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The Uses of the Body: The Church and the Cult of Santa Margherita da Cortona

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Daniel Bornstein
Daniel Bornstein
Affiliation:
Assistant professor of history in Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas.
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Extract

Our bodies, like the poor, are always with us. They are the mechanism through which we apprehend the world, and as such—as the inescapable point of contact between subjective consciousness and objective “reality”— the body becomes a primary medium of cultural communication and bearer of cultural meanings. Paradoxically, this is nowhere clearer than in the case of ascetics like Margherita da Cortona, who wage unremitting war on their bodies during their lives and whose bodily remains in consequence are enshrined and revered. It was through her body that Margherita, like other illiterate holy women, could project a spiritual message that carried beyond the range of her voice; and it was to her body that people flocked after her death, endowing it with sacred values and social significance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , June 1993 , pp. 163 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1993

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References

1. Combs-Schilling, M. Elaine, “Etching Patriarchal Rule: Ritual Dye, Erotic Potency, and the Moroccan Monarchy,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 1 (1990–1991): 658.Google ScholarFor recent studies of the cultural meanings of the body in late antique and medieval Europe, see Brown, Peter, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (New York, 1988),Google ScholarBynum, Caroline Walker, Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (New York, 1991),Google Scholarand Bynum, , Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women (Berkeley, Calif., 1987). My thinking on this subject has also been stimulated and shaped by Lisa S.Quails and her work on cultural projections of the female body.Google Scholar

2. The harshness with which ascetics treated their own bodies could be matched by the brutal curiosity of those around them. Margherita's contemporary, Douceline of Marseille, was slapped, punched, prodded, and pricked by onlookers who wanted to see whether she was really rapt from her senses in mystical ecstasy; the count of Provence went so far as to have molten lead poured onto her bare feet.Google ScholarSee Carozzi, Claude, “Douceline et les autres,” in La religion populaire en Languedoc du XIIIe siècle à la moitié du XlVe siècle (Toulouse, 1976), pp. 251–267. In the end, says Carozzi (p. 266), Douceline's body “devient alors définitivement un objet sacré, définitivement adorable parce que définitivement aboli en tant qu'objet de désir et sujet du désir.”Google Scholar

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11. This split between Margherita and the Franciscans was noted by Rusconi, , “Margherita da Cortona,” p. 72. On the other hand, the order was also concerned about the closeness of Giunta's relationship with Margherita. The provincial chapter that met in Siena in 1288 instructed Giunta to see her only once a week, unless there was some compelling need (5:9).Google Scholar

12. Papi, Benvenuti, “Margarita filia Jerusalem,” p. 120;Google ScholarRusconi, , “Margherita da Cortona,” pp. 69–70.Google ScholarIn general, see Pazzelli, Raffaelle and Temperini, Lino, eds., La “Supra Montem” di Niccolò IV: genesi e diffusione di una regola (Rome, 1988).Google Scholar

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15. The phrase is that of Cohn, Samuel K. Jr, Death and Property in Siena, 1205–1800: Strategies for the Afterlife (Baltimore, 1988).Google ScholarSee also Nolens intestatus decedere. II testamento come fonte della storia religiosa e sociale (Perugia, 1985).Google Scholar

16. BCC, MS414, fols. 155–155v.Google Scholar

17. BCC, MS 415, “Imbreviaturae ser Rinaldi Toti, nempe filii Christophori, notarii Cortonensis ab anno 1358 ad annum 1374,” part 2, fol. 24. San Basilio was the usual place of burial for the Casali, who had been linked with Margherita since her arrival in Cortona.Google Scholar

18. BCC, MS. 415, part 2, fols. 16–16v (Mone q. Brandini de Cortone), 19 (Caterina filia olim Cevennis Nerii de Cortone), 19–19v (Petrus q. Venturini Andree), 21v–22v (Naldus olim Homodei de Cortona), 23–23v (Mone olim Brandini de Cortone), 26v–27 (Angnolellus Andree de Amelia), and 27–27v (Bartolomeus dom. Johannis Schoilis [?] de Bononia). The last two were Casali familiars, and their wills were redacted in the Casali palace.Google Scholar

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20. Bevegnati, Giunta, Leggenda, 4:15; see also 5:39 and 11:12. In many respects, Margherita's career resembles that of her contemporary, the Franciscan tertiary Angela da Foligno: both had known and renounced sex; both sought redemption through self-abasement, asceticism, and self-mutilation. Angela, however, came from a wealthier family, and experienced sex with her husband, as a marital obligation. Margherita, a peasant woman who engaged in sex outside of marriage, had to climb much farther to reach a place on the altar.Google Scholar

