2006: 248-249). It was the forgiveness of sins that was the main reason for the great interest of the people, as well as the “apple of discord” within the church ranks, the long-term consequence of which was the Reformation.
The order of the participants in the procession, which sees members of the D’Este family as leaders, side by side with the most important figures from the religious life of the community, emphasizes the social position of the family, and shows the duke as the leader and representative of the people before God.
The model of a religious ruler is also embodied in the visual culture of that period. One of the most representative examples is the Lamentation of Christ by the sculptor Guido Mazzoni.
The work represents a group of terracotta sculptures executed in natural dimensions. What separates this performance from similar groups created in the same period is the fact that the portraits of members of the d’Este family are recognized in the depictions of Christ’s most intimate followers. The characters of Hercules I and his wife Eleonora of Aragon (Eleonora di Aragona) served as a model for Joseph of Arimathea and Maria Cleopas (COLASANTI 1922: 461).
The dignified nobility under the canopy is followed by a parade of masked figures, which, towards the back, takes on an increasingly dramatic appearance. The first after the nobility and clergy are the representatives of the church orders: Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians, who use the holiday as an opportunity to preach, but at the same time to present personalities and scenes from the history of the church and the history of their orders. It is here that the procession takes on a dramatic character because for these purposes they use different props, primarily masks and dolls. The chronicler’s special interest was caused by the procession in 1489, when the Franciscans marked their participation by presenting “[…] all the saints and women from their religion, also all the popes who were from their order, as well as one emperor[…]” (CALEFFINI 2006: 324). Among the personalities presented, the central place belonged to the founder of the order – St. Francis, i.e. the Franciscan who took over his role. He carried a representation of Christ above him, tied with white ribbons. Representation of Christ leaning over St. Francis alludes to the vision that marked him with stigmata, to his intimate union with the body of Christ.
Church ranks are followed by representatives of brotherhoods. Brotherhoods are lay religious associations made up of artisans, merchants and small landowners. Although lay, they were founded according to the Franciscan model, so following their example, they make abundant use of pictorial representations and various props in order to present their own programs and histories. In this part of the column, all balance is lost. The procession was one of the few moments in which public self-punishment was allowed. Self-flagellation (fagellation) was performed in silence or with pious singing of a psalm or a sermon, and represented the peak of public repentance and identification with Christ, Imitation of Christ, which was the key goal of the brotherhoods.
Inventories and registers of confraternities abound with expenses for orders of masks, beards, wigs and other accessories, on the basis of which the dramatic dimension of the procession of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ can be sensed. Members of the Battuti Neri brotherhood, whose very name (ital. battere- to beat, neri- black) alludes to the act of flagellation and their black uniforms, often lead a horse on which Death rides in the procession, which distributes pamphlets to the people with optimistic messages such as Memento Mori (“Memento Mori”). remember you must die”)…
Inventory of the Brotherhood of St. Job shows that they possessed: fifteen different types of false beards, four pairs of wings for angels, a mask of the devil, nine saws for St. Jacob the Persian (whose martyrdom was the amputation of various body parts), one lily for St. Domenica, one Crucifixion for St. Catherine of Siena, twelve abbreviations of the names of the apostles and other props (PEVERADA 2003: 174).
An invariable element of the procession is the decorated fraternity cart (referred to in the testimonies as charobio, carobio or carrobio), painted crosses and paid professional singers. The motifs on the carts were as optimistic as the pamphlets and include, among other things, scenes from the Dance of Death (PEVERADA 2000 : 207-208).
The Dance of Death is a late medieval allegory that alludes to the universality of death. This motive points to one of the main activities of the brotherhoods – the burial of Christians who could not afford the funeral and prayers for their souls.
After the 15th century, the chronicles of the city no longer provide detailed descriptions of the procession. The only note is from 1613, which was created thanks to the fact that two observers were killed. The lack of sources coincides with the loss of importance of the D’Este family, whose fief was returned to the Vatican in 1597, which subordinates all religious performances and celebrations to the rigorous norms of the Council of Trent. The festival survives over the years, but loses all its importance and magnificence, becoming just one of many festivals in the church calendar.
Published Sources
Caleffini, Ugo, Chroniche 1471-1494, Franco Cazzola (ed.), Deputazione provinciale ferrarese di storia patria, Ferrara, 2006.
Ferrarini, Girolamo, Memoriale Estense (1476-1489), Primo Griguolo (ed.), Minelliana, Rovigo, 2006.
Pardi, Giuseppe (ed.), Diario ferrarese dall’anno 1409 sino al 1502, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, vol. 1, Zanichelli, Bologna, 1928.
Electronic Sources
Colasanti, Arduino, “Ritratti de principi estensi in un gruppo di Guido Mazzoni”, Bolletino d’Arte, 1, no. 11 (April 1922), 458-74.
Bibliography
Peverada, Enrico, Feste, musica e devozione presso la compagnia della Morte ed Orazione. Antologia dai registri contabili (1486-1599), in L’Oratorio dell’Annunziata di Ferrara. Arte, storia, devozione e restauri, M. Mazzei Traina (ed.), Ferrara 2000, 197-246.
Peverada, Enrico, “Tra carità, devozione e propaganda devota: la confraternita di S. Giobbe nel Cinquecento religioso ferrarese,” in Santuari locali e religiosità popolare («Ravennatensia», XX), M. Tagliaferri (ed.), Imola 2003, 165-197.