Preserving the World's Rarest BooksThe History of The Girdle of St Thomas: Between Legends and Print

Nothing says Catholicism quite like a relic. A very peculiar one, with a fascinating history, can be found in the Cathedral of Prato, a city in Tuscany. There, in a chapel known as the Cappella del Sacro Cingolo, richly decorated with frescoes narrating the history of the relic itself, is a girdle that belonged to the Virgin Mary, or so the legend says.

The girdle is a strip of green sheep’s wool decorated with golden brocade and about 87 cm long. It is considered the most precious relic in the city. To this day, the girdle is at the centre of several liturgical celebrations, when the bishop will take it out from its altar and show it to the faithful gathered in the square in front of the cathedral. The history of this relic is narrated in a small pamphlet by Menicuccio Rubeo entitled La nova & bellissima istoria della pretiosa cintula della gloriosa Vergine quale hora è in Prato, in ottava rima composta per Minicutio Rubeo da Monte Granaro (USTC 853722), which was printed in Florence in 1552.

According to the legend, as we can read in this same pamphlet, the girdle was gifted by the Virgin Mary to St. Thomas on the day of her Ascension. St. Thomas carried the precious relic with him on his travels until he donated it to a cleric, who in turn left it to his sister. In 1141 Michele Dagomari, a rich merchant from Prato, received the relic as part of the dowry of his new wife, Miriam, whom he married in Jerusalem, and who was a descendant of the cleric. from the very beginning, the relic was regarded as miraculous. It had the power to heal, banish demons, and even summon angels. It is said that, fearing that someone could steal the precious girdle, Michele had begun to sleep on top of the chest where he kept it. But every night, two angels would appear and gently lift him, guarding the relic and the sleep of the faithful Michele at the same time.

After his death in 1173, Michele left the relic to the city of Prato. The following year it was brought to the cathedral with a great procession and locked in the altar. The altar had two keys, one that was held by the bishop of the city and one that was carried by the governor. Although the altar where the relic is now kept is a different one, the rule of the two keys still holds true.

But the most folkloristic piece of lore in regard to the girdle of St. Thomas is a legend concerning the attempted theft of the relic. This story was first told by Gherardo da Prato sometime after 1580 (presumably in 1606) in Storia della preziosa cintola della gloriosissima vergine Maria, la quale e hoggi in Prato (USTC 762921). This work was so successful that it was reprinted several times and survives in numerous copies, unlike Menicuccio’s work which survives in only two copies. The popularity of this second pamphlet and the popularity of the legend probably go hand in hand. Both pamphlets are small poetical works rich in lore and legends, however the basis for the supernatural happenings that Gherardo da Prato told in his work are grounded in reality. The attempted theft of the relic is a known historical fact, which is narrated in numerous chronicles of the time. Gherardo da Prato simply added an explanation rooted in mystery and miracles, thus securing the popularity of this work. In turn, the wide circulation of this pamphlet is probably the reason why, to this day, the story of the attempted theft of the girdle is told as Gherardo did, and as you can read below. Furthermore, while Menicuccio Rubeo was a scarcely known author whose brief fame died with his death, Gherardo da Prato was a Francescan friar who had behind him the entire force of his order in pushing this pamphlet.

On 27 July 1312, the secular priest Giovanni di Ser Landetto da Pistoia managed to sneak into the cathedral during the night and take the precious relic. His intentions were to bring the relic to his own city, Pistoia, a long-time enemy of Prato. However, after he managed to grab the girdle and exit the city walls a supernatural (or perhaps miraculous) fog descended on the land. It was so thick that it was impossible to see. Ser Landetto wandered in the fog for hours and hours, until he smacked against a city door and, certain to have reached Pistoia, screamed for the guards: ‘Pistoia, open up, open up! I have the girdle from Prato!’. Unfortunately for him, the city was not Pistoia, but Prato. The thief, who was nicknamed Musciattino, was captured and after a brief trial, condemned without mercy. They cut off his right hand and then dragged him to the river, beside which he was burned alive. Legend says that the mob present for the execution fought for possession of the lost appendage and that in the commotion the bloody hand smacked the wall of the cathedral, where it left an imprint that it is still there to this day. 

It is almost certain that the theft was in reality orchestrated by the city of Florence, jealous of the prosperity and power that the numerous pilgrims who went to Prato to admire the sacred girdle brought to the city. Be as it may, to celebrate the safe-keeping of the relic and also to make it more secure, a new chapel was built on the right side of the Cathedral. Agnolo Gaddi was commissioned to decorate it with frescoes that narrated the story of this most precious relic. This is where the relic is still kept, locked safely behind an altar, from where is taken out only five times a year.