Procession On Feast Of Annunciation: March 25, 1493

The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on this day. In 1493, the pope as part of the festivities went in formal procession to the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and then to the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Through the chronicling of Johann Burchard, papal Master of Ceremonies we can get a glimpse of what Master Burchard did, what a pope normally did and a little of what this pope Alexander VI did differently.

The day before, Burchard tells us he had heard that the pope wanted to ride through the city for the procession. Burchard advised Cardinal Ascanio, the current vice-chancellor not to allow men-at-arms or other security to march ahead or behind the pope and the cardinals. If there were concerns about security,

"... he should send them on in advance and station them in particular places and streets that he thought dangerous. This Cardinal Ascanio agreed to do in fact carried out, by ordering and only permitting the soldiers to stand at those points he selected, whilst retaining about forty infantry with sheathed swords to escort the pope, and a further hundred foot soldiers with halberds and swords but no lances, to march as usual in front of the cross." [pp 57-58]

In these early days of the Borja papacy, these two men wanted to work together. Cardinal Ascanio of the Sforza family, and brother of Ludovico, the effective Duke of Milan, had seen how lucrative the office of vice-chancellor had been for the former Cardinal Borja. Such a position could be very beneficial for the Sforza's in Rome. But this amicable arrangement would not last long and Cardinal Ascanio would align himself with Cardinal della Rovere by the next year.

Burchard detailed the clothing and sacred symbols the pope wore on this occasion. It was Cardinal Piccolomini who held the cross that the pope kissed before he entered the sanctuary. The friars sang and the pope entered, prayed, took of his cloak, put on a white cope, and 'made his confession with the celebrant'. Then he sat in the throne and was "... reverenced by the cardinals in turn, while everything else in the service was correctly conducted." [p. 55]

This is how Burchard reveals divergence from established protocol and processes. Through slight omissions and addition. A list of seating arrangements comes next from Burchard, beginning with proximity to the pope and radiating out. But a space was made in the pope's choir so that women in the church could see while a number of bishops were seated in the monk's choir. One of these was an ambassador from Spain, the bishop of Pavia who complained at length to Burchard about the empty space on the bench wishing he and other envoys could have sat there. Burchard afterwards says he agreed with this bishop but doesn't admit who gave such an order for arrangement or that it was necessarily wrong, but that it would be more fitting to do as this visiting bishop said, since there was plenty of room. [p.56]

Still this church did very well as many rich donations were offered to this church on account of the pope and so many other visitor's visit on this festal day.
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from Johann Burchard: At The Court of the Borgia translated for english, with introduction by Geoffrey Parker, The Folio Society, Ltd, 1963