Old 8, July 3, 2015. 1405: Florence - Convictions by the Captain for cards or naibi

ere is the second in the new series of notes, this one a translation of "1405: Firenze – Condanne del Capitano per carte o naibi," at https://naibi.net/A/413-CAPINAIB-Z.pdf, dated July 3, 2015. Comments in brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco, for clarification purposes.


1405: Florence – Convictions by the Captain for cards or naibi

Introduction

This investigation was carried out on some Books of the Captain of the People [Libri del Capitano del Popolo], compiled between the 14th and 15th centuries and preserved in the ASFi. In Florence, the office of Captain of the People is of rather undefined origin but had certain recognition from the mid-13th century; the main task of this magistrate was to coordinate the companies of citizens in arms and to organize their interventions whenever necessary, therefore essentially a military role. With the passing of time, the military function became less and less important, and more than the coordinator of citizens organized for battles the captain became the defender of citizens now organized in corporations. The archive collection studied is itself called Captain of the People and Defender of the Arts, and for a short period there were even two different magistrates for the two functions mentioned.

The captain was usually a nobleman from another city, but because of his position, he was naturally closely linked to the factions that governed the city and therefore had a very important political role, especially in the fourteenth century when he presided over the main city councils. The functions of the captain of the people were then essentially political, but in the period that interests us, at the end of the century, they were practically reduced to the judicial sphere. Civil and criminal jurisdiction was exercised within defined limits and was mainly reduced to the civil sector after the creation of the Otto di guardia e balia [Eight of guard and, possibly of limited duration, dictatorial power] in 1378 (the very year of the beginning of the present research). However, the captain's “family” continuously carried out police functions, and among these, particular attention was paid to the control of those who carried weapons, who went out at night, who gambled; these are the same crimes that in Florence, as in the smaller towns, were controlled by the podestà [chief magistrate], but here the “families” of the podestà and the captain acted independently.

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The Libri inventionum [Books of discoveries] examined

The drafting and keeping of the books was the duty of the captain's notary and basically followed a well-established practice, which was very similar, if not identical, to that adopted by the podestà's notaries. Different books were kept separately for the various matters, not only civil separated from criminal, but also trials, recorded in separate books for the various phases of the trial itself, including special books for accusations, inquisitions, defense witnesses, prosecution witnesses, and finally the books of sentences, often the only ones still in parchment. The number of Books of the Captain usually exceeded a dozen, and the last in the series was dedicated precisely to the inventory of all these books, which at the end of the captain's six-month term of office were delivered to the commune [i.e. the Florentine Republic].

Among so much documentation, that of specific interest for gambling (unless there were actually trials in which gambling was involved) is a minimal part, the registration of those whom the captain's “family” had discovered with weapons, or at night, or, indeed, gambling. In the Inventorio [Inventory} [note 1] of this archive collection, only in a few cases is there indication of the Liber inventionum, precisely the book of our main interest. The "discoveries" are obviously the occasions in which the criminals are caught red-handed by the patrol of the captain's policemen, or berrovieri.

About the fact that the Liber inventionum is not listed in the Inventorio for many years: it may be that in some cases, the book in question is present but registered differently; even more likely is the hypothesis that the book is not listed simply because it was not compiled and bound alone. It seems to be excluded with certainty that the entire six-month period of the captain's office passed without "discoveries," but all those that occurred could have been registered separately and then collected in another book, and the most probable in this regard is another in the same section of the Ufficium extraordinariorum [Office of extra-ordinary matters]. Usually in one of these books, which is almost always present, the captain's declarations are recorded, starting with the general one on the occasion of his installation, the positions and missions of the delegated officers with the relative changes, the various missions and embassies, various political and administrative commitments, and so on.

The purpose of this research was to investigate over the course of several years whether
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1. ASFI Inventario V 500

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there was any certain evidence of the first diffusion of playing cards in Florence, and therefore it was considered sufficient to examine only the cases in which the Liber inventionum is explicitly indicated in the Inventorio. The books examined are the following, with the corresponding year in brackets: 1096 (1378), 1786 (1389), 1832 (1390), 2197 (1402), 2213 (1403), 2227 (1403), 2240 (1404), 2261 (1405), 2280 (1405), 2322 (1407).

From the examination of the books listed above, some general observations can be drawn and then some particular cases can be highlighted.


