VOL.XCIV NO.1

The Catholic HistoricalBayer. StaatsbibliothekZ. Munchener!schriften L esesaalRevie

Editor

ROBERT TRISCOAssociate Editor

JACQUES GRES-GAYER GLENNOLSENAdvisory Editors

Table of Contents

JANUARY, 2008

ARTICLES:

The Assassin-Saint:The Life and Cult of Carinoof BaIsamo ..........••..........•.•.. _ . . . • . Donald S. Prudlo

Catholic Men in Support of the Women's SuffrageMovement in England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elaine Clark 22

From an Indefinite Homogeneity: Catholic Colleges inAntebellum America Pbilip Gleason 45

REVIEW ARTICLE:

More light on Vatican Council II fared Wicks, SJ 75

REVIEW ESSAYS:

Recent Works on the Early Modem History ofSpanish Muslims Pabio Lopez-Lazaro 102

The Germans and the Papal Penitentiary: RepertoriumPoenitentiariae Gennanicum Thomas ill Izbicki 108

BOOK REVIEWS •....................... _..................... 115

BRIEF NOTICES .... _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

NOfESAND COMMENTS •...•........... _ . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

PERIODICAL liTERATURE

ornsa BOOKS RECEIVED

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The Catholic HistoricalRevie-w

VOL.XCN JANUARY, 2008 NO.1

THE ASSASSIN-SAINT:THE LIFEAND CULT OF CARINO OF BALSAMO

BY

DONALD S. PRUDLO*

St. Peter Martyr was a thirteenth-century preacher and inquisitorwho achieved rapid canonization and attained a worldwidecult. Less well known was his assassin, Carino of Balsamo. Hired asa cutthroat thug to murder Peter of Verona, Carino escaped,repented, and lived out his life as a humble Dominican penitent.After his death, a local cult developed around him. Although thestory of the famous Inquisitor and the humble penitent were inex-tricably intertwined, their cults hardly ever intersected. This articlelays out Carino's biography and his cultic afterlife, and sheds lighton early Dominican practice, on the continuing importance of localcults in Italy, and on the Christian ideal of conversion.

The year 2003 was the 750th anniversary of the canonization ofPeter of Verona, the martyred Dominican inquisitor of Lombardy. I In1251 Pope Innocent IV appointed Peter, already a popular preacher, asinquisitor. After only nine months, a conspiracy of Cathar-Ieaning rural

"Dr. Prudlo is an assistant professor of history in ]acksonville State University,Alabama.

tFor Peter, see my book: Tbe Martyred Inquisitor: Tbe Life and Cult of Peter ofVerona (tI252) (Aldershot, 2008). For an older but still useful study, see: AntoineDondaine, O.P.,'Saint Pierre Martyr,"Arcbiuum Fratrum Praedicatorum 23 (1953),67-150. Peter's life is printed in a patchwork of texts in Vita Sfancti] Petri MartyrisOrdinis Praedicatorum, ed.AmbrogioTaegio, included in "De Petro Mart.Ord. Praedic.,·Acta Sanctorum [hereafter Acta SSj, 68 vols., ed. Daniel Papebroch et al. (Antwerp,1675-1940),April 29, pp. 679-719. Taegio draws his text largely from Thomas Agni's ca.1270 life of Peter.

2 TilE ASSASSIN·SAI:"IT

nobility and townspeople led to his murder. Peter was a popular figurein his adopted hometown of Milan and, largely due to that city'sefforts, his cause was the swiftest in the entire history of papal canon-ization. Peter has received much attention throughout history, bothfrom the Dominican Order and from the Church at large,which cameto know him best as the patron saint of the Inquisition. Mostly forgot-ten among those who honored the fallen Preacher was a humbleDominican lay penitent who died in the convent of Forli in 1293,roughly forty years after Peter. This saintly con versus was Carino ofBalsamo,the hired assassin who killed Peter ofVerona.

In spite of extensive recent scholarship on saints, inquisition, andheresy,Carino's life has been largely ignored." Partly because his storyis an appendage to the life and cult of Peter ofVerona,Carino meritedlittle attention. As scholarship about Peter himself trails off after the1950s, it is little wonder that studies about Carino are lacking. Recentwork can help to contextualize the life and work of him whomGiovanni da Colonna (the thirteenth-century prior of the DominicanRoman province) called one of "the bringers of death, the enemies ofjustice, the vessels of wickedness, (and) the ministers of Satan.'> Thisarticle will examine why the man later known as Blessed Carinoaroused such hatred. Its purpose is to trace the development of such a"minister of Satan"into a beatus.This will shed light on Peter's cult, onthe stability of locals cults in general, and on the character ofDominican life in the thirteenth century. This article will followCarino's story first, with interpretive issues addressed at the end.

Carino the Assassin

Those who held Cathar sympathies in the 1250s did not like Peterof Verona. Less than a week after his appointment by Innocent IV asinquisitor for all Lombardy,local nobles began preparing a plot to kill

2There is a short reference to him in: Sadoc M. Bertucci, o.P., "Carino da Balsame,"Bibliotbeca Sanctorum, 13 vols. (Rome: Istituto Giovanni XXIII nelIa PontificiaUniversitä Lateranense, 1961-1970), vol. 3, 788-89.An older work is ES. Faucher, "LeBienheureux Carino, meutrier de saint Pierre Martyr," Riuista dt scienze storicbe 3(1906),47-61,173-211.

3"[Nluncü mortis, hostes iusticie, vasa nequitie, ministri Sathanae," Letter of PriorGiovanni da Colonna to the brethren at Paris, regarding the canonization of Peter ofVerona, March 19,1253, in Anmfe Domintcatne: ou vies des saints, des bienbeureux;des martyrs, et des autres personnes illustres ou recommandables par leur piere defun et de l'autre sexe de l'Ordre des Freres-Precbeurs, distribuees suiuant lesfours del'annee (Lyon, 1909), vol.l1 [November], pp. 908-10.

BY DONALD S. PRUDLO 3

him." Peter had, after all,abandoned his Cathar-leaningVeronese familyand had joined the Dominicans. Targeted with Peter was RainerioSacconi, another Dominican inquisitor who was a recent high-levelconvert from Catharism. Perhaps Lombard Cathars were feeling gen-eral political and social pressure against them, but the targets of theplot indicate that the two turncoats were distasteful to those with het-erodox proclivities.The planners plotted effectively,and financial back-ers were not wanting. The money for the project largely came fromwell-to-do Milanese Cathar sympathizers: those who were in mostdanger from the nascent investigations of the dedicated new inquisi-tor.The plotter most directly involved in the operational aspect of theplan, named Manfredo, knew precisely where to go to find an individ-ual who could bring off the murder: Carina of Balsame.

