page_title: Palio di Legnano
section_title: The medieval pageant
hierarchical_section_title: Palio di Legnano / The event / The medieval pageant
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Sfilata storica per il 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: In the afternoon of the day of the palio, shortly before the horse race, a medieval pageant is held on the streets of the city which consists of more than 200 horses and 1,000 figures in medieval costumes whose clothes, shields, weapons, etc., scrupulously reflect those of the 12th century. The contrade, whose registration to the horse race is optional, are instead obliged to participate in the horse show with a maximum number of one hundred and ten participants and sixteen horses. All the horses used in the parade are led by hand by expert grooms.
  As already mentioned, the clothes used in the first decades of the events came from the La Scala in Milan, where they were mostly employed in the opera La battaglia di Legnano by Giuseppe Verdi. However, these dresses were designed for this lyric opera, and therefore their style was greatly influenced by Verdi's romanticism, so as to have a Renaissance rather than Romanesque style, that is the shape corresponding to the historical era in which the battle of Legnano was fought. The clothes used from 1962 onwards are instead commissioned by the regency of each contrada to specialized artisan tailors.
  With the choice of creating an autonomous clothing collection, it was decided to focus on the 50 years before and half a century after the famous armed clash of 29 May 1176. Extensive studies were then carried out in order to be able to make clothes that conformed as closely as possible to the styles used in this historical period: in particular, the collection of sculptures created by Benedetto Antelami, a contemporary artist at the battle of Legnano who made a large number of statues, works that are very rich in details, especially clothes. The finds preserved inside the Vatican Museums, the Great Museum of the Duomo of Milan and in other exhibition spaces scattered throughout the Italian peninsula, Germany and France were also precious.
  As already mentioned, the conformity that the material of the parade must have with the historical knowledge concerning the military and civil life of the 12th century is controlled by the permanent commission of customs. This commission, which consists of three experts of national caliber appointed by the organizing committee and two representatives per contrada, was established in 1990 by the college of captains and the contrade.
  The parade begins with the processions of the individual contrade, which from their manor head into the city center for the actual parade. The latter opens with a procession formed by the bands of municipalities that were once coalesced by the Lombard League. Their members wear the uniform of the belonging musical body and carry the banner of their own municipality (the one in Legnano closes this part of the procession). The type of music played is military in nature.
  The central part of the parade consists of figurants from the contrade who are dressed in medieval clothes. Each historical contrada passes by following a specific theme; the contrada that closes this part of the procession is the one that won the palio of the previous year, while the others parade, starting from the head of the procession, in increasing order of victories). At the same number of victories, the farthest from the show's head is the one with the most recent latest victory. The subjects represented by the eight contrade, which were introduced in 1996 to better represent the medieval atmosphere, are, are:
   Contrada La Flora: war;
   Contrada Legnarello: strength and work;
   Contrada San Bernardino: the triumph for the capture of weapons;
   Contrada San Domenico: the commoners and the games;
   Contrada San Magno: the nobility and the clergy;
   Contrada San Martino: music and dance;
   Contrada Sant'Ambrogio: the courtiers;
   Contrada Sant'Erasmo: astrology and hunting.
  The medieval pageant through the city streets ends with the passage of the Carroccio pulled by six white oxen and by the transit of its armed entourage which is formed, among other things, by the figurants who interpret the chivalry of the Company of Death. The procession winds through th
caption: The medieval pageant of the Palio di Legnano 2015
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