Liber Paradisus
Liber Paradisus (The Book of Paradise ) is a book written in 1257 that documents the abolition of serfdom in the administrative area of Bologna . It contains the text of the law that was passed in 1256 by the university city of Bologna to liberate the peasants, and then a 60-page list of the 5,855 liberated people. Through this act - one of the most important peasant liberation acts in the Middle Ages - Bologna became the first Italian city (and perhaps one of the first in the world) to abolish serfdom.
history
After the Battle of Fossalta (1249) almost all noble families in the region near Bologna suffered a heavy defeat. This triggered an ethical and economic discussion about the legal status of the peasants, who until then were owned by the feudal lords.
On June 26, 1256, the city government of Bologna decided to liberate the serfs from the hands of secular lords. On August 25, 1256, the bells of the Torre dell'Arengo summoned all the citizens of Bologna to appear in Piazza Maggiore . The Podestà Bonaccorso da Soresina, together with the Capitano del Popolo, announced the liberation of 5,855 serfs in the possession of 379 secular lords, who were to be compensated with payments from the city treasury: ten silver lire were paid for 3,087 men and women, for each of them 2,768 children under the age of 14 received eight lire in compensation, which roughly corresponded to the prices of the slave market at the time. The considerable total of 53,014 lire was paid out in 3 annual installments up to 1259.
On the occasion, a distinguished legal scholar at the University of Bologna, Rolandino de 'Passeggeri , also gave a speech:
“Adamo aveva peccato d'orgoglio e debolezza per questo fu cacciato dal Paradiso. Adamo prima di die full che Seth chiedesse al Cherubino il perdono divino. Il Cherubino colse il seme dal pomo dell'albero fatale e lo pose sotto la lingua del morente. Da quel seme nacque un grandissimo albero che seccò dopo mille e mille anni e fu tagliato alla radice. Un giorno giunsero degli uomini che ne segarono due tronchi e con quelle fecero una croce ... la Croce di Cristo. Quindi l'albero del Paradiso, principio della colpa e della schiavitù, diventa l'albero della redenzione e della libertà ”
“Adam had the sin of pride and weakness, for which he was driven from paradise. Before Adam died, he wanted Set to ask Cherub for divine forgiveness. The cherub took the seed from the tree of knowledge [literally, deadly apple tree] and placed it under the dying man's tongue. From this seed grew a very large tree that withered after thousands of years and was cut off at the roots. One day men came and saw two beams and made a cross with them ... the cross of Christ. Thus becomes the tree of paradise, the beginning of sin and slavery, the tree of redemption and freedom. "
In a second step, on June 3, 1257, the city government decreed the general abolition of serfdom, including the liberation of serfs from spiritual rule. In this case, no compensation payments have been made.
With immediate effect, the exempted had freedom of establishment, but they had to register in the tax lists of their (new) places of residence. However, the liberated were forbidden to leave the associated diocese. In some cases, the liberated (in Italian franche ) settled in certain localities whose names, such as Castelfranco on the then border with the Duchy of Modena , can be derived from it.
A fresco by Adolfo de Carolis hangs in the great hall in the Palazzo del Podestà to commemorate these events .
Motifs
There is no clear opinion among historians about the reasons for this act of liberation. The religious justification that God gave man freedom in the act of creation may have had a certain plausibility in Europe's oldest university town. However, the decisive factor was probably less ethical reasons than economic and demographic considerations. The city government was concerned about the increasing number of non-tax serfs and the decreasing number of taxable free residents. It was hoped that the now perhaps better motivated workforce would perform better and could be taxed additionally in the future. It is possible that the city government also wanted to weaken the power of the noble and clergy rulers. The prerequisites for the act of liberation were the flourishing economy and the strong political power of Bologna at the time when one could even afford to hold Enzio of Sardinia , the son of Emperor Frederick II , in captivity for life.
The "Book of Paradise"
The book was written in 1257 by four notaries at the behest of the city council. The book, in which the names of all the liberated peasants are precisely listed, is called Liber Paradisus (German about "Book of Paradise") because Paradisum is the first word of the text (the first sentence of which reminds us that God gave the first man that Paradise as a pleasure garden).
Beginning of the book:
“Paradisum voluptatis plantavit dominus Deus omnipotens a principio, in quo posuit hominem, quem formaverat, et ipsius corpus ornavit veste candenti, sibi donans perfectissimam et perpetuam libertatem”
"In the beginning the Lord planted a paradise of pleasures, in which he put the person he had created and whose body he had adorned with radiant robes, and gave him the most perfect and eternal freedom."
The book is kept in the State Archives in Piazza dei Celestini . In the reading room ( Sala di Studio , entrance in Vicolo Spirito Santo No. 4) you can view photocopies of this book on your PC.
literature
- Francesco Saverio Gatta, Giuseppe Plessi (ed.): Liber paradisus: con le riformagioni e gli statuti connessi ( la ). Luigi Parma, Bologna 1956.
- Armando Antonelli: Il Liber Paradisus con un'antologia di fonti bolognesi in materia di servitù medievale (942-1304). Marsilio, Venice 2007.
- Armando Antonelli, Massimo Giansante: Il Liber Paradisus e le liberazioni collettive nel XIII secolo. Cento anni di studi (1906-2008). Marsilio, Venice 2008.
Web links
- Le immagini del Liber Paradisus in the archive of the city of Bologna (with button sfoglia il Liber you can leaf through the book, requires Flash Player).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Gina Fasoli: Bologna nell'età medievale (1115–1506). In: Storia di Bologna. 1. Dalla preistoria al medioevo. Bononia University Press, Bologna 2005, pp. 127-184, La liberazione dei servi (Chapter 7), pp. 153-155.
- ↑ In the Prendiparte family alone - owners of the tower of the same name in the city center - more than 200 people served.