Manfredo likely chose Carina for one of two reasons. Either hewanted a hired assassin who was too dull to recognize the danger ofthe mission, or too bloodthirsty and greedy to refuse it. It seems thatthe latter hypothesis more closely matches the facts, as Carina pausedupon hearing the target, reflecting upon the backlash that could comefrom such an action. Manfredo promised ready cash and enigmaticallyalluded to some kind of help after the deed was committed. Still thisdid not quiet Carina's fears. He demanded to be permitted to bringalong an accomplice,Alberto Porro of Lentate, who styled himself the"Magnificent.? Manfredo worried that too many people were becom-

¥[he details of the plot may be gathered from several places. The first is partialrecords of an investigation into Peter's death done by the Dominican inquisitors ofLombardy, which records the confessions of two middle-men, edited in j. S. Villa,"Processo per l'uccisione di S. Pietro martire," Arcbioio storico Lombardo 4 (1877),790-94. Well aware of the interpretive difficulties inherent in inquisitorial depositions,one should argue for the substantial veracity of these texts. First, they are spontaneousconfessions as to details of fact surrounding the murder and not accounts of heresy.Second, no penance was meted out to the two witnesses, as the Church was more inter-ested in the main plotter and his financial backers. Third, the two depositions concurwith each other in their details, and agree with points confirmed in other documents.Further corroborating evidence is located both in the contemporary letter edited in:Letter of Romeo de Attencia to Raymond of Peiiafort (1252), in "Documents sur SaintPierre Martyr; ed. Raymond Bairne, Lettre de Prere Roderio de Atencia a Saint-Raymondde Pennafort sur le Martyre de s. Pierre de Verone (Lyon, 1886), pp. 5-22, and also Inthe late and less trustworthy: Galvano Fiamma, O.P.,Cronica Ordinis Praedicatorum abAnno 1170 usque ad 1333, Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica, 29vols., ed. Benedict M. Reichert, O.P. (Rome, 1897), vol. 2, part 1, for the year 1253.

s"Post hoc autem, ego misi pro homine [qui) facere deberet hoc maleficium, scilicetpro Carino de Balsamo, et invitavi eum ad hoc faciendum pro tanta pecunia: et respon-dit, sic; sed dixit non auderet facere solus, et cum acclperet alium secum nominavit

4 TIlE A!>SASSlS-!i.y~T

ing involved-his own name might come into the open. In response,Carino promised that he would never betray Manfredo,en·n under thethreat of torture and death. Such a promise must have been small com-fort coming from a man willing to commit munter. Ulth payment forthe deed agreed upon, the two parted to take up their respective posi-tions for the execution of the plan.?

During the next several days Carino proved hirnself quick, Intelli-gent, and devious. Peter had returned to Corno.a town where he wasthe Dominican prior, after a visit to Milan for inquisitorial business.Hecame to celebrate Easter with his friars and planned to return to workin Milan a week later. During Easter week, the conspirators came withCarino and took up residence in a house ne..ar the Dominican priorywhere they could observe the movements of the friars. Carino himselfboldly went to the priory daily to investigate when Peter would leave,This evidence refutes the theory that Carino was well known at thetime of the crime, as his overt activity in the town of Corno and at theDominican priory aroused no apparent suspicion. It is probable thatCarino assumed the aspect of piety during his daily visits,"

Already Alberto "the Magnificent" was demonstrating his true char-acter. He protested how much he wanted to come to Corno, but hechose to remain at his home in the country "In view of the businessto be accomplished." This left Carino to do all of the scouting andplanning alone. Probably exasperated with the man he had chosen toaccompany him, Carino's attitude went from bad to worse when hewent to the convent on Easter Saturday, April 6, 1252. He found thatPeter had already departed for Milan with three companions.Evidently Dominicans rose earlier than cutthroats in those days.Nonplussed, Carino went to Manfredo to demand his horse so that hecould catch up to the early-rising Peter. This horrified Manfredo, whowas better at planning than at real action; not only was his name nowin circulation among unreliable men, but surely someone would rec-ognize his horse. He refused the assassin's request." Clearly having 3

A1bertinum Porrum de Lentate, qui dicitur magnificus." From Manfredo's conf~~ 10the inquisition, in Villa,"Processo," 792-93.

6/btd.

7"Contraximus autem ibi [Corno] morum tribus diebus et ibat Carinus omni d~ addomum fratrum Predicatorum ut quereret de recessu fratrts Petri .. " ibid., p. 793.

8"A1bertinusPorrus voluerat venire Cumas, sed rernansit in partibus suis, quia magisibi securus erat ad illud negotium peragendum," Ibid.

9"[Rjequiebat a me ipse Carinus equum meum, ut prosequeretur eum IPeter). et C'gO

nolui dare el, ne cognosceretur .. ."ibid.

BY DOSAlD S. PRl'DW 5

bad time of it, Carino was forced to hurry himself along on foot tomeet up with Alberte. Although Peter and his three companionscould have left well before Carino, they were only a little ahead, as theinquisitor decided to delay their departure to say Mass.'? Ironically,this pause enabled the tardy Carino to overtake Peter, meet up withAlberto, and prepare an ambush.

Corno lies twenty miles from Milan,and so it would take the greaterpart of the day to walk. Peter was then laboring under the grip of aquartan fever that made his journey slower and more difficult thanusual.About halfway, near the town of Meda, Peter separated himselfand another brother called Domenico from the two others, and theyate lunch in separate places. Eager to return quickly to Milan,Peter andDomenico did not wait for the other two brothers apparently linger-ing over their pranzo. JJ Instead they hurried back to the main road,which led them through the forest of Barlassina. It was there thatCarino had set up an ambush, in an area that both he andAlberto knewwell. In spite of the well-laid plan, Carino's bad luck continued.Alberto"the Magnificent"decided he was not quite up to the task and ran awayat top speed from the scene of the impending attack. Running towardMeda.Alberto met the other two tardy brothers, to whom, with copi-ous tears, he related the whole plot. 12

Carino now had to bring off the crime by himself. He lay in wait,clutching the cruel instrument of his trade: the fatcastrumP Withinmoments he was on Peter. According to the letters of Romeo deAttencia and Giovanni da Colonna, he struck five blows to Peter,whileManfredo related that Peter was struck twice on the head and once in

"'It was not common at that time for Dominicans to say daily Mass when away fromthe priory. "[Slubito venit in cor ejus ut ante missarn de Resurrectione et cujusdamfratris, qui secum ire debebat, pedibus provolutus, ut frequenter confiteri consueverat,solito moriosus et curatius est confessus, ut dictus frater retulit viva voce, et sic, missadevote celebrata, una cum tribus fratribus iter fecit •. : Letter of Romeo de Arteneta. pp.14-15. Romeo probably wanted to reassure bis readers as to the state of Peter's soul. Thiscontemporary source was discovered in 1886,and provides significant corroboration tothe inquisition testimony. It also allows us to trace the actions of Peter that day from eye-witnesses, as the inquisition records allow us to do for the plotters.

vtu«,pp. 15-16.u"[U)nus illorum penitentia ductus, horrens tanto seeleri consenure, ab altern rece-

dens versus predictum burgum [Meda) cursu celeri properabat et habeas obvios aliosduos fratres totum iniquum consilium cum Iacrymis propalavit," Ibid., p. 16.

l3This was a bill-hook, a long curved but rough blade with a handle, used in amachete-like fashion for cutting bushes. It was not a precise weapon, but one made foracute application of brute force.

