San Giorgio e la Grancontessa. La Brancoleria nel sistema stradale ella Lucchesia medievale

Abstract

Starting from the 11th century, Christian pilgrimage became a mass phenomenon in the West. With the revival of trade, civil and religious institutions joined forces to facilitate communications through road maintenance and the development of a system of rest stops. Within the Gregorian program, Matilda of Canossa built and endowed churches, parishes, and hospitals along the main medieval routes. This study organically analyzes the trans-Apennine routes of the Val di Lima and the upper Val di Serchio during the Canossian domination period. The collected data allow us to reconstruct a hypothesis related to a network of roads that, however, would be forced to be simply reduced to branches of the Via Francigena. Travelers on these roads could be merchants or feudal lords, soldiers, or pilgrims. The latter were particularly attracted by the reliquary statue of the Holy Face which, according to legend, had chosen Lucca as its home.