Frati Gaudenti (Jovial Friars)

Frati Gaudenti (the Jovial Friars) was a common nickname for members of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Frati della Beata Gloriosa Vergine Maria, in Italian) because some of them took advantage of their role to become wealthy.

Founded officially in 1261 in Emilia, the order was intended to promote peace and stability in urban areas. Its members could marry and carry defensive weapons but were not allowed to attend parties or celebrations of any kind and were supposed to avoid holding any sort of public office.

After the Battle of Montaperti (1260), the bloodiest of all military conflicts in medieval Italy, the exiled Ghibellines returned to Florence and chased out the rival Guelphs. Only six years later, after the Battle of Benevento, the Empire received its last blow from the Papacy and its steadfast ally, Charles of Anjou. Knowing that the Ghibellines’ level of imperial support was bound to diminish, Florentines of all political persuasions became gravely concerned that violence could erupt in their city once the inevitable reversal of power began. They called Loderingo degli Andalò (a Ghibelline) and Catalano dei Malavolti (a Guelph) to share the office of podestà, hoping that the two could govern peacefully in Florence just as they had done in 1265 in Bologna.

The plaque pictured above reads: “1266. In this workshop, which belonged to the Arte della Calimala [the Guild of Cloth Finishers], Roderigo [sic] and Catalano, Jovial Friars from Bologna who were called here as peacemakers, held their meetings with the Council of the Thirty-Six [a sort of executive committee of the Capitano del Popolo]. They instituted many good laws for the benefit of the people and organized the guild corporations, which then contributed to the growth and defense of Florentine liberty.”

Dante placed both of them among the hypocrites of Hell:

   “Frati Godenti fummo, e bolognesi,
io Catalano, e costui Loderingo
nomati; e da tua terra insieme presi,
   come suole esser tolto un uom solingo,
per conservar sua pace; e fummo tali,
ch’ancor si pare intorno dal Gardingo.”
   Io cominciai “O frati, i vostri mali...”

(Inferno XXIII.103-09)

   “We were Jovial Friars and Bolognese.
I’m called Catalano and this is Loderingo,
and we were chosen together by your city,
   though the job is usually done by one man alone,
to keep the peace. And we were like those
who to this day are seen around the Gardingo.”
   I began: “O friars, the evil you did...”

Dante interrupts himself here, but we get the idea. Sadly, the pair of Jovial Friars proved to be remarkably inefficient, in some respects because Charles of Anjou, whose troops were assisted against the Emperor by a large contingent of Florentine cavalry, was anxious to remove all traces of his former enemies. When the Guelphs finally did take back the city, the Jovial Friars did next to nothing to prevent the destruction of two large city blocks where Ghibellines were in the majority. Throughout Dante’s childhood, rubble still littered the area, which is today known as Piazza della Signoria. Some of the Uberti properties (including a tower and some houses) were very near to the equestrian statue of Cosimo I.