6

the back. It Examination of Peter's remains showed injuries to thehead and to the front of the chest, not the back or the sides, nThe Bullof Canonization's hagiographical reconstruction of the crime betrayssentiments similar to those expressed at the beginning of the articleby Giovanni da Colonna, absolutizing the struggle into primalopposed dyads:

(A) wolf against a lamb, the savage one agaimt the meek, the impiousagainst the pious, the raging agaimt the gentle, the unbridled against therestrained, the profane against the sacred, consumed with insults, trained instruggle, eager for death; and anacklng that sacred head. he sated his swordon the blood of the just DWl. Dreadful wounds inflicted upon him, he didnot turn from the enemy, but immediately showed himself as an offering (toGod), (he expired, sending his spirit to the heavens] sustaining his patiencein the awful blows of the butcher; laid low in the place of his suffering, (he(ay dead).16

Aprobable reconstruction would go as follows. Carino obviously knewwhom to attack because he went right for Peter. Peter was probablyable to deflect the first blow from his head and onto his shoulder. Ifthe blow did strike his head, it was not the final crushing stroke thatappears on his skull today. After the first strike, Carino had to deal withDomenico, to whom he quickly gave four wounds that later provedfatal. Carino then finished Peter off with several hacks to the head. Thisreconstruction is probable because all the early records stated thatPeter spoke after the initial attack." It seems that while Carino dealt

HLetter of Romeo d~ Attencta, p. 17.Villa,"Proceseo," p. 793.·'Retazione de/la ricognizlone del sagro corpo del gtorluso san Pietro martire

dell'Ordine Predicatort in occasione de/la trasiazione deO·area (Rome: Ndb stampe-ria dl Girolomo Mainanli, 1736). MiIan,Archi\io di Stato, ~ISSan Pidro In Bartassina, BoxC,Cart. L. no. 7.

16"[I)nagnurn utlque lupus, ferus in mitem, in pium irnpius, furibundus In mansue-tum,ln rnodestum effraenus, profanus in sanctum. pracsumit ImuItum. exercet conatum,mortem intentat, sacrum illius caput impc1n1S, et satialO sanguine justi ense, dim inIpsum Impressis vulneribus, non drvertentem ab boste, sed exhibentem se prodnus hos-tiam (deo), et caesoris sustinentem in patientia lrUCn ictus, Idimisil, spiritu petentesuperna) in [ipso] loco passlonis (occbumJ (prmtralum, se in necem dc:reliqull)."Innocent IY, "Magois et Crebris," Bullarlum Ordinis Fmtrum Pmedicalorum. W. T.Ripoll (Rome: Ex Typographia Hieron}'mi Mainanli. 1759), vol. 1,229, with correctionsfrom ThomasAgnl, Vita Sanctl Petrl."urtirls,TouIouse: BibüochCque Munlcipale MS481,Col.36'. Bracketed passages are not in Agnl's manU5Cript.PalIIiages In parenthais are nocIn the bull.

17FromPeter's fractured skull, which is kept In SanfEtNorgio, neurolotdcal medicalanalysis suggests thaI no one who had Ixen 5lruck in lhc head the way ~er was couldhave uttered any words. See D. Fenlinando Santa~ino,.t Pietro da Jerona ",artire

BYDO~ S.PRL'DLO 7

with Domenico (as it is clear that the murderer assaulted him second),Peter uttered, "Ill manus Was, Domine, commendo spirüum meum,""Into your hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit: Although this factappears in many saints' lives, the bull recorded that Carino andDomenico independently asserted that Peter began to say the Apostles'Creed: unusual last words in the history of martyrdorn.!"

It is here that Carino's and Peter's stories begin to diverge: one des-tined for a long career as a publicly venerated saint and the other nowa wanted criminal and pursued by both Church and state. Perhapsstunned by what he had done, Carino failed to flee from the sceneimmediately.Seeing the crime from a distance, a farmer ran to help andapprehended Carino.'? How a farmer could subdue and capture anarmed man who had just brutally assaulted two Dominican friars is dif-ficult to understand. Probably Carino was expecting aid after the com-mission of the deed. Perhaps he thought the farmer was there to helphim escape." Otherwise it seems improbable that a simple farmercould accomplish such a feat, even with a "zeal for justice."

The farmer handed Carino over to the civil authorities in Milan,whoplaced him in the jail of the podestä, Pietro Avvocato. From decisionsmade by the podestä during the following days we know that Carinocooperated with the nascent investigation into Peter's death." He laidout the plan to the authorities, including implicating all of the main

domenicano OWan, 1952). This is why I propose that the first blow was in the chest, oronly grazed his head. In this way the unanimous tradition (based on the eyewitness evi-dence of Brother Domenico and Carino) of the earliest sources is preserved and agreeswith the physical evidence.

l8J.ener of Romeo de Attencta, p. 17 confirms that Peter began the "In manus tuas."BothThomasAgni (Ylta Standi} PPIrl Martyrls Ordinis Praedicatorum, 5.39,698) andJacopo da Varazze (Jacobus de Voragine), Legenda Aurea, ed. Giovanni Paolo Maggioni(Florence, 1998), p. 426, foUow the 1253 BuU of Canonization,Innocent Iv, "Magnis etCrebris," 228-30, and add that Peter then said the credor'Symbohim etiarn coepit dicereFidei, cujus nee in hoc articulo defuit esse praeco, prout ipse nephandus [Carino), qui afidelibus captus fuit, et quondam Frater Dominicus, qui comes illius erat, et ab ipso he-tore percussus, diebus aliquibus supervixit, postea retulerunt." The assertion of inde-pendent confumation in the earliest biography is telling evidence. Carino must havegiven this evidence while initial investigations were made betweenApril6 and 16,1252.

