The Epiphany Liturgy at Pistoia as an Expression of Episcopal Authority

Abstract

The plainchant repertory preserved in the twelfth-century choir books of the cathedral of San Zeno in Pistoia reflects both the regional importance of the institution during the central medieval period and its robust musical culture. Among the many items of interest to scholars, the High Mass for Epiphany in particular stands out for its extensive and idiosyncratic accretions. This liturgy merits close study for what it can tell us about chant transmission, trope composition, and other phenomena, but I will focus in this essay on its potential for use as an expression of episcopal authority in the cultural milieu of medieval Tuscany. Examining the Epiphany liturgy at San Zeno through the lens of the Investiture Controversy and the early communal period in Italy, I will characterize the High Mass as an expression of episcopal authority and as a symbol of independence from imperial and communal control. Drawing on a variety of methodological models, I argue that the bishop and the cathedral chapter used the theological themes associated with Epiphany in concert with the spectacle of such an important High Mass as performed in medieval Tuscany to craft a hermeneutic program that emphasized the dual authority—spiritual and temporal—of the bishop and set him in opposition to the Holy Roman emperor using an allegory of Christ and Herod.