Among the typical recipes of Umbria – but of that more rural Umbria, where farmers and shepherds lived on what little they had and where waste was not even remotely contemplated – there is a dessert with a centuries-old history. Migliaccio, cooked in a pan, was a millet-based dessert to which one of the most popular sweeteners in the past was added: pig’s blood which, when solidified, made the mixture naturally sweet.
We have said many times that nothing of the pig is thrown away and therefore not even the blood, which could be used in this way or in sausages with a longer shelf life such as black pudding. Since 1992, to avoid infections, the sale of pig’s blood has been prohibited, therefore even the historic recipe forgliaccio has changed its face and, to sweeten, sugar, butter and raisins are added. But the history that the original recipe brings with it should not be forgotten, especially because one of the most active personalities in the sixteenth-century cultural and political life of Perugia dedicated his major work to the city. And he called it I Megliacci.
Mario Podiani, the forgotten author
Mario Podiani, son of the doctor, humanist and university teacher Luca Alberto and of Domina Sebastiana (whose will has reached us), was born in Poggio Aquilone around 1501. At 15 he became clericus and was given the Church of Santa Cross. He began his literary activity in 1529, when a pamphlet was published by Girolamo Cartolari containing the Legge et ordinamenti facti sopra li vestimenti de le donne et spose peroscine combined with rhymes composed by Cartolari himself, Atanagi and Mario Podiani.
But his literary career was soon accompanied by a political one: Mario was entrusted with two missions to the Pope in 1529 and 1531. But the Curia doesn’t like our behavior and it is the father who pays the consequences, who is removed from the chancellorship. The situation initially improved in 1534 with the election to the papal throne of Pope Paul III Farnese, who first rehired Luca Alberto and then went to visit the city of Perugia: for the occasion, father and son put together a booklet in which narrates the Pope’s arrival in Perugia, praising now one, now the other, creating links between mythology and the present glories of the city.
However, the Pope shows no signs of appreciation for the work bestowed upon him and, in fact, continues to distrust the situation in Perugia; on the other hand, the belief that Paul III aimed at the subjugation of Perugia began to take hold. A belief that was confirmed in 1540 with the Salt War, which arose from the Pope’s decision to increase the salt tax: he had to fight the war against the Turks and needed money. An embassy of 50 citizens to Rome is decided, but the pleas are to no avail: the Pope issues the bull which confirms the price increase and threatens serious sanctions for the city. Perugia, however, does not give up and suffers the ban: no external trade. The Judiciary of the Twenty-five Defenders of Justice was then created (5 for each door), the help of Venice and Charles V was invoked; the city wants to put itself in the hands of Rodolfo Baglioni. But the Pope does not give up and Perugia rises up.
Mario Podiani is the one who places himself at the head of the movement against the Pope: near the door of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo a crucifix is placed at whose feet the keys of the city are placed, as if to defer to this – and not to the vicar of Christ – the care and defense of Perugia. A position that seems to be affected by the positions of Ochino, who is well known and appreciated in the city, even if only assumptions can be made about his relationship with Podiani. In any case, ours, who is chancellor in Perugia, after placing the keys at the foot of the crucifix, delivers a speech in the vernacular, to be well understood by all the people: we don’t know what he said, but this move condemns him to exile, destroying his political career. The return to his hometown was denied even by the successors of Paul III and a real damnatio memoriae befell him: his name disappeared for centuries, his works were burned and the date of his death was even brought forward by 31 years (1539 instead of 1570). He managed to return to Perugia only in 1544, but in chains: we do not know what crimes he was accused of, but it seems that his father Luca Alberto managed to obtain a pardon only after paying a large sum to the papal treasury. But this involves deportation to Rome, an environment where it is easy for the Pope to keep him under control. Some subsequent information about him is deduced from documents or writings of others, also making the date of his death uncertain, which is supposed to be after 1568 but before 1583.
This is why traces of both the comedy he wrote in 1530 and his other productions have been almost completely lost. Furthermore, political involvement meant that Mario’s commitment and, in a certain sense, Perugia’s response to the age-old question of the Italian language, did not even end up in school books.