19"Quidam agricola a longe videos scelus audacter cucurrit ad locum et quodam zelojustitie in actorem sceleris inflammatus, ipsum cepit et ligavit, in suorum seelerumfunibus comprehensum ., ," Letter of Romeo de Anencia, p. 18.

alJ thank Dr. Russel Lemmons for suggesting this possibility.~IMilan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS A 227 inf.. fol. 65. ·[Sentence against Stefano

Confalonlert],"

8

plotters, contrary to his impassioned promises to ~lanfredo. In themeantime the charismatic Franciscan Archbishop Leo de Peregowhipped the city into a frenzy of devorion.About what happened nextthe sources are unanimous: on April 16, 1252, ten days after the murderof Peter, Carino "escaped- from the jail of the podt."St3.ZlThe city,thrown into an uproar at the news of Peter's death, now turned itsanger on the apparent ineptitude of the communal government. Leo'srousing sermons had not been in vain, Rumors began to spread thatwealthy Milanese Cathars had greased the palm of the podestä toobtain Carino's convenient escape. Though this conclusion appearedlogical at the time, other motives were also in play,The noble familiesof the city (from whom Archbishop Leo descended) desired a greatersay in the government of the commune. The escape of Carino gavethem just the ammunition they needed to derail the administration ofthe podestä-s-perhaps it was they who had spread the rumors or hadeven sprung Carino themseves, Romeo relates that Leo gathered thefaithful behind a banner displaying his archiepiscopal cross and ledthem to the palace of the podestä. The tone of the letter describes thescene best:

not finding the podestä, they killed his warhorse, and plundered his wholehouse and then going to the Palazzo ComunaJe where the podestä had fledwith his whole family, they shouted that they would bum the palace downwith everyone inside .••. Z~

In the midst of all of this, Carino the murderer disappeared into thecountryside.

As events in the medieval period go, the days leading up to thedeath of Peter of Verona are extraonlinarily weU attested by contem-porary sources. Carino's activity between April 3-16, 1252, is docu-mented in detail. Unfortunately, this is the only period of his more thansixty-year life that approaches solid documentary foundation. Only twoevents are certain in the final forty years of Carino's life-his conver-sion and his death.

22Lctter of Romeo de Attencia, pp. 20-21.Z3"[Eltnon invenientes Potestatem ejU5 dc:xtrrariwn occidentes, dcpredlti sunt

totam domum, et inde ad palatiwn Communitatis venientcs ubi Putcstas ~rat et totafamilia Potestatis, Palatiwn ad comburendum, cum omnibus. qui ibi adcrant populusacelamabat ..... ibid., pp. 21-22. The lettet is unfm~ in the nunU5Cript.

BY DOSAID S.PRUDW 9

Carino the Penitent

The lack of documentary evidence for the remainder of Carina's lifeshould give the historian pause. It was not until the sixteenth centurythat Serafino Razzi, the Dominican humanist and gyrovague, compileda life of CarinO.24 Not only did Serafino leave a short vita of Carina inhis book of Dominican saints; he also described in detail various placesassociated with Carina's cult, a powerful testimony in the absence ofearlier written records. Local historians of Farn also corroborate thehistorical memory of Carina in that city and record the continuationof a cult in his honor," A Dominican named Francesco Merenda com-piled a hagiographicallife from local sources, but it offered little newInformation.j" Although hard data about his life are difficult to find, thefact of public veneration is well founded, and this in turn gives valu-able clues to his biography.

After his suspicious escape from the jail of the compromisedpodestä, Carina knew that Lombardy would not be safe for him anymore. He was right in that assessment, as the area turned quicklyagainst any remaining suspected Cathars, and the Church launched anall-out offensive against them, resulting in the destruction of the townof Gattedo in 1254 (the home of most of the conspiratorsj.F Facedwith few choices or places where he could work, Carina turned south,traveling toward the Papal States. His exact route is unknown.Dominican hagiographers speculated in the past that Carino wanted totravel to Rome to seek a papal absolution." However, Peter was a well-known preacher in Emilia and Tuscany, and neither would be quick towelcome his murderer. In addition, he had also completed a very suc-cessful preaching campaign on the Adriatic coast in 1249.29 Peter's cult

Z4Serafino Razzi, Yile del santi; e beati dei Sacro Ordine de' Prati predicatori, cosibuomint, come äonne (Florence: Nella stamperia di Bartolomc:o Sermartelll, 1588), p.BO. For Razzl, see: Serafine Razzi, "Diario di viaggio di un ricercatore (1572)," ed.Guglielmo de Agresti, O.P."Uemorie Domenicane, Nuova Serie,2 (1971),33-53.

zSPaolo Bonoli,lstorie äeüa citta dt Forti (Forti: Cimatti e Saporettl, 1661), ad an.1253, p. BO, who tells of the yearly exposition of Carino's falchion and who stronglyargues for its authenticity, and Georgio Marchesi, Forolil>ii, cioitatts celeberrimae; com-pendium blstoricum (Leyden, Netherlands: Petrus vander Aa, 1723), who reports aboutthe tomb.

26Francc:sco M. Mc:renda, Vita dei beato Carino da Balsamo (Forli, 1938; repr.Balsamo, 19(5).

l7Malcolm Lambert, The Catbars (Oxford,I998), p. 124.-XII Novembre: Le B.Carino' in Annie Dominicaine, p. 433.-tiber Instrumentorum Communae Arminensis," in LTonini, Rimini nel secolo XIII

(Rirnini, 1862), pp. 528-32.

10

was extremely popular among the towns near the sea, especially inCesena.t" Other factors must have motivated Carino.such as getting asfar away from Milan as possible to an area with a somewhat similardialect (i.e., not north to Gennany or west to France).

Without friends or money Carino passed through Emilia-Romagna,At length he came to Forfi, There, perhaps months of physical andmental anguish manifested itself in a seemingly terminal sickness,leading him to turn to the hospital of San Sebastiano, later run by theDattuti Bianchi.I! The Dominicans, who had recently come to Forli,regularly visited the hospital and resided nearby, When the prior ofthe local Preachers came to see the sick men, Carino, fearful of death,was struck with remorse and made a full confession and receivedabsolution.V The sincerity of the conversion apparently convincedthe prior. He also seemed to sense an opportunity because he per-mitted Carino to align himself with the Dominican convent in Forti asa penitent, after the sick man made a full and surprising recovery inthe hospital.33 Not only did the prior pennit the application, but alsothe conventual chapter approved the affiliation, and the prior of theprovince later confirmed it.3t The order's action is quite astoundingon the surface. Instead of handing Carino over for prosecution,Dominicans at almost every level of government accepted his affilia-tion with the order.This wann reception was not unusual in the mid-thirteenth century. Rainerio Sacconi was a leader of the Cathars whohad converted and became a Dominican friar (indeed, it was he who

3OAugustoVasina,/I medioero, Stor/a d/ Cesena (seroI/ 17-XIJJ, ed, Biagio Dr:lgiMaraldl (Rirninl, 1983), pp. 272-75.ln addition. man}' miracles in Peter's IugiOJUölphyan:located in Cesena.

'IBonoll./storle, p. SO.,2A late hagiographical embellishment n:cords that the: prior ~-as none other tlun

the brother of Peter of Verona! 1bis 5CftI15 highly unlikely as there is nc:vc:r any mentionin any of Peter's records of family members converting ~'ith him from Catharism, muchless becoming Dominicans themselves, Indc:c:d,all mention of Peter's family ceases themoment he was received into the order In Bologna In 1221. E P.c.·u vendetta delMartin:,"Memor/e Domenlcane 26 (1909), p. 191 (Unfonwutely many anlcles In tlutold journal only give the author's initials).·XII lIiO\'e1J1bn:: Le: 8. Canno" In AnnhDomtnicaine, p. 434.