21. On the iconography of Margherita da Cortona, see Gianni, Alessandra, “Iconografia delle sante e beate umbre fra il XIII e gli inizi del XIV secolo,” in Sante e beate umbretra il XIII e il XIV secolo. Mostra iconografia (Foligno, 1986), pp. 107–113;Google ScholarNightlinger, Elizabeth E., “The Iconography of Saint Margaret of Cortona” (Ph.D. diss., George Washington University, 1982);Google Scholarand Gieben, Servus, “Iconografia dei penitenti e Niccolo IV,” in La “Supra Montem” di Niccolò IV, pp. 299–300.Google Scholar

22. On 4 May 1385, the church of San Basilio was given to the Olivetans; they renounced their rights to it five years later, on 21 May 1390.Google ScholarMirri, Domenico, Cronaca dei lavori edilizi della nuova chiesa di S. Margherita in Cortona, ed. Mori, Edoardo (Cortona, 1989), p. 35.Google Scholar

23. On the cult of Saint Margherita da Cortona, see the forthcoming study by Vauchez, André and Cannon, Joanna, provisionally entitled Art, Cult, and Canonization, which rests primarily on the canonization proceedings and artistic representations, rather than the local archival sources used here.Google ScholarOn civic support of saints' cults, see Vauchez, André, “Patronage des saints et religion civique dans l'Italie communale à la fin du Moyen Age,” in Patronage and Public in the Trecento, ed. Moleta, Vincent (Florence, 1987), pp. 59–80Google Scholar[reprinted in Vauchez, , Les laïcs au Moyen Age: Pratiques et expériences religieuses (Paris, 1987), pp. 169–186].Google Scholar

24. Archivio storico del Comune di Cortona (ACC), Q.I: “Deliberazioni comunitative 1323–1324,” fols. 29–29v (23 January 1324), 33v–34 (1 February 1324), and 38v–40 (19 February 1324).Google Scholar

25. Mancini, Girolamo, Cortona net Media Evo (Florence, 1897; repr. Rome, 1969), p. 176.Google Scholar

26. Cardini, , “Una signoria minore,” pp. 250–252;Google ScholarCardini, , “Agiografia e politica,” pp. 128–129.Google Scholar

27. Mirri, , Cronaca dei lavon edilizi, p. 27.Google Scholar

28. On the phases of construction, see Mirri, , Cronaca dei lavori edilizi, pp. 27–34,Google Scholarand Tafi, Angelo, Immagine di Cortona. Guida storico-artistica della città e dintorni (Cortona, 1989), p. 284.Google Scholar

29. Biasion, Gianna Bardotti, “Gano di Fazio e la tomba-altare di Santa Margherita da Cortona,” Prospettiva 37 (1984): 2–19;Google ScholarVasari, Giorgio, Le vile de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori, ed. Bettarini, Rosanna, 9 vols. (Florence, 1966–1969), 2: 181, 254;Google Scholarand Bornstein, Daniel, “Pittori sconosciuti e pitture perdute nella Cortona tardomedioevale,” Rivista d'Arte 42 (1990): 227–244, which discusses Vasari's attribution of these frescoes to Sienese painters and documents the activities of local Cortonese artists.Google Scholar

30. Archivio vescovile di Cortona, “Visite pastorali, 1337–1435,” shelf location A–1, fol. 42v.Google ScholarFor a description and partial edition of this volume, see Meoni, Noemi, “Visite pastorali a Cortona nel Trecento,” Archivio Storico Italiano 129 (1971): 181–256.Google ScholarAccording to the early fifteenth-century tax records, San Basilio was the holder of 103 separate properties. ACC, C.7: “Estimo dei beni ecclesiastici (1402- ),” fols. 26–26v and 109–110. The first 71 of these properties correspond point for point with the first 71 of the 101 properties registered in ACC, Z.9, pezzo 1: “Libro de la Libra de Santa Margharita de Chortona,” fols. 2–52. The point of divergence between the two lists of the church's landholdings appears to be 22 July 1408, but the whole matter requires further study.Google Scholar

31. Gallorini, Santino, “Un prezioso elenco di enti appartenenti alia diocesi aretina risalente al 1431,” Atti e Memorie dell'Accademia Petrarca di Lettere, Arti e Scienze di Arezzo 52 (1990): 387–390.Google Scholar

32. On the material conditions of the diocese of Cortona in the fifteenth century, see Meoni, , “Visite pastorali,” and Daniel Bornstein, “Priests and Villagers in the Diocese of Cortona,” Ricerche storiche (forthcoming).Google Scholar

33. At the end of the fourteenth century, Sacchetti, Franco expressed some doubts about the uncorrupted bodies of these new saints: “Beato Ugolino e Beata Margherita da Cortona si mostrano per gran reliquie il dì loro, e che 'l corpo è intero, e per questo quel corpo sia santificato; da l'altra parte dicono li religiosi che 'l corpo scomunicato sta sempre intero.” [“The blessed Ugolino and blessed Margherita da Cortona are displayed as great relics on their feast days because their bodies are whole, and for this reason that body is held to be sanctified; on the other hand, the priests say that an excommunicated body remains forever whole.”]Google ScholarSacchetti, Franco, La Battaglia delle belle donne; Le Lettere; Le Sposizioni di vangeli, ed. Chiari, Alberto (Bari, 1938), p. 102.Google Scholar