General observations

In all the books examined, one observes the recurrent use of set phrases, stereotyped expressions that are only exceptionally altered. Only occasionally are there substantial differences, which will be reported later and which are explained by the fact that these are books written by different notaries under different captains. For the same notary, the same general structure is regularly maintained, and also the form of the individual entries is recorded according to a punctually followed practice. Usually, one finds a sort of verbalization of all the outings of the captain's “family,” including those in which they do not encounter crimes for convictions.

The subject of our interest, those convicted for gambling, always corresponds to only a part of the recorded convictions, often the most frequently indicated. Let us limit ourselves to this part of greatest interest to us. Worthy of note here is the fact that the sentence imposed is never recorded: those convicted are reported to the Chamber of the Commune, where they will have to pay the fine imposed, and there the sum of money received will then be recorded. The lack of the figure corresponding to the conviction is a serious gap for us, because it does not allow us to understand if and by how much the sentences could have been different in the various cases.

The gambling for which the criminals are convicted is always indicated in the same way, even if different spellings can be seen, sometimes even in the handwriting of the same notary: çardum, açardum, aççardum, less frequent çare: in a considerable number of cases for each of these nouns the letter z is found instead of ç [two different spellings, pronounced the same, in words for the dice game of zara]. More rarely, the ludus is found written taxillorum or tassillorum [dice], which, however, most likely indicated the same game as zara. In particular, we cannot

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understand with certainty whether that recurring name could refer to various games and in particular those of naibi. Of course, if we are talking about ludus taxillorum, the naibi cannot be included in the denomination, but even in the statutes and in the bannimenta [declarations of prohibitions], next to the noun çardum it is often indicated that all games of a similar nature are meant in this way. Among games of a similar nature to zara, the transition to other dice games is easy and understandable; the transition to games of naibi is much more difficult to hypothesize, but not impossible. In fact, the terminology used to define prohibited games, even in the communal statutes, often becomes so broad as to include everything, as it recurrently refers to all games "in which money or other goods are lost or won."

As a rule, each entry relating to convictions begins with the names of the condemned, and therefore we encounter a notable number of names of gamblers. It would be interesting to verify with a more complete study, better if extended also to the books of the six-month periods that were not considered, how many of these gamblers caught in the act were habitual gamblers. Perhaps this would be even more interesting in the case of the convicted coming from other cities, who appear quite frequently in the conviction entries. The cities of origin are various, perhaps more frequent from Emilia and Romagna, but also from other cities, as far as Naples. In these cases, it is not clear whether they were professional gamblers who came to fleece the Florentines, or vice versa, if they were unwary foreigners, passing through Florence, even easier to catch in the act by the captain's “family.”

The names of the players, however, are not always recorded. Sometimes, of a company of several players, the fact that some did not give their names is written; on other occasions, it is recorded that some managed to escape. Of these players who escaped or did not give their personal details, the exact number is always indicated. In these cases, it is easy to imagine that those convicted [together] with the registered name also had to pay the penalty for the others who were not identified. The deduction that can be drawn is that it was a single and equal sentence for each player: regardless of the number of those convicted, each had to pay the same sum; otherwise, the precision in indicating also the number of those who could not be identified could not be explained.

We also encounter more numerous cases than we could have expected of players who do manage to escape, but in a different way, which today would seem to have occurred with the complicity of the police;

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instead of the name of the fugitive, which could not be recorded, what the fugitive left behind on the spot before fleeing is recorded: depending on the season, a heavy cloak, or a light overcoat (for which we usually find the noun chlamys, well known from classical civilization), or other items of clothing. In all these cases, the type of object is not written simply, but at least its color is indicated. These items of clothing went to the Chamber of the Commune as pledges to be sold, cashing in the proceeds if the convicted person did not show up to redeem them by paying the penalty for gambling. One can imagine that it was a sort of compromise, such that it was convenient for the player to pay the penalty in kind in advance. Certainly, whatever the background, these cases were quite frequent.


Special cases

By special cases it meant here anything different that can be found in one of the captain's books compared to other similar ones, and therefore it may be useful to briefly review them one after the other.

