Misericordia

   Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio,
umile e alta più che creatura,
termine fisso d’eterno consiglio,
   tu se’ colei che l’umana natura
nobilitasti sì, che ’l suo fattore
non disdegnò di farsi sua fattura.
   Nel ventre tuo si raccese l’amore,
per lo cui caldo ne l’eterna pace
così è germinato questo fiore.

(Paradiso XXXIII.1-9)

   Virgin Mother, daughter of your son,
humbler and more exalted than any other being,
appointed end of God’s eternal plan,
   you are she whom human nature
so ennobled that its Maker
did not refuse to make Himself its creature.
   In your womb was rekindled the love
whose warmth was such in eternal peace
that it caused the germination of this flower.

---

Like the one at San Salvi, this is not one of the original Dante plaques that the Florentines started putting up in 1903 but it complements them nicely. These solemnly paradoxical verses open the Comedy’s final canto with St. Bernard’s hymn to Mary. The description of the infinitely compassionate Virgin is a fitting choice for the wall of the headquarters of the Arciconfraternita della Misericordia di Firenze, a charitable lay organization founded here in 1244 by St. Peter Martyr of Verona. Beyond the Misericordia, however, Saint Peter Martyr’s principal activities in Florence were directed at identifying and punishing heretics.

Fearful that they may become the subject of Peter Martyr’s next investigation, some Cathars in Milan hired a hitman named Carino of Balsamo who eliminated the inquisitor in 1252. We are sure of this because the same hitman later confessed, converted and spent the last four decades of his life doing penance in a monastery in Forlì before finally dying in 1293.

Above: detail of Giovanni Bellini’s “Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr” (ca. 1507)

Below: Lorenzo Lotto’s zombie-like portrayal of the saint with the Madonna and Child (1503)

The Archconfraternity launched by St. Peter martyr began with two main functions: transporting the sick to the hospitals and collecting alms for the dowries of poor girls who otherwise could not marry. Although the fratelli (as members of the Archconfraternity are called) suffered numerous deaths, especially during outbreaks of the plague, they have continued to help the less fortunate for about 750 years. Until about a hundred years ago they were readily recognizable from their mysterious long black robes, but now they dress normally and use the ambulances you see here to fulfill some of their ancient duties.

For the celebrations held in honor of Dante’s six hundredth birthday (in 1865), several plaques were put up along the parade route that started in Piazza Santo Spirito and ended at the inauguration of the Dante statue in Piazza Santa Croce. The Misericordia confraternity placed one nearby that said:

“The Association of the Misericordia of Florence, which, faithful to its public origins, has for five centuries kept the holy flame of charity burning and has been ever swift to assist private citizens in their personal hardships as well as generous in alleviating distress in public tragedies, conceals its virtue behind discretion as it imitates the example of Christ Who blessed others while He lived here on earth.”

Originally, the Misericordia was located near Orsanmichele but it moved to the other side of Calzaiuoli where they inherited a large building in 1321, the year of Dante’s death. Within its walls they had meeting rooms, offices and even the famous loggia del Bigallo. In 1445, the Misericordia joined with the Company of the Bigallo but moved to its present location about 50 years later and eventually became independent again in 1525.