34. ACC, Z.3, pezzo 3. Income is registered on fols. 92–109, expenditures on fols. 116–151.Google Scholar

35. ACC, Z.3, pezzo 3, fols. 116–117v, 120v–121, 122, 123v, 126v, 127v, 130, 133v, 136–136v, 143, 144, 145–145v, 147–147v.Google Scholar

36. “Michele de Guiduccio de Venutello me dè a me Angnialo de Tofano de l'ufferta de Santa Margarita XXI bolongnino e s. XXXVIII1 d. VI e uno fiorino d'oro; furo de l'ufferta de Santa Margarita che se mosstrò Santa Margarita al singniore e ale done ed al tre persone; mostrose el dì de Santo Cristofano adi XXV de luglio ello 1381.” ACC, Z3, pezzo 3, fol. 107v. The value of the foreign coins had to be translated into Cortonese money.Google ScholarSacchetti, Franco tells a story about just such a visit, a special showing of the body of the blessed Ugolino of Cortona, arranged by Francesco Casali as a mark of his esteem for a noble visitor: Franco Sacchetti, Il Trecentonovelle, ed. Faccioli, Emilio (Turin, 1970), pp. 438–441.Google Scholar

37. Figures are approximate because of the need to translate gold florins into lire, and the variable rates of exchange. I have used a rate midway between the extremes recorded in the account book. The value of the florin tended to rise relative to the lira in the late Trecento, and using a higher rate of exchange would further depress the earnings since a far higher share of the expenditures were in florins (1,939 lire and 57 florins in income vs. 784 lire and 211 florins in expenditures). In the second half of the Trecento, unskilled workers in the building trades in Florence earned between eight and ten soldi a day; if they worked only 200 days a year, that would mean an annual income of 80–100 lire—and the Florentine lira was worth 25% more than the Cortonese lira. Goldthwaite, Richard A., The Building of Renaissance Florence (Baltimore, 1980), p. 436.Google Scholar

38. Bornstein, , “Pittori sconosciuti,” p. 231.Google Scholar

39. Cardini, Franco, “Casali, Francesco,” in Dizionano Biografico degli Italiani (Rome, 1978) 21:80.Google ScholarIn Sacchetti's novella, Francesco Casali expresses particular pride in having the relics of Margherita: “il signore gli cominciò a dire di molte belle reliquie, le quali nella terra avea; e che v'era il corpo di santa Margherita.” Sacchetti, Il Trecentonovelle, p. 438.Google Scholar

40. ACC, Z.S. pezzo 3, fols. 99v, 102v, and 105.Google Scholar

41. BCC, MS 415, part 2, fols. 71–71v.Google Scholar

42. ACC, Z.2, pezzo 1, “Chiesa di Santa Margherita, entrata e spese 1403–1408,” fol. 37v. Was the bequest of Francesco di Bartolomeo Casali, which made such a big difference to the finances of Santa Margherita in the years immediately following his death in 1375, still generating annual payments in 1408? Or is the document's reference to “una lasita che fecie misere Francesscho di misere Bartolomeio signiore che fo di Chortona” an error for Francesco di Bartolomeo's son, Francesco Senese, who was murdered on 11 October 1407?Google Scholar

43. ACC, Z.5, pezzo 3, Chiese di Santa Margherita e San Marco, entrata e uscita 1484–1506, fols. 21 v (income) and 173v–174 (expenditures).Google Scholar

44. BCC, MS. 532, “Compendio delle cose di Cortona di Andrea Sernini over Cucciatti nobile cortonese,” p. 405. This list of “legati pertinenti alia chiesa di Santa Margherita di Cortona” is undated, but the hand appears to be from the second half of the sixteenth century.Google Scholar

45. The account book for 1369–1384 records an average of 14 items a year under income and 26 under expenditures: ACC, Z.3, pezzo 3. Between 1403 and 1408, the number of entries for income ranges from 59 to 100, and averages 76; for expenditures, the average is 145 entries, with a big jump from 61 in 1403 and 88 in 1404 to 240 in 1405, when work began on a new portico for the church: ACC, Z.2, pezzo 1. Since this book includes income from rents and expenditures on property maintenance and improvements—items which were not included in the fourteenth-century account book—the leap in economic activity may not be as great as it seems. But gross revenues for the period 1369—1384 averaged less than 150 lire, while in the first decade of the fifteenth century they ranged from a low of 400 lire in 1403 to nearly 1,350 lire in 1405, before dropping off to about 550 lire in 1407 and 950 lire in 1408.

46. ACC, Z.2, pezzo 1.Google Scholar

47. ACC, Z.5, pezzo 3, fols. 16–19.Google Scholar

48. ACC, Z.5, pezzo 3, fol. 19.Google Scholar