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The Palio of Siena and the Contemporary Contrada System

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The Palio of Siena and the Contemporary Contrada System The palio of Siena and the contemporary contrada system Adam R. Kenny1;2 and Laura Fortunato1;2;3 1 Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology University of Oxford 2 Calleva Research Centre for Evolution and Human Sciences Magdalen College, Oxford 3 Santa Fe Institute This is a pre-print document. A CC BY or equivalent license is applied to the author accepted manuscript arising from this submission. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons “Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International” license. 1 Abstract The palio of Siena, Italy, is a bareback horse race held in the city’s central square twice a year over the summer months. Over the centuries, this phenomenon has at- tracted the attention of scholars and visitors alike — perhaps more so than the 17 contrade, the city’s territorial communities that participate in the event. Our aim is twofold. First, we provide a primer on the contemporary contrada system. Second, we describe systematically the relationships between contrada pairs, which can be classified into one of three types: alliance, neutral relationship, and rivalry. To this end, we draw on published materials and on recent field-based research, including a cross-contrada survey of over 500 contrada members, a psychological item measuring the attitude of members towards the contrade, and the analysis of GPS data from an annual ritual. We find that membership size varies from a few hundred to several thousand in- dividuals, a majority of whom are members from birth with familial and social ties within the contrada. We also find patterned variation with respect to relationship type in the attitude of contrada members, as well as in ritualized behaviour. We highlight the importance of the contrada phenomenon and the impact of group relationship on perceptions and behaviour. 2 Contents 1 Introduction 4 2 Background to Siena and to the palio 5 3 The contemporary contrada system 7 3.1 Historical sketch and basic elements . .7 3.2 Contrada membership . .9 3.3 Aspects of contrada life . 10 3.4 The patronal festival and the procession . 11 3.5 Relationships between the contrade ....................... 12 4 Insights from fieldwork-based research 13 4.1 Survey of contrada members . 14 4.2 Evaluation of attitude towards the contrade .................. 15 4.3 Investigation of relationship type through a ritual . 16 5 Discussion 18 Acknowledgements 19 References 20 3 1 1 Introduction 2 Every summer, thousands of visitors descend on the city of Siena, Italy, to attend the 3 palio, a bareback horse race held in the central square. The horses are urged to victory 4 by members of the contrade, the communities that make up the city and participate in 5 the event. The race over, and extravagant celebrations underway in the winning contrada, 6 visitors may leave Siena with the impression that the palio is simply an exciting game 7 for contrada members. Yet the contrada carries great emotional and symbolic significance 1 8 beyond the palio, structuring social interactions in the city throughout the year. 9 The palio and the contrade have received considerable attention across a range of dis- 10 ciplines, including anthropology, history, and sociology (e.g. Boos 2020; Cecchini and Neri 11 1958; Crociani-Windland 2011; Drechsler 2006; Dundes and Falassi 1984; Handelman 1998; 12 Heywood 1899; Operti, Lampronti, and Sgourev 2020; Park 1992; Parsons 2004; Pomponio 13 Logan 1978; Silverman 1979; Solinas 1987; Warner 2004). Overall, this literature has tended 14 to focus on the palio rather than on the contrade themselves, and it is largely qualitative. 15 The first aim of this paper is to provide a primer on the contemporary contrada sys- 16 tem, drawing on published materials and on recent field-based observations. The primer is 17 supplemented by information we collated on estimates of membership size, and the results 18 of a survey we conducted with multiple contrade. The second aim of this paper is to pro- 19 vide a systematic description of the relationships between contrade, relying on two studies 20 completed during a period of extended fieldwork. One study involved a questionnaire that 21 measured the attitude of contrada members towards the contrade, the other used GPS 22 devices to track a ritual procession. 23 The paper is divided into four sections. The first provides information on Siena and 24 outlines the basics of the palio (Section 2), followed by the primer on the contrade based on 25 published materials and fieldwork observations (Section 3). The third presents the meth- 26 ods, results, and discussion of three elements of original research relating to the contrade 27 (Section 4). Finally, we discuss broader implications of our research, highlighting the im- 28 portance of the contrada phenomenon and the impact of group relationship on perceptions 29 and behaviour (Section 5). 