page_title: Palio di Legnano
section_title: The preparatory events
hierarchical_section_title: Palio di Legnano / The event / The preparatory events
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Santa messa su Carroccio - Palio di Legnano 2015
context_page_description: The Palio di Legnano is a folk event generally held on the last Sunday of May in the City Of Legnano, Italy, to recall the Battle of Legnano held on May 29, 1176 by the Lombard League and the Holy Roman Empire of Frederick Barbarossa. This Palio is composed by a medieval pageant and a horse race. Until 2005 the whole event was named Sagra del Carroccio.
  Legnano is subdivided into eight contrade, each of which takes part both in the medieval pageant and in the horse race held at the stadio Giovanni Mari. This is considered one of the most important non-competitive events of this type in Italy. In 2003 the historic pageant was shown at the Columbus Day in New York City.
  A lot of Palio-centric events take place in Legnano during May and July, such as the choral exhibition La Fabbrica del Canto '' born in 1992 from an idea of the musical association Jubilate. In 2015, institutions made 29 May a holiday for the whole of Lombardy.
context_section_description: The Palio di Legnano has a ceremonial including some important events that are preparatory to the medieval pageant and the horse race. The first of these is the "translation" of the cross of Aribert from the religious building of reference of the contrada that has conquered the previous edition of the palio, to the main church of Legnano, the basilica of San Magno. Shortly after, the supreme magistrate, or the mayor of Legnano, officially listed the palio with a public tender:
  [...] You gentlemen have been summoned by me to listen to the reading of the announcement, by which We, the supreme magistrate of the palio, declare open the historic competition between the contrade of Legnano. The gentlemen will now receive a copy of the announcement, they will post it in their manors, they will spread it between the priory and the people of their contrade. [...]
  — Announcement of the Palio di Legnano
  Then there is the civil investiture of the captains of the contrade, which once took place on the day of the patron saint of the city, St. Magnus (5 November), but which since 2008 has been moved near the palio to provide this event better visibility. The text of the oath of the captains before the magistrates of the palio states.
  By the will of my contrada I assume the office of captain for the year of the Lord [current year] and in the name of our patron saints I promise loyalty to the colors of the contrada and loyalty to the magistrates of the palio. 
  — Oath of the captains during the ceremony of their civil investiture
  Subsequently the contrade officially join the palio, an event that is preceded by the solemn presentation of the regencies of the same. These events are heralded by the following speech by the Supreme Magistrate:
  [...] You gentlemen were summoned by me last April to hear and receive the announcement, through which we, the supreme magistrate of the palio, declared the competitions open between the contrade of the city for the conquest of the cross of Aribert. We are here with our approval to wait for their Lords to register their contrade, to present the captains, the chatelaines and the esquires. We will accept the registrations and give the "money" in order that everything is done as per consecrated tradition . [...]
  — Speech by the Supreme Magistrate announcing the inscription of the contrade and the presentation of their regencies
  Then, on the third Friday of May, the vigil of the cross of Aribert takes place in the basilica of San Magno, in which the representatives of the contrade participate; this religious ceremony is characterized by a very precise liturgy, with specific sacred readings and songs.
  The preparatory events continue at Palazzo Malinverni, the city hall, on the morning of the day of the race, on the last Sunday of May, with the surrender of honors by the grand priors, the captains and the chatelaines to the supreme magistrate and the representatives of the municipalities once coalesced in the Lombard League which annually appear in Legnano on the day of the palio. The ceremonial then continues with the oath of the representatives of the contrade before the copy of the cross of Aribert, with which the protagonists of the palio promise, similarly to what was done by the soldiers of the Lombard League before the battle of Legnano, unity and fidelity in name of freedom.
  The ceremonial continues with a solemn Mass officiated on the Carroccio, on the occasion placed in San Magno Square, in front of the main entrance of the basilica and next to Palazzo Malinverni. After this sacred rite, doves are freed in memory of the famous legend told by Galvano Fiamma: the latter claimed that, during the battle of Legnano, three doves had settled on the antenna of the Carroccio causing the defeat of Frederick Barbarossa after leaving the burials of saints Sisinnio, Martirio and Alessandro (the so-called "holy martyrs", which are celebrated on May 29) at the basilica of San Simpliciano in Milan. The ceremony concludes with the religious investiture of the captains and the blessing of the horses and jockeys that w
caption: Holy Mass on the Carroccio for the Palio di Legnano 2015
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