Cause For A Great Festal Procession : Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511, (13:130)

Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511: (13:130); "This morning, Monday October 20, was the day chosen for the procession in Piazza San Marco and the proclamation of the league, because twice before, last Wednesday and yesterday, which was Sunday, the order to perform the ceremonies had been posted, but because of rain they were put off until today. And so they took place, as will be noted below. First, all the shops in town were closed and remained so all day today."

Editor's footnote: "Sanudo always specifies those holidays and festivals when the shops were closed, a sign of the importance attributed to the occasion." p. 362.

nedits: The War of the League of Cambrai had been devastating to Venice. After two years of war, in 1511, a new deal was struck.  Previously in 1508, Giuliano della Rovere as Pope Julius II had formed the League of Cambrai against Venice. After some successes in curbing Venice's power and her projection of it, as well as seizing some land nearby for his terrestrial kingdom The Papal States, the pope turned his sights on France. Happy to no longer have the pope, Spain, and England against them, Venice joined in.  It had been a rough couple years, involving excommunication, defeats on land, losses of territory and revenue, loss of life, reputation and in March 1511 a major earthquake had completely shaken Venice's sense of self and perhaps even her very confidence in God's most crucial blessing. Had God forsaken them? What else could it be? Everyone and everything had lost faith in them it seemed, even the very ground beneath their feet. So Venice became a joiner. To the rest of the known world it looked as though the Pope, Spain and Venice had switched sides.

Editor's note: "The elaborate celebration and procession that surrounded the proclamation of this league involved the entire population of the city and many of its subject territories [like Padua, Treviso, Vicenza]. Although the procession was prompted by a political triumph, it was a triumph sanctioned by spiritual affirmation ... the role of religion in Venice, [being] intimately interwoven as it was with the  political and social fabric of the city....[for example] the city's special relationship to Christ through St Mark, whose powerful protection was continually invoked, visually and ceremonially; the city's consequent sense of its own sanctity as a holy city, civitas sancta, and its claim to have served, from its very foundation, as sanctuary from the ultramontane "barbarian" invaders; the procession itself, in which patricians and populace celebrated their relationship to God, whose intercession would secure their victory over hostile forces, whether spiritual or political, and certify their purity, power and endurance against whatever was unorthodox, deformed, or destructive of the Venetian glory." p. 362.

Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511 (con't): "Before daybreak the bells in San Marco and in all parishes began to ring in celebration. At an early hour the streets were teeming with people headed for Piazza San Marco, which quickly filled up. So did the balconies of the houses around that Piazza, where the procession was to pass and where viewing stands were constructed. There was an enormous throng of people; in addition to the usual inhabitants of this city, there were many outsiders, both men and women. The most numerous were those from Vicenza and other places who had led here to escape the barbaric persecutions [of the war], as if [Venice] were their safest haven. Indeed, Vicenza is almost empty. Also present were inhabitants of Padua and Treviso, many of whom are staying in Venice."

Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511: (13:131-2); "The interior of the Basilica of San Marco was splendidly decorated. First, [the statues of] all the Apostles above the choir were dressed in silk chasubles. A length of gold brocade served as a wall hanging. The pulpits were adorned with crimson velvet embroidered in gold, as is the custom; the cloth was taken from the tent that was made for His Serenity, Doge Cristoforo Moro, when he departed aboard a galley for the crusade."

Editor's footnote: "Cristoforo Moro, doge from 1462 to 1471, undertook to participate personally in a crusade along with Pope Pius II [Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini], but the death of the latter upon his arrival in Ancona in 1464 dissolved the enterprise." p. 363

Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511: (13:131-2); "The choir around the high altar was decorated with the gold cloths that are presented by the doges to the church, while the Pala d'Oro, studded with jewels of enormous value, stood open upon the high altar. The two roses that Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Alexander VI sent [1476, 1495 respectively] to our Signoria were affixed above the wrought-iron gate to this chapel. And above the altar of St Mark, which is made of silver, were silver crosses and candleholders embedded with beautiful jewels and the crown that has recently been found [after the recent earthquake] in the Procuratia. Not displayed today were the other jewels of St Mark that are usually exhibited on the feast of Ascension, that is, the pectorals, crowns, carbuncles, and unicorn horns, etc. Such items usually are not displayed on a day like this because once they have been put out, the procurators of the church are obliged to sit next to them to guard them, but today they are going to accompany the Signoria in the procession."

nedits: The Editors point out the 'unicorn horns' were highly prized male narwhal tusks, "...symbols of purity and religion , for common belief held that only a virgin could approach and capture a unicorn. (The identification of Venice with the 'inviolate Virgin' is suggested here.) The dust of these horns was considered an antidote for every sort of poison. The carbuncles were red precious stones." Footnote 12. p. 364. These were articles of faith put out for people to see, objects to inspire faith and devotion. Extraordinary times called for extraordinary and apparently rather convoluted displays.

Sanudo Diaries: October 20, 1511: (13:132-5): "The chair upon which the doge was to sit was decorated with cloth of gold, as was the spot where he kneels in front of the altar of San Climente, the usual place that doges and ambassadors occupy during such processions."

All quotes as Sanudo Diaries or Editor's notes or Editor's Footnotes, as well as bibliography entries, from Venice, Cita Excellentissima, Selection from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo translated by Linda L Carroll,  editors: Patricia H LaBalme and Laura Sanguineti White, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008