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Updated 05-03-08
Bartolomea Riccoboni (c.1369-1440)
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"FOLLOW THROUGH ON THIS GOOD BEGINNING."
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In about 1415, a Dominican nun in Venice began to write about the origin and early history of her monastery, Corpus Domini; she continued to write until 1436. From her book, we know only her name, Bartolomea Riccoboni, and that she was 25 years years old when she entered the enclosure with 26 others on the foundation's first day in 1394. We know that she was the monastery chronicler; from a few accounts that she gives of conversations with other nuns, it appears that she may have acted as infirmarian, taking care of the sick, and perhaps as novice-mistress (at one point she speaks of asking a question of another nun "to test her").
Riccoboni's original manuscript has been lost but some copies remain, and the work was published in 1969 in two sections, Cronaca del Corpus Domini and Necrologia del Corpus Domini. The Cronaca consists of eleven chapters on the history of the monastery, followed by seven chapters on the life and death of Pope Gregory XII, a Venetian who Riccoboni admired. The Necrologia gives mini-biographies of 48 women who died at Corpus Domini between 1395 and 1436, and a more lengthy account of the life of Giovanni Dominici, the reforming Dominican friar who was instrumental in establishing the monastery and in supporting it in the early years.
Apart from the biographies of Gregory XII and Dominici, the book is very much an in-house organizational history: its purpose is to edify "those sisters who follow after us" (and perhaps some of Riccoboni's own contemporaries, who may not have been living completely edifying lives). Some of Corpus Domini's residents may have been there unwillingly, but they are not mentioned here. An extant letter from Giovanni Dominici to the nuns refers to some scandal in the early days, but there is no suggestion of it here. However, what the book does reveal are Riccoboni's own enthusiasms and values (most interestingly, her reaction to the schism within the church that threatened her and her fellow nuns); these make her work of interest to a modern reader.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from a translation in print.
Information about secondary sources.
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1. A few passages from Daniel Bornstein's introduction to his translations of the Cronaca and the Necrologia in the 2000 book, Life and Death in a Venetian Convent.
2. Reviews (for excerpts from the translation, see below, under "In print"; for information on the other books' treatment of Riccoboni, see "Secondary sources"):
(a) In a review of several works from the series, "The other voice in early modern Europe," Constance Jordan on Bornstein's translation.
(b) Elissa B.Weaver on the 2000 essay collection, Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society.
(c) Carole Collier Frick on the 1998 collection, Gender and Society in Renaissance Italy.
3. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia entries for Giovanni Dominici and for Gregory XII, both subjects of biographies by Riccoboni.
4. For background on the historical events that threatened Riccoboni and some of her fellow nuns with excommunication and possibly prison:
(a) Notes by Lynn H. Nelson on the "Great Schism" (1378-1415).
(b) Brief descriptions of the Council of Pisa (1409) and of the Council of Constance (1414-1418)
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[Daniel Bornstein has translated the Cronaca and the Necrologia. His introduction and notes are helpful for historical background; the bibliography includes the few studies available in English. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Riccoboni, Bartolomea. Life and death in a Venetian convent:
the chronicle and necrology of Corpus Domini, 1395-1436; edited
and translated by Daniel Bornstein (The other voice in early
modern Europe). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. (xxvii,
115 p.: ill.)
LC#: BX4337.5.V46 R53 2000; ISBN: 0226717887, 0226717895
Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-109) and index
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"I have decided to write...."
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[From the "prologue" to both the Cronaca and Necrologia. Riccoboni is suitably modest, but the decision to write is hers, not one ordered by any superior or spiritual advisor:]
...I have decided to write with this goal in mind: in order that those sisters who follow after us may be properly edified, and that they may have reason to praise the Lord for so many good things and be inspired to live well and follow through on this good beginning. I shall strive to do my best to recount the full truth of what I have seen and heard, and if I do not write as I ought, I beg my readers to pardon me.
If the Lord grants me the grace to praise and glorify his holy name, I will tell step by step, first, of the building of the convent; second, of the day when the women entered it and how it was enclosed; third, the the community and fervor of those women; and forth, of the glorious deaths of many of them. [p.25]
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"She went with many tears and a bitter heart."
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[The Cronaca begins with Lucia Tiepolo, the woman whose activities led to the foundation of the monastery. She was about 80 when Riccoboni first lived with her at Corpus Domini and heard her story; that story tells of Lucia's heroic fortitude but also of her human weakness. After 34 years in an Augustinian foundation, her bishop ordered Lucia to become abbess of a group of Benedictines:]
She resisted fiercely, arguing as best she could with many other words and tears; but the lord bishop enjoined her to obey and she, a dutiful daughter, could not refuse him, though she went with many tears and a bitter heart, and with the intention of sneaking away and going to some unknown place.