3:11tis interesting to note that a 1251 law enjoined priors who accepred new laybrothers to inform their provincial superiors, though it does not mention lay penitents.One wonders how the Dominican hierarchy reacted to the: new affiliation (if the Foroprior even bothered with the new law). Uilliam A. Hinnc:bu5ch. O.P., Tbe History of theDominican Order,2 vols. (New York, 1%5), vol. I, pp. 288-89.

34G.R. Galbraith, The Constitution of the Dominican Order: 1216-1360 (NewYortc,1925),p.115.

BY OOSAlD S_PRUDLO 11

was placed in charge of the murder trial following Peter's death). Oneconspirator, Daniele da Giussano, had sought refuge in Sant'Eustorgioafter the crime, and he too became a Dominican friar and inquisitor.Such stories communicate much about Dominican life at the time,and indeed about the practices of the early inquisition itself. Insteadof the bloodthirsty institution pictured in confessional history, animage that recent historians are successfully challenging, there was apractical preference for conversion in the early medieval inquisition.Although Carino's conversion story was recorded very late, thereseems little reason to doubt it. It fits with the picture of Carino livinga very long life as a COIll'erSUS, and having what would have to be astrong conversion expertence.t?

The friars of Forli received Carino as a penitent probably around thetime that his victim was canonized in 1253. He spent approximatelythe next forty years living the life of a penitent conversus, serving theDominicans in the convent and taking care of anything that needed tobe done. This usually included the humble tasks not done by the cler-ics, such as gardening. We do know that the convent at Forli wasacknowledged for its strict observance and for its poverty.'" Theseyears are totally absent in the historical record-lost in the silence ofthe cloister, only small traces are left. Besides Carino's reputation forobedience and humility there remains a bill-hook,the instrument usedby Carino when he worked outside tending gardens or harvestlng.FWhether it is the same bill-hook or falcastrum that he used to murder

3~Fromthe first inscription on Carino's tomb that calls him "conoersi Comensis,"wecan tell that Carino was not formally a Dominican Iaybrother, but rather an affiliated laypenitent. I thank Augustine Thompson, O.P., for pointing this out. little work has beendone on lay penitents in the thirteenth-century Friars Preachers. What work has beendone is usually about women; see: Maiju LehmijokHiamer,"Writing Religious Rules as anInteractive Process: Dominican Penitent Women and the Making of their Regula;Speculum 79.3 QuI}'2(04).660-87. Until a complete study of the Dominican penitentsof the thirteenth century appears, the standard reference will be: Augustine Thompson,Cities 0/ God: Tbe Religion 0/ tbe Italian Communes, 1125-1325 (State College, PA,2(05), pp. 96-140. For the office and role of lay brothers in the order see: Hinnebusch,Tbe History 0/ tbe Dominican Order, vol. I, pp. 288-90, and: P.E MuJhem, The EarlyDominican Laybrotbes; Ph.D. dissertation, Uruverstte Laval, Quebec, 1940.

36lt produced three Dominican beati within 100 years: Carino,]acopo SaJomoni (d.1314), and Marcolino Ammani (d. 1397), a considerable number for such a smaJJ and rel-atively unimportant convent.

,7'IV1eduto iJ coltello con cui tu ferito iJ gJorioso san Pietro martire, portato a dettoconvento [FoOl) daJJooccisore Carino e con venerazione in drappo conservato in sagres-tia... ' Serafmo Razzi, 'Diario di viaggio di un ricercatore (1572)," lUemorle Domenicane,Nuova Serie,2 (1971),89.

12

Peter is unknown but relatively unlikely.~ Tradition recorded thatCarino possessed an attraction for contemplation, a love for solitude,and experienced periods of silent ecstasy, although these are commontopot for saints affiliated with religious houses in the period. One eventsignificant for Carino occurred in 1269, when jacopo Salornonl, anobleman tired of Dominican life in Venice, transferred to the Forficonvent, where he remained until his death in I31·t~Jacopo wasrenowned as a spiritual counselor, and the hagiographlcal tradition(that admittedly likes to draw attention to relationships betweensaints) asserts that Carino was placed under jacopo's direction. In anycase it is certain that the two men knew each other and lived thecommon life for more than twenty years.

Beginnings of Cult

Hagiographers generally accepted 1293 as the year of Carino'sdeath.t" No agreement exists as to the exact date. Some propose April7, others August 3, and still others November 12.April 7 seems leastlikely, as it was the day after Peter's death on April 6-the connectionappears too convenient. Dominicans accepted November 12 asCarino's unofficial feast, but that betrays no historical clue other thansanctioned practice ...l Hagiographicallegend recalls that Carino madea general confession and, mindful of the gravity of his youthful crime,requested burial in the field reserved (or criminals, instead of thepriory's cemetery. Respecting his wishes, the Dominicans buried theirhumble penitent in unconsecrated ground. The people of Forfi would

3HIhave revised the opinion expressed In my book on lTter, and comidcr ttut thesword kept In Seveso may plausibly be kkntifacd with the munJer weapon, It is unlike!)'that Carino would have been able to reacquire the munJcr w~pon after his incarcera-tion and escape.

30Jpor Blessed Jacopo (GiacomoJ sec: Caccclia Dnmond, Blessed James Satomoni:Patron of Cancer Patients; Apostle of theAffl/cted ~on. 1'Tl I); P. D. M., Una gloriaDomen/cana dt Venez/a, t/ B. Giacomo Solomonl (Venice,1939); R. 8;ag;lllonl,L'apostolo dt ForIl, oss/a t/ Realo G/acomo da l""ma del /TrIff Pred/calorl(Forll,1914); and T. Nediani, "Ltempi e la vita del B.Giacomo SaIomonI del Predicatori,Patrizlo veneto (1235-1314)," Memorle Domenicane, 31 (1914),45-50.

~In this they are joined by the early modem historians of Forti itliClf, who reconJ theyear 1293, notably Marchesi, Foro//loI/, ad an. 1293. Odorico Rinaldl, a continuator ofCardinal Baronius, casts a dissenting vote when he citn the fC2I" 1299 as Carioo's deathin; Odorico Rinaldi, Annates eccles/oslld ab anno quo dl!ftnit Card. Can. Baron/usM.C.XCVIILusque ad annum M.D.XXXW,IOYOb.<Rome,l646-m.vol.I,adan.I299.As Marches! was writing local history, and as the hagiognphical looit!on also adopts1293,It seems the most likely possibility.

41·XII Novembre: Le B.Carino" in An"ee Dominicatne, p. 423.

