Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-12-03
A PICTURESQUE SOCIETY,".
The Origin of the Compagnia Della Missri
cOrdia of Florence.

The Origin of the Compagnia Della aIissri-
cordia of Florence.
One of the oldest charitable societies
in Europe is the celebrated "Compa gina
della Misericordia," and no one who
has ever visited Florence need be told
that the Misericordia still exists there,
as the melancholy looking professions
| peculiar to that institution are a strik
ing feature of the city, and impress the
stranger too forcibly ever to be fors
gotten.
The circumstances to which this so
ciety is indebted for it's foundation are
extremely curious, and singularly IL
Illustrative of the Florentine life of that
time. AS early as the beginning of the
thirteenth century the citizens of Flor
ence were busily engaged in the
manufacture of cloths which, by rea-
son of their excellence, soon became
celebrated in every city of Europe.
The demand for these cloths at last be-
came so great that the Florentines
found it necessary to hold two annual
fairs, one at ST. Simon's and one at
Martinmas, which We're patronized by
all the richest merchants of those
times. The ancient chroniclers tell us
that at each fair sales were made to the
amount of from fifteen to sixteen mil
lion fl Orlns. OF course, all this vast
wooden trade made business very live
ly in Florence, and gave employment
to great number of porters, who all
this time, in the year 1910, were in the
habit of congregating in the prin cipal
square of the city, which at that period
q no al
tistry tthe present Piazza del Duomo)
this being the place assigned to them
by the city.
In this square there was a cellar
which always stood open on account of
its having been flooded by one of the
foundations of the Arno, SO when the
weather was rainy or the searching
winds from the Apennines blew cold
and chill, the porters would resort to
this cellar. taking possession in quite a
matter-of-fact way, building fire and
making themselves generally comforta-
bic, and in the rare intervals when
work was slack they would amuse
themselves by playing at dice. Upon
such occasions they were very joviai,
and their jests were more forcible than
elegant.
The director of this band was an ell
derby man named Piero di Luca Borsi.
who must have been rather a superior
person for his position. 1t seems that
he was very grievously annoyed by the
bad language and blasphemy that he
frequently heard among the men. so
determining in some way to put stop
to it he persuaded them all to agree
that every man who should be found
guilty of using any blasphemous ex-
pressions should be required to deposit
u crazia, now equal to two-thirds of an
English penny, into box which would
be provided for that purpose. When
considerable sum had been collected old
Piero proposed that the money be in
vested in providing six itters, one for
each ward of the city, and that twelve
of their number should be appointed
every week, two men to each litter, for
the purpose of carrying poor sick per-
SONS 10 the hospitals. or those who met
with accidents, or were killed in the
streets.
Those twelve men must have soon
been insufficient for the work required
Of them, but they kept bravely to their
self-inposed tasks, and in the following
years when the party spirit which
laeerated Florence at last burst forth
with ferocity and bitterness scarcely
equaled in history-when the war cry
rang from one end of the city to the
otLer and citizen fought against citi-
zer and no man went out in the morn
ing VITA any certainty of returning at