According to local tradition, Sant'Emidio, patron
of Ascoli, was the first bishop of a city to die as a martyr
(in 303 or in 309), decapitated in the place where the little
Temple of Sant'Emidio Rosso rises.
A legend says that as a "cefaloforo" saint (beheaded
saint who carries his own head): once he was decapitated, he
gathered his amputated head and went to prodigiously bury it
in the grotto now included in the temple at Sant'Emidio alle
Grotte.
From the 11th-12th Centuries he became the "defensor civitatis" (protector
of the town) of the Autonomous Commune and of its territorial
committee. In spite of the late (between the 11th and 14th Centuries)
gathering of his biographical information (his hagiography was
apocryphally attributed to his disciple Valentino), that had
probably added facts and elements of a purely symbolic or political
meaning, the cult of Sant'Emidio is certainly very ancient (documented
by churches dedicated to him since the 8th Century), while the
translation of his relics from the catacomb of Sant'Emidio alla
Grotte in the crypt of the cathedral happened probably around
the year 1000 under the bishop Bernardo II. The biographical
events of Sant'Emidio are therefore collocated in a context
of early diffusion of Christianity, as is documented by the
archeological and archivist relics, as well as by a solid local
tradition. Particularly interesting is the stratification of
the hagiography of Sant'Emidio, brought about by taking elements
that are diversified by epoch, content and significance. If
the cult of Sant'Emidio has remote roots, direct news of his
feast day is available since the documents of the Autonomous
Commune, when the saint became the "Patron", that
is, protector of the highest values of religious and civic living.
In a society such as the Medieval one, extremely attentive to
the juridical regulations in social relationships and those
of the institutions, conceived according to a hierarchical pyramidal
organization, the term "patronus" ("pater familias" and "pater
gentis" are others) evoked the necessity, on the part of
the town's community, to have the protection of an authoritative
saint from the "celestial city" to whom they could
entrust themselves as "clients", but also as "friends" and "relations".
An evident tie linked Sant'Emidio, celestial and invisible bishop
(but near and present through his relics and the places of his
cult) and the visible bishop, his successor on the Ascolan canonic
council, willing to dialogue with the civil authorities and
with the people.
Starting in the Middle Ages, the patron saint feast day of Sant'Emidio
comprised the "Festa conveniens" of the entire city
and its territorial committee, having a fixed recurrence (5th
August, traditional date of the martyrdom of Sant'Emidio). The
feast was therefore a calendarial celebration, one of custom.
Analogously to that which took place in many other Communes
of Italy of the ancient regime, it was the maximum expression
of the autonomy of the city. In few cities the patron saint
feast day is felt as sincerely and deeply as it has been for
centuries as it is in Ascoli. To comprehend this fact, that
goes beyond simple religious devotion, it is necessary to make
a reference to the structure of the Medieval Commune. Announced
by town criers as the principal event of the year, from the
13th Century onwards, the feast of Sant'Emidio was articulated
according to precise and complex rites and ceremonies (that
were held especially or that were concluded in piazza Arringo),
with a series of events that were religious and civic in nature
(bear in mind the offering of the poles from the Castles and
the Lands of the territorial committee and of the candles from
the corporations) as well as economic (especially the great
market) and playful (such as the joust of the ring, and the
Quintana, the equestrian banner tournament and the foot race).
Besides the rites and ceremonies that were rigorously established, the feast
has always presented moments of great spontaneity, expression of a variegated
and composite society, not closed into itself («con solempnità de
jochi et de balli, alegramente», Statuti, St. Pop., Lib. II Rubr. 6). The
devotion to the patron saint, with the consent of the local church and the civil
authorities came to actually be the moment that marked the annual calendar, analogously
to the great liturgical feasts and to the fundamental phases of the rural cycle
and it flowed into the intersection of the two cultures, mystic Christianity
and chivalry. This final aspect is inserted completely into the feast, finding
its ideal moment in the games and the companies of the High Medieval quarters,
redefining in a communal key the historical and social value of Medieval chivalry,
and giving a sublimated expression in the custom of the city feast to factions
whose deeds during the rest of the year were often violent and tragic. |