She remained there for three unhappy years, continually begging God that he might grant her the grace to be his true servant and to do his holy will. [p.26]
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"...money that she had earned by practicing medicine."
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[After a vision directed her to build a church in Venice, Lucia finally received permission to leave the Benedictines; because of her medical skill, she was able to support herself and to save money for a new church:]
She happened to have some money that she had earned by practicing medicine (she treated great crowds of sick people) and with these funds she paid for the land and the lumber and began to have the church constructed.... [p.27]
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"It was a true community."
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[The Cronaca continues with the story of the beginning of Corpus Domini; after that, Riccoboni tells of the first years of the foundation. Her tone seems wistful, describing the convent life of 20 years before, a past golden age:]
It was a true community in true charity: never a vain word, but only talk of the Lord God in all places, since while sleeping, waking and eating, at all hours they call-ed on Jesus....
The vicaress had to command them to go easy and temper their great fervor, and she gave them a direct order to take food, since they were so fervent they they did not want to eat....
They frequented the choir so much that they could hardly wait to go to the office; some of them told me that when they entered the choir they seemed to see an angel that led them in singing God's praises, and they sang the office with such great joy that they seemed to be among choirs of angels. [pp.34-35]
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"Everything belonged to everyone, and all had their needs
met."
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[Note here the shift from the present to the past tense: the vow of chastity is still being kept, but perhaps some of the nuns who were to read Riccoboni's words needed to be reminded of the old ways of obedience and poverty:]
First of all, as for bodily chastity, may God maintain it as it is now: perfect in the highest degree.
The same was true of obedience and poverty of mind and body. When the superior commanded anything, blessed was she who said yes the most promptly. No one would go speak at the window for any reason without permission, and likewise they maintained with all diligence all the ceremonies of the order....
They were of such purity and poverty that they did not even hang on to a penny. They had nothing but a quilt and a blanket, a single tunic and a single scapular; when they needed to change, they went to the wardrobe mistress and were satisfied with whatever she gave them.... All the alms that were sent to the sisters by their relatives and friends were held in common.... Everything belonged to everyone, and all had their needs met. The Lord God provided for us. [pp.36-37]
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"Men and women left their relatives and their children."
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[The central male figure of Riccoboni's book is the Dominican friar Giovanni Dominici, who with Lucia Tiepolo and some Venetian lay people founded Corpus Domini. For the first five years after the foundation, he acted as the nuns' spiritual director and fund-raiser. In 1399 he was expelled from Venice, ostensibly for leading a procession without city approval, but in reality --- or at least in Riccoboni's view --- for being too successful at recruiting Dominican friars and nuns:]
Many men and women left their relatives and their children to become friars and nuns, and for this reason their relatives grew angry with him, saying, "This traitor is leading our children astray; let us remove him from the world." [p.87]
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"...from that point we had to scrounge for bread."
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[Giovanni's expulsion deprived Corpus Domini not only of a spiritual advisor but also of much needed financial help. The friar continued to send what he could, and promised an endowment at his death --- a promise he would not be able to keep:]
After his departure alms seemed to stop coming our way, and from that point we had to scrounge for bread, which had not been necessary before; indeed, we used to feed many poor with what we had left over...
We have been deprived of hearing him for fifteen years now, but even though he is far away physically, his reverence never ceases to provide his daughters with whatever he can. We have received 215 ducats since his departure from Venice, and he has promised us that... he will arrange to have the convent endowed so that we will have no need for family and friends, but only prayer contemplation, and study. [pp.42-43]
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"...left us deeply divided."
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[What historians call the "Great Schism" (1378-1417), when two or more popes vied for control of the church, did not at first affect Venice's religious institutions: all accepted the Roman pope, Gregory XII, and rejected the Avignon pope. But in 1409, a church council at Pisa deposed both and named a new pope, Alexander V; the civic leaders of Venice and the leaders of the Dominican order accepted the change, but most of the nuns at Corpus Domini did not:]
...[D]oubt crept into the minds of some of our sisters. Seeing that our most illustrious government of Venice and also our order had given Alexander their allegiance and recognized him as the true pope, they sought the advice of our father confessors, who were divided among themselves and gave counsel that reflected their own convictions. As a result, twenty of our sisters were very troubled in their consciences and said that they wanted to align with the order and accept Alexander as the true pope; those who held that Gregory was the true pope numbered forty-five, which left us deeply divided.... [p.45]
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"They boldly invoked Pope Alexander by name."
