L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano O f a l l t h e p r o v i n c e s o f Tuscany, Pis- t o i a i s , p e r - haps, the one we are less familiar with. Yet, it was Italy's Capital of Cul- ture only a handful of years ago (it was 2017), and it has one of the best-preserved and maintained medieval town centers in the country. But Pistoia finds its roots further back than the Middle Ages if it's true that Sal- lustius mentioned it when d i s c u s s i n g t h e d e a t h o f C a t i l i n a , i n 6 2 B C . T h e Romans called it Pistoria o r O p p i d u m P i s t o r i e n s e , a c c o r d i n g t o A m m i a n u s Marcellinus, but they weren't the first to settle in the area, which was inhabited by the Etruscans and also by the Ligurians. In fact, this is a relatively recent discovery, because it was only after the finding, in 1972, of an Etr- uscan funerary stone dating between the 6th and the 5th century BC, that the pres- e n c e o f t h e m y s t e r i o u s , ancient inhabitants of Tus- cany in the area was con- firmed. I t s n a m e , v e r y l i k e l y , comes from the Latin pis- tor, baker, even though some linguists believe its origin may be Etruscan or Ligurian. In 406 AD, Pistoia was razed to the ground by the Ostrogoths but, just like the legendary phoenix, it was born again from its ashes and enjoyed a true renais- sance under the Lombards in the 8th century AD: the ves- tiges of their presence are still visible in the urban lay- out of the town. And just like that, in the blink of an eye, we are in the Middle Ages, the period of Pistoia's true blossoming. In the title above, I wrote that P i s t o i a w a s t h e f i r s t comune in Italy, but to be truthful, that isn't entirely correct: in fact, the first free commune, or libero comune, w a s t h e s m a l l v i l l a g e of Lazise, on Lake Garda, w h i c h r e q u e s t e d – a n d obtained – significant terri- torial and financial autono- my from the Holy Roman Empire in 983 AD. M i n d , t h o u g h , P i s t o i a became a libero comune only a century later, in 1105. S o w h y t h e c l i c k b a i t - y title, you ask? Well, because the very first public docu- m e n t r e l a t e d t o a l i b e r o comune, in other words, the first written attestation of the functions and duties of this seminal social, economic a n d c u l t u r a l i n s t i t u t i o n , comes from Pistoia. The Statuto dei Consoli del Comune di Pistoia (the Consuls of the Commune of Pistoia's Statute), written in 1117, is an early version of what we would today call a judiciary statute, and the oldest set of laws related to a n I t a l i a n c o m m u n e s t i l l e x t a n t . A f t e r P i s t o i a , other comuni produced simi- lar documents, of which we still have copies, in primis Genoa (1243) and Pisa (1162- 1164). These were the early decades of the rise to power of the comuni, so many oth- e r s l i k e l y p e n n e d s i m i l a r statutes, even though we no longer have copies of them. S o , w e c a n s a y t h a t , i f Pistoia is not the first libero comune of Italy, it is certain- ly the first to have given itself a w r i t t e n s e t o f l a w s . The Statuto is actually very important from a historical a n d l e g a l p o i n t o f v i e w because it is the first exam- ple we have in our country of a set of rules a community implemented to regulate its relationships with external authorities and to organize its internal government. In the Statute there were laws a b o u t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between religious and tem- poral authorities, about elec- tions and the duties of the consuls (the leaders of the comune), about local institu- tions, justice, the protection of citizens and their belong- i n g s , a l l t h e w a y t o h o w m u c h w o r k e r s s h o u l d b e paid. A pretty modern set of rules, when you think of it. And this is why, despite n o t b e i n g l i t e r a l l y t h e first libero comune in Italy, Pistoia somehow wins the title anyway – please, Lazise, don't be upset: because the first significant document of a modern, urban institution comes from there. If you are interested, you c a n r e a d m o r e a b o u t t h e Statute on Pistoia's online archive, at www.societapis- toiesestoriapatria.it/fonti- on-line/. Here, you can read and view the Statute, which has been entirely digitalized, as well as several other his- torical documents related to the city of Pistoia. T o d a y ' s w o r d , spensierato (s p e h n - s e e - e h - rah-to) is some- t h i n g w e a l l would like to be. Just like our title say, spensierato means "carefree," and isn't that a feeling we all love? O f c o u r s e , b e i n g s p e n - s i e r a t i ( t h i s i s i t s p l u r a l form) isn't easy in this day and age, but we can always try: sometimes all you need is a nice cup of coffee or a walk in the countryside. But spensierato, if you ask me, is an adjective we I t a l i a n s o f t e n u s e w i t h a hint of nostalgia: we talk about the anni spensierati dell'adolescenza ("our care- f r e e t e e n a g e y e a r s " ) o r , more philosophically per- h a p s , s o m e m a y t h i n k that solo i giovani possono e s s e r e s p e n s i e r a t i ( " o n l y the young can be carefree"). Spensierato comes from the noun pensiero, which means "thought." Pensiero derives from the Provençal w o r d p e n s i e r w h i c h , o f course, comes from a Latin v e r b , p e n s a r e , o r " t o weigh." Indeed, when big d e c i s i o n s m u s t b e t a k e n , you can well say that think- ing can be a weight. Spensieratezza, or "light- heartedness," is the feeling, the state of mind even, of those who are spensierati: it is the product of happi- ness and safety, of comfort and joy. Children are spensierati by definition because they don't know what worry is. The young are spensierati because they feel they can c o n q u e r t h e w o r l d b y shrugging their shoulders and the future is there for them to grab. But what about the rest o f u s , i s s p e n s i e r a t e z z a s o m e - thing we can still experi- ence? Yes, it is. We just need a break from work, a couple of hours far from the com- puter, an evening out with good friends. - I bambini sono sempre così spensierati! - Children are always so carefree! - Le vacanze servono per rilassarsi ed essere spen- sierati - Holidays are for relax- ing and being lighthearted - Goditi la giornata con spensieratezza! - E n j o y t h e d a y w i t h lightheartedness! LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: spensierato – without a care in the world! Italian curiosities: did you know Pistoia was the first medieval "comune"? Aerial view of Pistoia (Photo: Alberto Masnovo/Dreamstime) © Syda Productions | Dreamstime.com

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