Travel advertisement

Soundtrack by Michel Banabila: soundcloud.com/michel-banabila/document-not-found

Because I could not find a price list for the venial sins.

This text carved on stone can be found on the wall of the inner balcony of Palazzo Ducale, in Venice. It is a copy of papal letter sent by Pope Urban V, from the year 1362. It is written in Latin, and in short it says:

"One year and forty days of indulgence will be granted to those who visit Palazzo Ducale, gives alms to prisoners in the adjoining prison, and visit St. Nicholas chapel (located in Lido)."

I had some hard time finding the story behind of this plaque (because I was too stupid to find it out right there in Palazzo Ducale!). I first found some pdf image documents in Italy, telling something about this particular plaque. Then by copying the text from the image file, letter by letter, I was able to get enough keywords to find more information about the origins of the letter, the writer and year of it. And finally I found also explanations in English (language more familiar to me).

But what I couldn't find is the "price list of venial sins". If I had lived in Renaissance world, I may have wondered questions like: "What particular sin or sins this one year and forty days is worth of?" If I had done only some venial sins, I could do some "penance" to quicken my "time" spent in purgatory, like do some prayers, visit (holy) places, and/or do some good works.

To quicken the time spent in purgatory is of course a relative concept, because according to religious believes at that time, there is no such thing as time in hell, purgatory, or in heaven. Therefore one could start to think if he or she is able to wash the sins away already before one's death. In other words, one may have wondered the actual prices of each sin committed. And finally one may have even wondered if one could get the indulgence doubled by visiting Palazzo Ducale and St. Nicholas chapel in Lido twice, and by giving the alms twice, or do all this even multiple times during the same visit in Venice.

And what exactly makes this plaque as a travel advertisement? Well, at that time travelling was definitely not easy or not even cheap! A "tourist" (pilgrim) at that time, who had just arrived to Palazzo Ducale would then ask someone what does this plaque on the wall mean, if not being able to read Latin. Then the person would find out one has to buy yet another boat trip to Lido in order to get the promised one year and forty days of indulgence. So, visit Lido, and get some extra!

Moreover, what a clever way to collect money to cover the wages of local prison guards!

Sources:

Francesco Zanotto (1842). Il palazzo ducale di Venezia. Available online: www.worldcat.org/title/palazzo-ducale-di-venezia-illustrato-da-francesco-zanotto/oclc/81682109

Alfredo Stussi (1997). La formazione dello stato patrizio - La vita civile e religiosa: LA LINGUA. Storia di Venezia. Available online: www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-formazione-dello-stato-patrizio-la-vita-civile-e-religiosa-la-lingua_(Storia-di-Venezia)