BY OOXUD S. PRL'DW 13

not stand for this. Upon hearing about Carino's place of interment thetown bought the criminals' cemetery and deeded it to the Dominicancommunity.V One could readily ask how the citizens had come toknow Carino. lay penitents did not have the intense duties of clericswhen it came to solemn worship. They said their Paters and Aveswhile the friars had to say the complete Divine Office in common.Thisleft them free to complete their tasks,which often were outside and incloser contact with people outside the convent. Sometimes lay peni-tents did not even live within the community itself, but rather madetheir living among the people of the local town. To judge by theiractions after his death, Carino made a favorable impression on hisfellow citizens.

Although no record remains of any miracles wrought by Carino,the Dominicans removed his body from the criminals' cemetery andplaced it in their sacrtsry." This was not enough for the people whohad purchased the cemetery for the Dominicans. They reportedlypetitioned that Carino be placed in a location accessible to thepeople. So, the Dominicans removed his body from the sacristy andplaced it in a special chapel in the priory's church. During the courseof the fourteenth century, the Dominicans placed Blessed jacopoSalomoni in the same tomb originally constructed for Carino. later, in1397, Blessed Marcolino Amanni died and was laid to rest on top ofCarino's tomb. In the middle of the fifteenth century the Bishop ofRecanati, Niccolö Astis of Forli, decided to elevate the relics of BI.Marcolino, and placed them in the same sepulcher with Carino.44Finally the Forli "trinity" was complete.

Evidence for Carino's cult outside of Forfi is scarce, but his icono-graphical depiction was common. Very many artists (Fra Angelico,Titian, and Bellini,to name a few) depicted Carino not as the humblepenitent but as the brutal peasant in the act of murdering Peter ofVerona.Carino hardly merited any remembrance in the iconographical

42'Jbe(alas anonymous) commentator on the 1934 translation of Carino's relics statesthat authors 'wonhy of trust" claimed that the deed that presented the Dominican com-munity with the cemetery was conserved in the archives of Foro until the revolutionaryperiod of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately the old Memorie Domenicane lacksboth an author's name or citations to documents consulted, and 50 tracing the story isnext to impossible."La traslazione delle Reüquie del B. Carino; loIemorie Domenicane52 (934),p.138.

4~mo Rani, in the sixteenth century, declared that the time following Carino'sdeath was "shining with miracles; but he gives no examples.

"'XII Novembre: Le B.Carino' in Annk Dominicaine, 439.

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tradition as saint, but is well recorded as sinner, In only one work W:tS

there any acknowledgment of Carino's conversion, but it is a signifI-cant one. A woodcarving done in 1505 for the church ofSant'Eustorgio in Milan (the church that houses Peter's tomb) depictsthirty-three Dominican saints, One of those bears the Inscription"Beatus Acerimus de Balsamo Petricida....., Carino thus merited atleast a little recognition in Peter's own church,

It stood thus for over 250 years, with the three saints side by side inthe Forll Dominican chapel.ln 1658 the Dominicans considered thatthey ought to do something more for their trio of beati,This decisionalso may have come from the desire of the Fiorini family to patronizethe church in Forfi, as the Dominicans entrusted the financing of theproject to them,46 During the process they had to remove the bodiesto a safe place so that construction could commence, This presentedthe opportunity for an official -recognition· of the relics.While prepar-ing to open the old tomb and move the altar, the workers discovereda painting of the three Dominicans, with Carino in the middle. Underhis picture was the inscription "Here lies the body of Blessed Carino,penitent of Como."~7When the tomb was opened the body of BlessedMarcolino was on top, In another chamber underneath were the bonesof Carino, with a parchment affixed that unfortunately proved impos-sible to read. Upon' recognition of the relics as Carino's, theDominicans remterred the bones in a wooden box closed with theepiscopal seal, and placed them with the remains of BlessedMarcolino.

The construction of the chapel took five years, and was completedin 1664. In that year the Dominicans solemnly translated the bones andre interred them in new marble sarcophagi, with Carino retaining histraditional and honored position in the center of the two other saints.Carved above the tomb is the odd image of BI.Carino holding the headof Peter of Verona, wounded by Carino's blade. On the tomb was theinscription, more verbose than the last:

4'"B1essedAcerimus of BaIsamo, Killer of Pner: Ckarly this 15the: same person, inspite of the corrupted name. Michele eam, DeIJa cblna dl San,'EUSlorglo In AI/lanoillustrazione stortco-monumentate-epigrafica ~Iibn, 1841).p.I 00.

46"Forthe glory of God and of his BIessed5, for the: sake of the piety of the town andof the whole region towards the holy remains: Pamis5ion 0( the Dominican Friars togive the right of patronage in the new chapel to the FIOrinI funily. in "xn Novembre: LeB. Carino" in Annee Domintcaine, p. 439.

47"Hicrequiescit corpus Beati Carini conYnSi Comcnsis,"lbld., p. 440.

BY DOSAlD S. PRL'DW 15

Body of the beloved of God Carino of BalsarnoDominican conversusHe rests and shall rest for eternitywithin the altar dedicated to Blessed MarcolinoThe year of Salvation 1664.48

Although it is clear that Bl.l\Iarcolino was the primary object of devo-tion, in no way was Carino marginalized. Unfortunately, however, theprediction of eternal rest within the tomb would not come to pass.

Carino's Cult in the Modern Period

In the nineteenth century the Dominican order evinced a newinterest in the confirmation of its immemorial cults.PThls was mostlydue to a resurgence of historical interest at that time, as well as thereconstitution of Dominican life and identity after the FrenchRevolution and Napoleon, The first step on this course was the move-ment to have Carino's cult recognized. This cause began in Forti in1822, though the death of Pius VII interrupted the process. Furtherpolitical and military developments militated against the progress ofthe cause. So difficult was the situation that on September 19,1879, theDominican convent in Forti was expropriated by the Italian govern-ment, which expelled the friars. Before the seizure of the property theDominicans made sure to secure their most precious possessions: theremains of their three saints. Solemnly the Dominicans transportedthem to the cathedral of Forti, where they again lay side by side.

It appeared that interest in Carino was spreading beyond Forti to thelarger Dominican order.The General Chapter of 1910 published an offi-cial list of causes submitted to the Sacred Congregation of Rites askingfor either solemn beatification or for confirmation of cult. It listedCarino last among twelve candidates for confirmatlon.t" It does not

-Corpus Deo earl Carini a Balsamo/ Dominicani ConversV Intus in altari BeatoMarcolino dicato/ Requiescit requiescetque in aevum./ Anno salutis 1664," ibid.Noticethe play on Carino's name.

~pe Benedict XIV described this method as EquipolJent Canonization, or theconfirmation of a public cult that already exists and is immemorial, without the need forthe process of formal canonization, and without the need to cite the presence of mira-cles. Benedict XIv, "De Servorum Dei Beatificationc et Beatorum Canonizatione," inOpera Omnia, (Prati. 1839-47). vol. 2, pp. 49-120.

"'"Per la g1orificazione della famiglia di S. Domenico," !tIemorle Domenicane, 28(1911),38.