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[The problem for the nuns was not merely intellectual; they were required to pray aloud for the pope by name during the recitation of the daily office. As can be seen in the passage above, Riccoboni tries to report objectively, but she is not always able to hide her own personal view:]
But those who supported Gregory did not want to name Alexander since they felt in their consciences that to do so would be a grave sin. They said, "We do not want to mention anyone by name until peace is restored to the church." This statement was acceptable and pleasing to everyone. But when Alexander's supporters recited the prayer, they boldly invoked Pope Alexander by name in the prayer, saying that they wanted to be in line with our order....
Then it happened that some devout lay people who would most devoutly come to hear mass and the office in our church, and who were supporters of Pope Gregory and gave us generous alms, got up and left our church when they heard Alexander named and withdrew their alms, so that we suffered great hardship. [p.43]
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"...punished severely as a rebel."
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[The male head of the Dominican order sent his representative to Corpus Domini. Excommunication would mean being deprived of the sacraments, a serious loss to nuns whose lives revolved around the liturgy; punishment for rebellion would involve actual imprisonment:]
This vicar came and had all of us sisters assemble in the parlor at the sound of the bell. When we had gathered, he began to praise warmly those of our sisters who sided with Alexander, since they were truly obedient daughters, and he commanded us by obedience and under pain of excommunication that we all must name Pope Alexander in our prayer, and anyone who did not do this would be punished severely as a rebel. [p.46]
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"This was great relief for Gregory's partisans."
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[The vicarerss of Corpus Domini found a solution, although before she did, Alexander had died and been replaced by Pope John XXIII. Gregory XII continued to resist deposition. The role of the hebdomadary, who led the recitation of the office, alternated among the choir nuns:]
...[O]ur mother the vicaress ordered that the hebdomadary should name Pope John, which his partisans did very willingly; and when it was the turn of one of Gregory's supporters to be hebdomadary, she should ask one of Pope John's to do it for her. This was great relief for Gregory's partisans.... [p.47]
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"Both of the parties acted with good intentions."
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[After four years of this makeshift solution, a new Dominican head was named; he did not require that any pope's name be used. Looking back on the events, Riccoboni concludes the chapter by trying again to be non-partisan. This passages ends the section of the Cronaca that deals with the monastery's history:]
We said the prayer without naming anyone, and thus we could remain united and in good harmony right down to this very day. But we suffered this tribulation of the schism for five years.... However, through his [God's] kind charity our consciences remained unblemished and untroubled by any vexing pricks, because both of the parties acted with good intentions. [p.47]
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".Her daughter... and her two daughters and niece...."
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[From the Necrologia, first, two complete entries that follow the pattern used in most: description of the nun's origins, virtues, illness and happy death. These two entries describe three generations of one family who were in Corpus Domini at the same time:]
In that year [1403] Sister Maruzza Bonzi, the mother of Sister Franceschina da Noale, passed from this life. She belonged to the Third Order of Saint Francis and lived for nearly a hundred years. She fell ill and was almost at the point of death, and out of respect for her daughter she was brought inside here and dressed in our holy habit, and she lived twenty-two days with great devotion.
The blessed woman was like the good tree that bears good fruit, since her daughter Sister Franceschina and her two daughters and niece belong to our order, and the convent has more than two thousand ducats of her goods. I believe that because of the good fruits that have sprung from her, she is enjoying the good things of life eternal. Amen. [pp.68-69]
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"...bringing with her a seven-year-old daughter."
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[Three years later, Maruzza Bonzi's daughter died at the age of 61:]
Sister Franceschina da Noale entered the convent seven days after it was enclosed, as a widowed lady forty-nine years old. During her marriage she lived in the world in a holy fashion and always wore a hair shirt under her velvet. When she was left a widow she dressed humbly in coarse cloth, and when this convent was built, moved by desire for greater perfection she came to the order, bringing with her a seven-year-old daughter.
This blessed woman never meddled with her daughter, who was entrusted to the care of the [novice] mistress. Her own life was a constant round of prayers, vigils, flagellation, fasts, and other holy deeds, such that she fell ill and consumed that body, which did not have the appearance of a living thing. She bore this infirmity with the greatest patience for a long time. When it pleased God, she received all the holy sacraments and serenely rendered her soul to God. Amen [p.72]
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"She had abandoned her father, mother..., and her own city."
