Sacred Time and the Commune: Civic Pride in Episodes 58 and 66

One of the most fascinating uses of temporal markers appears in the episode we have labeled 58, f. 34r. In its twenty-three (23) lines it contains five (5) temporal markers, not an especially high concentration, but the author’s use of these markers is interesting. The episode describes an event in which “certain Pisans” (certi Pisani [f. 34r, l. 7]) instigated an uprising against the official of the emperor, one Tarlato da Pietramala d'Aresso, on the evening of the vigil of the feast of St. Ranieri (the patron saint of Pisa), rallying around the cry “viva lo populo” [f. 34r, l. 10]. As mentioned on the previous page, many episodes begin by referencing the month in which the event to be discussed took place; this episode, conversely, begins by connecting the event to sacred time: uno sabbato insu l’Ave Maria che fue la vigilia di Sancto Ranieri [f. 34r, ll. 8-9]. As the episode continues the author reminds us again of the sacred timing of the event, telling us that the battle lasted all Saturday night and into Sunday, “which was [the feast of] St. Ranieri” (questa battaglia sabbato tutta notte e la domenicha vegniente che fue Sancto Ranieri [f. 34r, ll. 13-15]). He seems anxious that the reader remember this sacred date, telling us twice in a row.

Another authorial decision that seems conspicuous is the inclusion of the cry “viva lo populo.” The author has already told us that “certain Pisans raised the cry” (certi Pisani levono lo romore [f. 34r, l. 7-8]); but he once again revisits the subject to tell the reader that they are shouting (gridando) “viva lo populo” [f. 34r, l. 10]. The author is telling us that the uprising is connected in the minds of its combatants to some kind of civic or communal pride. This makes the inclusion of the references to St. Ranieri’s feast day more than simple recognitions of an important civic-religious holiday – the feast day and the cry “viva lo populo” are working together to tell us something about the battle and how it was seen in the eyes of those certain Pisans who fought in it.

It also tells us something about the author's own view. While it seems natural the insurrectionists would have used the feast day as a rallying cry, the author is not passively transmitting facts to the reader, but crafting a narrative. His inclusion of this detail is not neutral. He tells us that Tarlato, "retreating because of fear that he could not hold the city, took himself up to the castle of St. Francis with great shame" (si sando via per paura che non potea tenere la cita e andossene sopral castello di Sancto Franciesco con grande vergognia [f. 34r, ll.15-18]). This shameful retreat is immediately followed by a lively, even breathless, description of the Pisans' victory: "and then the count made with his mark and gave to the company of people going to the Palace of the Popolo with great joy, and entered into the lordship, and the land was theirs" (poi lo conte fasie cole sue segniati e do lo conpagnie del populo senandono al Palasso del Popolo con grande alegressa, e introire in signioria e fue loro la terra [f. 34r, ll. 18-22]). 

Here the author reveals his own thoughts on the uprising, celebrating along with the Pisans con grande alegressa. His use of the feast of St. Ranieri as a temporal marker dovetails with this bias. Indeed, he may even be using the reference to St. Ranieri to resolve the tension of Ghibelline Pisa revolting against an ally of the emperor by appealing to the city's patron saint and thus making the matter one of civic identity.

That the author thinks about saints' feasts in this way is corroborated in the sixty-sixth episode, a very terse description of the Pisan capture of Lucca, nestled in a larger body of brief episodes. It is like these surrounding episodes in that it names the year and date before narrating the event, but adds a reference to the vigil of St. Vito. Vito is another saint important to the city of Pisa, much like Ranieri (the latter is buried in the former's church, the city's Benedictine foundation). Referencing him in relation to Pisa's defeat of Lucca, the bitter enemy through the chronicle, is noteworthy. To use a saint associated the city's civic identity to date such an important victory, when surrounding episodes do not reference saints at all, is a conscious authorial decision.

The sanctoral cycle in the medieval Latin tradition spanned the entire year. For any given event in this chronicle, there was a proximate liturgical commemoration that the author could have brought in. Yet he usually does not. These discussions have demonstrated that where he does, it is significant.