The Palio, contrade, medieval and modern mutual aid society and social club, Siena

Everyone knows about Siena's famous 90 second horse race, the Palio.  Who has been to Siena?  Who has seen the Palio raced?  There are 17 contrade or districts in Siena, and all of them have their own flags, symbols, saints, churches and organizations.  Like in the Vespers Trilogy, where the de Rogerios live in the Porta Patitellorum, one of Palermo's five districts, the Palio encompasses a fierce rivalry between the districts every August.


For the best source on this wild race, check out www.thepalio.com


As in medieval times, each contrade has its own organization.  It reminds me very much of my hometown, Chicago, whose wards and districts were under the supervision of an alderman.  The alderman knew every household, every street, and everything that went on in his district.  Italian contrade and Chicago wards function in exactly the same way - mutual aid society and social club.  Each contrade has its own church - all wards and districts have their own churches in Chicago.  When my mother was growing up, she would give directions by saying, go to such and such a parish.  If you were Methodist or Baptist, you were bewildered and SOL!

Medieval Warhorses - the Hispano-Arab

So I'm researching training medieval warhorses.  There's a lot of misinformation out there, like all medieval warhorses were 17-19 hands high and were something like Percherons or Clydesdales.   Actually, most warhorses were 14-15 hands high, at least in my century, the 13th century, and it's my understanding that the Hispano-Arab breed was most typical. 


These are beautiful horses and I'll post a picture of one on my next post - I even have permission to use his name (thanks Cody!!!) - so stay tuned - he's gorgeous.  I read several training manuals for present day horses (good grief!) - very complicated, won't be in Book #3, I assure you, but did watch a terrific show on Lippizan horses, and how they are bred and trained.  Very very interesting as many moves that a medieval warhorse is trained to do are similar to what the Lippizans do now. 


If anyone else knows more about training warhorses, I invite you to comment!!!

Arab Sicilian Medieval Music

Medieval gnocchi - before potatoes came to the Old World

Gnocchi has always been one of my favorite Italian meals - but most gnocchi is made with potato flour and there were no potatoes in the Mediterranean in the 13th century - potatoes like tomatoes didn't make it to the Old World until the 17th century.


So how did they make gnocchi?  With mashed cheese, eggs and a little flour.


I can see Ysabella making gnocchi to go with her rabbit stew or perhaps a medieval potage.

See this picture at merryfarmer.net

12th century art - Norman and Islamic architecture in Sicily

3  I found this on the Medieval Academy of America blog - there are so many beautiful pictures of medieval Sicily but I thought I'd start with this one -  I don't know who wrote it but here it is, it looks to me like Monreale, which is stunning - check it out online

Norman Architecture in Sicily

A very dear friend of mine has moved to Sicily for a spell. The pictures she has been sharing are phenomenal. Since I can't join her, I thought it a good excuse to rummage through my knowledge of Norman art and architecture in Sicily...which I know a surprising amount about, because my medieval professor in graduate school has published on the topic, and taught us an entire seminar's worth of 12th century architecture...
Part of what I find most fascinating about 12th century Norman art and architecture in Sicily is the mixture of Norman Romanesque, native Italian materials, and Islamic influences...see where you can spot them in this smattering of art from that period:

Cloister, Monreale Cathedral: view from the southwest, showing sculpted capitals of north side, ca. 1175-118. Monreale, Sicily

Daily Bread: Medieval and Italian

It's time to start talking about food.  Check out the food and recipe page on your right. 

My first recipe is Gingerbread Biscotti.  Easy and delisioso for many occasions!  Feel free to share and send me your Biscotti recipes.