1We use original Italian terms, italicized for clarity. We limit terms to those unique to the Sienese context, and provide literal translations where appropriate, following Italian rules for pluralization, such that singular contrada (ending with “-a”) becomes plural contrade (ending with “-e”), and singular palio (ending with “-o”) becomes plural palii (ending with “-i”). 4 30 2 Background to Siena and to the palio 31 Located in the region of Tuscany in central Italy, Siena is a city with a population of 32 approximately 55,000 inhabitants (Comune di Siena 2017). The historic city centre is 33 divided into three areas called terzi (lit. “thirds”): Camollia, Città, and San Martino. 34 Terzi used to represent important military divisions in the medieval period, but they are 35 currently of limited functional significance (Dundes and Falassi 1984:29–31). The three terzi 36 comprise 17 territories, the contrade (Figure 1). Three main areas within the city centre 37 are not part of any contrada territory: the Siena Cathedral, the central square (Piazza del 38 Campo) plus the city hall, and the Medici Fortress. 39 Colloquially, the term contrada is used to describe both the territory and the social 40 community composed of contrada members. Technically, the contrada territory is called 41 rione (lit. “neighbourhood”). In this paper we use the term contrada to refer specifically to 42 the community, and we designate the cathedral, central square, and fortress as non-contrada 43 territories. 44 The central square is the location of the palio, a horse race held every year on 2 July 45 and on 16 August. Each race is the culmination of a four-day festival, also termed palio, 46 in honour of the Virgin Mary. In addition to the two “ordinary” palii, some years include 47 an “extraordinary” one, to mark a significant event (e.g. the millennium in the year 2000). 48 Detailed information about the festival and the race is in Dundes and Falassi (1984: Chs. 49 3–6). In this paper we use the term palio to refer specifically to the horse race. 50 The race involves three clockwise laps of the square, lasting approximately 75–90 seconds 51 in total. The victorious contrada secures a silk banner, also called palio, depicting the Virgin 52 Mary or the significant event (for ordinary and extraordinary palii, respectively). The palio 53 festival is an event heavily imbued with ritual and symbolic significance, and the highlight 54 of the contrada calendar (Dundes and Falassi 1984: Ch. 9; Handelman 1998; Parsons 1997; 55 Pomponio Logan 1978; Silverman 1989; Solinas 1987). Emotions are heightened in the days 56 before, and the moments during and after, the palio. For example, fights (Ita. cazzotti, 57 lit. “punches”) regularly occur around the period of the palio, when competition intensifies 58 (Drechsler 2006; Operti, Lampronti, and Sgourev 2020). The current palio format developed 59 in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Dundes and Falassi 1984:23), but competitive 60 events linked to distinct local groups are documented as early as the twelfth century (Hook 61 1979:223). 62 In the days preceding each palio, earth brought in from the countryside is laid in the 63 square to form a track, and infrastructure (e.g. viewing stands) is built. Only ten of the 17 64 contrade take part in each event, due to the limited space on the track. The ten contrade 65 include the seven which did not participate in the corresponding race the previous year, 5 N 4 5 A 1 3 2 6 13 14 11 C B 16 15 7 10 9 17 12 8 500 m church Camollia San Martino building terzo clubhouse Città Figure 1: The territorial boundaries of the 17 contrade of Siena. Numbers correspond to those in Table 1. The three non-contrada territories are the fortress (A), the cathedral and its square (B), and the central square plus the city hall and tower (C). Boundaries drawn by us, based on several versions of the boundaries; see Section A.1. 6 66 plus three from the remaining ten drawn at random just over a month before the palio. 67 Horses are provided by local breeders. The contrade are randomly assigned a horse 68 through a draw, conducted publicly in the square, four days before the race (Dundes and 69 Falassi 1984: Ch. 3). Jockeys, who are typically professional riders and not contrada mem- 70 bers, are subsequently hired to ride and represent the contrada.A contrada assigned a 71 horse perceived to be of higher quality has an incentive to hire a more skilled jockey, who 72 commands higher fees. 73 Secretive deals (Ita. partiti) are often made between contrade in the days preceding the 74 palio, and/or directly by the jockeys at the starting line, in order to influence the outcome 75 of the race (Dundes and Falassi 1984: Ch.
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