The ambition of the work
In 1530, the comedy I Megliacci by Mario Podiani was published by Girolamo Cartolari in Perugia. It is not known how many copies were printed, but the volume is currently almost impossible to find. We have a codex, bound in cardboard and with a parchment spine, which also includes other writings and the copy of an ancient corrector, perhaps contemporary, who collated the text on the printed sheet, sometimes inaccurately; perhaps the underlining of some more characteristic terms dates back to the same hand. The only valid text therefore remains that of 1530 but, although it was published by a famous printer such as Cartolari, it is a second level edition, with a simple frontispiece consisting of a simple framing of 4 xylographic rules of geometric frieze and with the last two pages written in smaller size, with the aim of saving space and therefore sheets.
The small volume of 80 unnumbered papers opens with an invocation to the lords of Perugia: it was in fact the moment in which the fate of the city seemed linked to the name of Malatesta Baglioni, who had managed to avoid the sack of the city. In the prologue the author also explains his linguistic-literary program: he will use the dialect to demonstrate how the language of the Perugians can rival that of Florence, as long as the cruder terms are avoided. In this way, Podiani fits into the so-called first question of language, that is, the discussion on the choice of a single language for the inhabitants of the Peninsula. Be careful, we are talking about written language, for literary works, and not the spoken one. History teaches us that it was the Florentine who triumphed, for cultural reasons, yes, but also for socio-economic ones: already Podiani, thinking of Perugia, felt the contrast between the greatness of the past and the incipient decadence, which will materialize first with death premature by Malatesta Baglioni and then with Pope Paul III’s forcing on the city and with the Salt War. With his work he certainly hoped to give new life to the cultural fabric of the city.
“Parlar peroscinevolmente”
The Megliacci were born from a polemical position not towards Florentine, but towards those who judge it to be a more beautiful language. Tuscan primacy is implicitly accepted, also due to a question of proximity: the language used is in fact Tuscan-Perugian, a hybrid language which, moving from Tuscan, is colored by highly selected Perugian elements. However, a certain polymorphism is found, in which the adoption of idiocy depends on the stylistic intent. For example, the palatalization of /a/ in a free syllable is completely missing, a typical Perugian phenomenon even if of northern origin (e.g. casa> chèsa) and the strengthening of dataval /a/ via /t/ (ta me, ta te…) is present only once in the entire play and is pronounced by Armilla, who is of very low social status. From this it can be seen that the use of the vernacular also responds to realistic purposes, because it is used to convey the language of the countryside in the best possible way; even the prose writing is motivated, as citizens certainly don’t use rhymes in domestic speech.
Following the example of the ancients, Podiani declares that he will use the form of comedy, inaugurating the genre in his city. He thus makes the story unfold in a single day and within a scene delimited by two houses, reflecting the Aristotelian canons of unity of time, action and place. The names used summarize the characteristics of the customs or moral traits of the characters and respond to Podiani’s humanistic training. To name a few: Drifter is a captain of fortune who has many fleeting loves: he is like a bird that goes from branch to branch; Isophilus is the right one; Armilla, whose name is taken directly from the snake-shaped bracelet, has a treacherous character; Pedavrò, a dialect nickname born from the portmanteau between foot and I will have, today we would define it as a person who has no head but has good legs; Lurcereus is the unclean devourer, he is the one who gets his clothes dirty at the table.
Finally, the structure responds to the mockery of love that is influenced by Latin comedians such as Plautus and Terence. The content instead evokes the themes covered in the seventh and eighth day of Boccaccio’s Decameron. Any moral sense is absent: carnal enjoyment is the true driving force of action, therefore the language is of an unbridled and disruptive concreteness.
Why I Megliacci?
According to Podiani, megliaccio is a dish made of pig’s blood and millet flour (which becomes better in dialect). It is therefore a coarse and coarse food, it is a meal of the common people, however it does not lack flavour. Just as flour is mixed with blood, the author also intended to combine all the pleasant ingredients of life (falling in love, pranks, knowing how to govern oneself according to the opportunity) to stage a tasty but unrefined show, similar to a Migliaccio. The title, in its translated meaning, therefore also takes on the meaning of farce.
The comedy was probably performed in 1530: from some statements in the prologue it is clear that the actors were all from Perugia and perhaps the author himself took part. Perhaps it took place in Podiani’s house, in Porta Sole.
Eleonora Cesaretti
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