THE BEST "STORY BEHIND THE BEAUTY
AND HISTORY"
GUIDEBOOK WE'VE SEEN
Lindquist dedicates about 30 pages to the stories of 40
prominent Lucca families.
"The patricians of Lucca valued ancient roots even
more than wealth; the most prized status was to be declared an original
citizen," the author writes.
The face of Lucca, powerful silk-trading city-state with
trade partners all over Europe and suppliers in Asia, changed with a 1308 law
that banned most of the old guard from serving in government.
Although the rules changes down the road and wealthy
families ran the republic, the 1308 decree sent prominent families packing -- many
settling in Venice.
"It was the end of Lucca's monopoly on the silk
trade," the author observes.
Lindquist profiles the Fatinelli family as being most
famous for having been the employers of Santa Zita in the 1200s.
Zita became a servant for the Fatinellis at age 12 and
served them until she died at age 60.
The patron saint of maids and domestic servants, her
biographers have said the diminutive servant was unjustly despised,
overburdened, reviled, and often beaten by her employers and fellow servants
for her hard work and obvious goodness.
She eventually was put in charge of all affairs at the
house and is portrayed holding keys (that is why she is invoked when someone
loses keys.)
Her body was exhumed in 1580, discovered to be incorrupt but since become mummified.
St. Zita's body is on display for public veneration in
the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca.
As for the Fatinellis, they tried to make amends to their
miracle-performing maid by paying for her tomb and building a chapel around it.
The Wanderer's Guide to Lucca review
continues tomorrow
-- September 3
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