16

appear that the Congregation took any further action, nor is there anyrecord of Carino's being resubmitted by the Dominicans for considera-tion." In any case the order had developed a Mass and Office for him,and it held them in readiness should conärmauon be forthcomlng.t!

The most remarkable recent cultic acth'ity in honor of ßIcs.'iCdCarino took place on April 28, 1934.H On that day the Dominicanssolemnly transferred Carino's head from Forfi to his hometown ofCiniseUo Balsamo. On that occasion the Archbishop of Milan,ldclfonsoSchuster (himself the object of a current beatification process), sent aletter to the citizens of Balsamo. In it he compared Carino to Paul andMary Magdalene. Repenting from his errors, he finally expiated his sinsand took bis place with himwhom he had persecuted. Finally, Schusterpointed to the Good Thief as the best example of the hopefulness oneshould attach to even the most hardened crimlnal.t' The account ofthe actual translation is a rather prosaic narration of ererytbing thathappened on the journey from Forfi to Balsame. The Dominicansorganized the translation like a pilgrimage, with people from Bologna,Balsamo, Milan, and Forfi participating. First they took Carino's headfrom the cathedral to the convent of SI.Dominie in Bologna, where itwas placed upon the tomb of the founder of the Dominicans, and theyexposed it for the veneration of the faithful for a whole day.The nextday the pilgrims celebrated a solemn high Mass in the Basilica of St.Dominic in the Arnbrosian rite-the rite with which Carino wouldhave been familiar from his youth in the Milanese diocese. They thengave the reliquary to the citizens of Balsame who, with their parishpriest, returned by train to Balsamo.There the political leaders of thesuburban town met them.The city received its son ·with indescribableenthusiasm, coming with torches, candles and banners; evincing adecidedly different attitude to the one Carino had fled from nearly 600years before.s5 They solemnly venerated and retained his head in theChurch of San Martino, the parish church of the town, where it

'1 I have a letter from the Congregation for the: CaU5C5 of Saints that states that It hasno record that the cult of Carina of 8abamo .-as ever approved formally.

'2p' EC.,"La vendetta del martire," A/t'morle Domentcane, 26 (1909),193,n. 2.HApril 28 became a day of devotion to Carino in the lown of 8abamo. It 15the day

before Peter ofYerona's feast in the pre·l%9 aIcndar.''The short letter is reprinted in full in:"La tra5Iazione deUc reliquie del B. Carino;

Memorle Domenicane 52 (1934),138-39.,s"L'ingresso in Balsamo avenne alle ore 23 Itrain schedules in Italy an be Incon-

venient, even for saints) tra un indescri\ibile entusiasmo di populo, venuto con flaccole,cerl e bandiere ad Incontrare ilBeato; ibid., p. 140.

BY OONAI.D S. PRUDLO 17

remains today. It was in this manner that Carino, who had fled fromLombardy as a murderer, finally returned to the scene of the crime.56

Questions about the life and Cult

In retelling the story of Carino's life several questions arise.The firstis whether Carino was actually a Cathar. This question must beanswered in the context of contemporary debates about the nature ofCatharism itself in thirteenth-century Italy.Many authors have con-tended that Catharism was largely a myth, a construction of the sys-tematizing Dominican inquisitors.57 Others have pointed out theextreme fluidity of identities in medieval Italy.58Thesetwo approachesquestion the elaborate reconstructions of Cathar hierarchies and sectsfavored by Dominican historians of the middle of the twentieth cen-tury.59Cathar hearers (Cathar sympathizers who were not perfects)found many ways to conventionalize their religion so that they couldlive side-by-sidewith Catholrcs/" Current scholarship also suggests therelative paucity of actual Cathars,maintaining that there were perhapsas few as 750 avowed heretics (i.e., perfects) in northern Italy for theperiod from 1260 to 1308, although this is after the crackdown onCathars that happened after Peter's death."

56()n November 4, 1964, the parish of Balsame, with the approval of theCongregation of Rites, acquired the rest of Carino's remains and interred them in a placeof honor in the crypt of the Chiesa Nuova, where they rest today. Other relics of Carinoare in the Cathedral of Foro, in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, and in theSeminary of San Pietro Martire in Seveso. Merenda, Vila del beato Carino, pp. 31-32.

5":"Mart Pegg has recently argued that characterizations of Cathar belief are largelyidealized and inteUectualized; see his -On Cathars, A1bigenses and Good Men ofUnguedoc,"journa/ of ~/edietlQl History, 27:2 (2001), 181-95.

'IIINotablyCarol Lansing, Pouer and Purity: Tbe Catbar Heresy In Medieval Italy(Oxford, 1998), p. 82.

WSee Antotne Dondaine, O.P.,-u hierarchie Cathare en Italie," Arcbioum FratrumPraedicatorum, 19 (1949),280-312, and followed by Lambert, The Catbars. Much oftheir data was taken from the Summa of the ex-Cathar inquisitor Rainerio Sacconi inAntoine Dondaine, "Le Manual de I'Inquisiteun" Arebitrum Fratrum Praedicatorum, 27(1947),85-194. Sacconi's Summa was translated in Evans and Wakefield, Heresies of theHigh Middle Ages, pp. 329-45.

6OJ..ansing.fbu~ and Purity, p. 83.lndeed more pervasive than outright heresy at thetime were different levels of indifference to the Church in general and to piety (espe-cially in Italy); see Alexander Murray, "Piety and Impiety in Thirteenth-Century Italy;Studies In Church His/ory,S (1972),83-106.

61Gabriele Zanella, -MaJessere ereticale in valle padana (1260-1308); in GabrieleZaneUa, Hereticalia: Temi e discussioni (Spoleto: Centro di studi sull'altn medioevo,1995), p. 45.

18

In spite of this evidence, it still seems c1C2rthat there was a Catharpresence in northern Italy.It expressed strength in the first half of thethirteenth century; it had its power bases (notably nonh of ~liIan andaround Verona), and it had nun)' people who, while not perfectedheretics, were in various degrees sympathetic with them for variousreasons.The question remains whether C:uino was a heretical sympa-thizer.Almost all the contemporary documents reacting to the murderdeclare that he was a heretic, although they redly have no direct evi-dence for this contention. Thomas Agni calls him -a certain one of thebelievers of the heretics:'6l Concerning heresy, however, hagiographycasts a wide net. Later sources, especially in light of Carino's conver-sion, are less sure. Some evidence suggests he was not a sympathizer.He was not from Giussano, the hometown of the avowed Cathar sym-pathizers.The plotters knew this, and selected an outsider, whom theyvery much wanted to remain in the dark about the details of the plan.Rather than welcoming the prospect of killing an inquisitor, Carino feltotherwise because of the target, The killer seemed more interested inthe money and in getting his friend to help him than in any personalanimus against Peter. No reference exists anywhere in Carino's cult toa conversion from Catharism, but rather only a repentance of his gravesin.63 For these reasons I am inclined to place Carino among the impi-ous rather than the heretical, and to give credit to the plotters forhiring the "best" man to do the work at hand.