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[Finally, a few excerpts from Necrologia entries. Riccoboni seems especially delighted to tell romantic tales of those who defied their high-ranking families to come to Corpus Domini. First, on Gabriella of Siena:]
The leap that she had made was this: with great fervor she had abandoned her father, mother, brothers, and sisters, and her own city, in order to come serve God in this convent. When our father [Giovanni Dominici] was preaching in Siena..., he spoke at length of this convent; this woman was inspired to come, against her family's wishes. [p.82]
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"They sent word to all the passes as far as Rimini to have
her detained."
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[On Geronima dei Cancellieri:]
This woman was the daughter of the count of Pistoia; all her brothers were counts and of high estate. She married a knight and was left a widow while she was still young, and she had always had a desire to serve God. She had always longed to go someplace where she was neither known nor honored. As it pleased God, who grants good wishes, she was converted by the sermons of our father [Dominici], who was at that time preaching in Tuscany; and upon hearing of the good reputation of this convent, she arranged with him to come to Venice.
When this reached the ears of her two sons, who were highly respected knights, and her two married daughters, they sent word to all the passes as far as Rimini to have her detained. As it pleased God, she got by them all and came to incarcerate herself here for his love. [p.99]
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"This woman... went to his sermon almost as a joke."
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[And on Onest dei Marchesi, a worldly woman won over by a young friar's sermon:]
She was the daughter of the marquis of Monte Santa Maria, and thus a woman from a great lineage, very elegant and notoriously worldly. Our father Brother Giovanni Dominici and Brother Giovanni Benedetto... went to Citta di Castello, and while Brother Giovanni [Benedetto] was preaching there, this woman, hearing that he was a youth of eighteen, went to his sermon almost as a joke. The Holy Spirit made him speak so effectively that she was converted on the spot; and. hearing of this convent, she begged our father and Brother Giovanni to receive her and to make arrangements with her brothers to send her to Venice.
When our father heard of her good intentions, he went to see her brothers. There were five or six of them, all great lords who held castles; and when they heard that this sister of theirs had converted, they had a good laugh, saying that she was so worldly and so vivacious that this could never last. The oldest of the brothers... said that he wanted to observe her for several months, and that if she persisted he would send her to Venice. ...[S]he did so well that shortly thereafter one of her brothers accompanied her to Venice. She was a widow, twenty-three years old. [p.93]
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[Pawel Dobrowolski's article analyzes the Cronaca and especially the Necrologia to show the social composition of Corpus Domini (ages, background, length of life of the nuns) and the specific virtues praised by Riccoboni. (Two-thirds of the way down the page, see the issue's table of contents online.):]
Dobrowolski, Pawel. Piety and death in Venice: A reading of
the fifteenth-century Chronicle and the Necrology of Corpus Domini.
Bullettino dell'Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo
e archivio muratoriano, #92 (1985-86), 295-324.
LC#: DG402 .I8; ISSN: 0392-5342
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[Bornstein's essay in this collection, "Spiritual Kinship and Domestic Devotions," includes a brief section (pp.183-87) which supplements his introduction to his translation above. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Gender and society in Renaissance Italy / edited by Judith
C. Brown and Robert C. Davis (Women and men in history) . London;
New York: Longman, 1998. (xi, 255 p.)
LC#: HQ1149 .I8 G46 1998; ISBN: 058229326X, 0582293251
Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-249) and index
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[This earlier article by Bornstein focuses on Dominici's 1399 expulsion from Venice, but it quotes some of his letters to the nuns of Corpus Domini (here called Corpus Christi) which show how Dominici influenced Riccoboni's views. The article is also useful for historical background on Venice during this period:]
Bornstein, Daniel. Giovanni Dominici, the Bianchi, and Venice:
Symbolic action and interpretive grids. Journal of Medieval
and Renaissance Studies, 23:2 (1993), 143-71.
LC#: CB351 .J78; ISSN: 0047-2573
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[One essay in this collection, "History Writing from Within the Convent in Cinquecento Italy: The Nun's Version," by Kate Lowe, although it deals with the 1500s and so never mentions Riccoboni, provides background by showing the kinds of political and oral history written by nuns throughout the period. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Women in Italian Renaissance culture and society / edited
by Letizia Panizza (Legenda). Oxford: European Humanities Research
Centre, 2000. (xxi, 523 p : ill, facsims, ports)
LC#: HQ1149.I8 W66 2000; ISBN:1900755092
Includes bibliographical references
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Updated 05-03-08