Eight centuries of charity

In the High Middle Ages, amid the struggles between Empire and Papacy, companies and brotherhoods of the faithful flourish in the Florence of the free communes. Into this setting comes the Dominican friar Peter of Verona (Pietro da Verona), who gives shape to the spontaneous associations of the Florentines and draws up the first Constitutions of the Misericordia, ensuring that it conforms to the Church. This is the act that turns a popular impulse into an institution built to last. Peter would be proclaimed a saint in 1253 as Saint Peter Martyr.

Popular tradition credits the initiative to Piero Borsi, a porter of the Wool Guild (Arte della Lana). With the companions who gathered at the Buca degli Adimari, a wine tavern near the cathedral, he introduced a fine for anyone who blasphemed. With the money collected they bought six zane (wicker baskets) to carry the sick to hospital: and so, in the people’s memory, the Company began. History and legend are intertwined, but the message is clear: charity grows from the ground up, from the hands of working people.

The oldest known document mentioning the Misericordia dates back to 1321: by then the Company already had the funds to buy a house opposite the Baptistery. A sign that, in less than a century, the work had become a rooted and recognised presence in the heart of Florence.

When the Black Death of 1348 cuts down Florence (the same plague that Giovanni Boccaccio describes in the introduction to the Decameron), the confratelli are at work among the infected, carrying the sick and burying the dead whom no one else dares to touch. It is in the great epidemics that the Misericordie forge their vocation: to be there precisely when everyone else runs away.

From the very beginning the confratelli wear a service robe that makes them look alike, whatever their wealth: a cloak called the «buffa» that covers the face, with gloves and gaiters, to keep the helper anonymous according to the Gospel principle «do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing». Originally red, in memory of the Holy Spirit, from 1495 it becomes black as a sign of penance: it is the historic robe still handed over today during the Vestizione, the investiture ceremony.

The Florentine example crosses the Alps and the sea. In Portugal, Queen Eleanor (Leonor) promotes the founding of the Misericordia of Lisbon in 1498: the Santas Casas da Misericórdia spread rapidly and, with the navigators, reach the colonies, from Brazil to Mozambique, from São Tomé to Macau. The charity of the Misericordie becomes, in effect, a worldwide phenomenon.

In the golden centuries of Florence, princes and popes place themselves at the service of the Company. Clement VII grants it a church (1525); in 1576 Francesco I de’ Medici donates the headquarters opposite Giotto’s bell tower, still in use today; Cosimo III donates the statue of Saint Sebastian, patron of the Misericordia. And yet, under the «buffa», grand duke and commoner remain indistinguishable: they give the same, identical service.

It is no coincidence that the Misericordie chose Saint Sebastian as their patron, invoked since time immemorial against plague and epidemics. His figure sums up the mission of the Confraternita: to resist evil, to protect the community, and never to give in to the contagion of fear.

The great cholera epidemics of the nineteenth century once again call the confratelli to the front line, among stretchers and isolation hospitals. Meanwhile, following the example of Florence, dozens of new Misericordie are founded throughout Tuscany and beyond: by the middle of the century there are almost one hundred. All of them are «governed by the people» (si governano a popolo), with freely elected bodies, united by the same Gospel inspiration.

With the new Kingdom of Italy, the desire to join forces grows. On 24 and 25 September 1899, gathered in Pistoia for their 1st Congress and with the blessing of the Holy Father, the Misericordie found the Federazione delle Associazioni e Confraternite di Misericordia (Federation of Misericordia Associations and Confraternities). This is the date that marks the birth of the Confederation and of the national Movement: individual, ancient confraternities choosing to walk together.

The prestige of the Misericordie carries on into the early twentieth century: in 1903 King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena visit the Confraternita of Florence; in 1924 Umberto of Savoy becomes its «Capo di Guardia» (head of the watch). Signs of a deep bond with the history of Italy, without ever losing the spirit of equality beneath the robe.

The short twentieth century puts the Misericordie to the test once more: the two world wars, care for the wounded and the displaced, the reconstruction. Meanwhile the shoulder-borne stretcher gives way to the motor ambulance: modern emergency medical care is born, with vehicles, radios and trained volunteers. An ancient charity equips itself with new tools, but the gesture remains the same.

During the night of 3 to 4 November 1966 the Arno bursts its banks and submerges Florence under a wave of mud. The Misericordie and the public assistance associations (pubbliche assistenze) are among the first to help the flooded city, alongside the «mud angels» (angeli del fango) who rushed there from all over Italy. The tragedy shows how vital organised volunteering is in major emergencies.

It is precisely from the experience of the flood that, with Law 996 of 8 December 1970, the first official recognition of the role of volunteering in Civil Protection is born. The Misericordie, which had played that role for centuries, become a full part of the national emergency system: emergencies, disasters, major events.

In 1994 the Confraternita di Misericordia di Ariccia joins this very long tradition: young people and adults of the Castelli Romani who choose to serve their community. Health transport, social services, training, Universal Civil Service, help for vulnerable families: the Works of Mercy, here and now.

With the Third Sector Code (Codice del Terzo Settore, Legislative Decree 117/2017), the Italian law governing non-profit bodies, and the Single National Register of the Third Sector (RUNTS), the Misericordie take on the legal status of Third Sector Entities (Enti del Terzo Settore), often as Voluntary Organisations (ODV). The rules and the transparency change, not the soul: the volunteer remains the most important figure in every Misericordia.

Today the National Confederation of the Misericordie of Italy brings together over 800 confraternities, with about 670,000 members and about 80,000 active volunteers. From ambulances to social and health transport, from outpatient clinics to Civil Protection, from social centres to funeral services: the same ancient vocation (to stand beside those who suffer) speaks the language of today. The Misericordia di Ariccia is part of it.