A further question was mentioned in passing above. When Carinofell ill and made his confession in the hospital in Forfi, very latehagiography claimed that it was Peter's brother who was the prior.The simplest explanation is that "brother" refers to a fellowDominican: a brother in religion.M Even if one takes the late detail lit-eraUy, however, no reference exists in Peter's hagiography of hishaving a brother, much less one who convened and became aDominican prior (conveniently at Forfi).Such a vignette serves reallya literary purpose-to dramatize the conversion of Carino and the for-giveness possible to a hardened sinner. If it was Peter's brother whoforgave Carino personally, the effect of the conversion would be thatmuch more sensational. Unfortunately, not a whit of historical evi-

6l"Quldam de Ipsorum hereticorum cn:dc:ntibm.-1boma.s Agni, l1ta Sanctl I\>trl,Toulouse: Blbltotheque Munidpale MS 481, rol. 36".

630n the contrary, Peter's hagiography is littered ",ilh rdaenccs 10 his herellcalupbringing.

641 thank the editor of The Catbolic HistvrkaJ Rer1ew, Ncbon H.Minnich, ror n:caJJ.Ing Ockham's razor 10 me on this point.

BY OOSAID S. PRUDl.O 19

dence attests to the literal interpretation, and it sounds much likehagiographical embellishment.

Related to this question is the often repeated contention thatCarino's name was actually Pietro, an assertion that is common in thelate nineteenth- and early twentieth-century hagiography. ClearlyCarino is a diminutive of Caro, which itself was a common name at thetime. The earliest document naming him, the murder inquiry of 1252,records that Manfredo called him Cartno. The name Carino alsoappears on his tomb, and references to Pietro come only centurieslater. Two reasons may explain why one finds the different name. Thefirst could be a casual mistake that associated Pietro da Verona with"Pietro" da Balsamo.The second is that perhaps Carino took the namePietro when he entered the penitential life, and the sobriquet stuck. Inany case, Caro was probably his real name.

One may certainly ask why the Church never canonized Carino.First, by this period the papacy had largely succeeded in reserving can-onization of saints for the whole Church to itself.65This resulted fromboth the growing awareness of the scope of papal infallibility and theemployment of canonization for political purposes. Second, the cost ofprosecuting a successful cause at the papal court was prohibitive, andcould take many years. Further, in response to this situation, manyplaces went on "creating" saints in the way that they had always doneso, by popular acclamation and episcopal translation. Forfi clearlyhailed Carino as a local saint, but no other town accorded him venera-tion. This local popularity secured him a lasting place in the city, buteffectively precluded his cult from spreading further. Neither time normoney was available to promote Carino to a wider audience; the citywas quite content to keep Carino to itself. In any case, the Church rec-ognized the validity of these local "canonizations," and this served asthe primary means of officially confirming the cults of many of thesemen and women over the last two hundred years. Carino, althoughproposed for the honor, never received official confirrnation.

One final question is perhaps the most perplexing. In Carino, thepromoters of Peter's cult could have hit gold. Here was the murdererof their saint, converted and doing penance for forty years, then dying

61For this process. see Andre Vauchez, Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages,(Cambridge, 1997), pp. 22-84; also Eric Kemp, Canonization and Authority in theIri>stern Church (London, 1948), and Stephen Kuttner, "La Reserve papale du droit decanonisation," Revue d'bistoire de droit francais et etranger, 17 (1938), 172-228.

20

in the odor of sanctity himself. Uby was Carino's tale not trumpetedfrom the rooftops by Peter's cultic partisms?"" Several reasons presentthemselves. The majority of the hagiographical and biographical mate-rials that preachers and writers drew upon to tell Peter's story werecomplete by the year 1270. Although such contemporary history isextremely useful in telling Peter's story. it tells us nothing aboutCarino, who was then a simple lay penitent in an out-of-the-wayDominican convent. Because preachers rehed on the central hagio-graphical texts. notably Jacopo w \'aruze's Go/tie" Lege"d, Carino'sstory never gained a widespread hearing, Further, Carino's deathoccurred during a period when Peter's cult 'was well establishedwithin its own zones of devotion. The -canon: as it were. of officialsources about Peter's life was closed. New information could raisedoubts of authenticity (notice the interminable debates over Francis'stigmata), Not until the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centurieswould Peter's cult change and expand, leading to his being namedpatron of the Inquisition." Further; Carino's cult was only active inForli, and nothing among Peter's hagiography records any cultic activ-ity there; the two cults simply and somewhat astonishingly never over-lapped, For all practical purposes. when speaking of Peter in an, liter-ature, or hagiography, Carino is omnipresent.However; it is not Carinothe saint, but rather Carino the -minister of Satan,"

Conclusion

The story of Carino is a classic topos in the history of Christianhagiography: the conversion of the hardened sinner and his transitioninto a saint, Fleeing from the almost certain application of the deathpenalty, Carino instead convened and lived the life of a holy lay peni-tent.The small scale of the cult belies the strength of the narrative.Thecities of Italy abounded with stories like that of Carino in the Middle

6&fhe nineteenth- and twentieth<nltury mgjogr.lphy does make this connection,but far too late to do either Prter'. or Carina's cullS any ~bIC good. One ctever(but late) hagiographical accretion has 10 do with the Icgmd 0( ~cr writing the won!credo with his blood at his manynJom. Father Mcrcnda suggntcd tml the 'credo" wasactually Peter's acrostic prophecy me2ßing"Carinus Rc:ligiosus Eril Dominicani 0nIinis:creative hagiography indeed! Mcrcnda, lila IkI beato Carina, p, 3,

671tis perhaps why at this time (ca. 15(5) Carina was included in the woodcarvingat Sant'Eustorgio, the only real evidence 0( cultic owntap, Interestingly. Carina's cultexperienced a (smaller) parallel upsurge while ~cr was becoming more popular; bow-ever, their cults still never quite connected. My thanks to Augmtinc Thompson, O.P.. forpointing this out,

BY OONAID S. PRIJDW 21

Ages,accounts of local sanctity that sometimes never made it beyondthe boundaries of the city itself. Devotion to Carino's cult demon-strates how a small cult managed to survive in different periods. Itwasonly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the DominicanOrder reawakened its memories of Carino and carefully orchestrated amodest comeback, planting the cult in a place where it never seems tohave been before-in Carino's hometown of Balsamo. Carino reststhere today in the parish church, the memories of April 6, 1252, notlost, but transformed. In terms of the hagiographical language of mar-tyrdom, defeat turns to victory.As a mute testimony, in the city thatgave birth to the brutal murderer today there exists a small and out-of-the-way street in the center of town called Via Beato Carino, a modesttestimony to a small but not unsuccessful cult.