• No. 1096 (1378). Contains the bannimenta gathered in the first part of the book, while the second contains the “discoveries.” Here we find some indications of the extent of the punishment, set at 7L.10s. and there are recorded cases of insolvent convicteds who end up in the Stinche prison and are released only with “baptism,” the punishment of bathing in the Arno, even out of season.
• No. 1786 (1389). The book is thicker than usual, with 123 folios, restored after being flooded, so much so that several parts are difficult to read; it contains more bans of the captain. The most common spelling here for gambling is ludus çare [game zare]. Very rarely do vague indications appear about the place: quadam logia, hostia aperta [a certain loggia, open gate]. Among the various convictions, there are some curious cases, such as that of two unfortunates caught urinating next to the Chamber of the Commune (capti mingere prope logia communis [captured urinate near the commune loggia]); one can suppose that it was the “where” rather than the “what” that prompted the conviction. After all, it would not be a strange case, and not even for the following centuries; on the contrary, it seems strange that this crime is found only in exceptional cases, unless dealing with such trivial infractions was part of the duties of the captain's “family.”
• No. 1832 (1390). It does not differ much from the others, as it contains the general declaration [bando] at the beginning and others later interspersed with the usual

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• reports of the outings of the captain's “family.” The game is typically referred to as ludus azare. There is one thing, however, that is present here as in no other of the books examined: the identification of the city location where the players were caught in the act. Thus, numerous citations of the type in logia Brunalleschi, in foro veteri, in platea comunis, in via larga, in via Amoris, ad pontem Refredi, in platea de Srozzis [in the loggia of Brunalleschi, in the old forum, in the commune square, in the via larga, in the via Amoris, at the Refredi bridge, in Srozzis square]. It is known that in Florence, there has never been a public gambling establishment [baratteria] authorized by the commune, unlike other cities that derived proceeds from the related tax; however, in some limited areas of the city, the captain's “family” could go on practically a sure shot when they wanted to hit gambling.
• No. 2197 (1402-03). A bundle of only six written folios. It is referred to as a ludus zardi and rarely taxillorum; in one case, tabula [board] is spoken of, but it seems that only the surface on which the dice were rolled is meant. We encounter the usual cloaks abandoned by fugitives.
• No. 2213 (1403). A bundle of nine folios bound in parchment with the captain's coat of arms. It is often repeated that the game was played sub quodam porticho [under a certain portico], without further indications of the location. The same notary writes ludus azardi, but also zardi.
• No. 2227 (1404). As usual, zardi is spoken of, or also azardi. We rarely find the localization per viam [by the street], but it is almost always specified that the game took place sub quodam porticho [under a certain portico], assuming that one can speak of a specification. In Florence, the porticos were less numerous than in other Italian cities, but these recurring reports, without indicating which portico was in question, remain completely useless for an actual location.
• No. 2240 (1404). A file without a cover, of only seven written folios. A crime that would certainly have been common, but which we never find, is stone-throwing with a sling (lapides cum archo tenso). Otherwise, the rule of ludum zardi sub quodam porticho [playing zara under a certain portico] is spoken of.
• No. 2261 (1405). Coverless file of only seven written folios. The games are systematically indicated as ludum azardi sub quodam portico. However, the first of all these cases is different, and will be discussed later because we finally meet the naibi. Among others, there is also a super quodam tabulerio [on a certain board], but it is specifiedthat they played the usual ludum azardi; the board [tabulerio] is mentioned only because it is on that board that the players abandoned tres soldos [three soldi]. Convictions for weapons are fewer than others. But this also occurs in other books.

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• No. 2280 (1405-06). A bundle with ten written folios bound in parchment with the captain's coat of arms. Ludus azardi is normally used for gambling. The cards are not numbered, but on what would be f. 3r there is the specification of the ludus cartarum sive nagibum, which will be discussed in the next section.
• No. 2322 (1406). There is a record of coins confiscated from players, or abandoned by them when they fled, as in September, two grossi of silver on the 13th, and thirty-one soldi on the 20th.

Cards [carte] and naibi

Since the information we were looking for was that on the naibi, it is time to focus on two of the many captures by the captain's “family,” which are found in books No. 2261 and No. 2280, relating respectively to the beginning and end of the year 1405. (To be precise, the first months of the year are still indicated in these documents as 1404, since the Florentine New Year was set on March 25, ab Incarnatione [from the Incarnation, i.e. after Jesus entered Mary’s womb].) First, the original Latin text is reproduced for the two cases.

In Book of the Captain No. 2261, this is the second case listed among all the convictions, on the first folio.

Die xviii februari (1405). Quam plures homines ad ludum cartarum sive naibulorum super quodam banco et propter timorem arripuerunt fugam et dimisserunt duos grossos argenteos et unum par cartarum et missi fuerunt ad cameram communis.

[On the 18th of February (1405). Several people at the game of cards or of naibi on a certain bench and because of fear [of seizure] took flight and left two silver grossi and one pair [deck] of cards, and they were sent to the chamber of the commune.]

Well, in this case, it cannot be written that the players were playing dice, because in addition to two silver grossi they left an entire deck of playing cards on the table. The deck was still indicated as a pair, so that when at the time we find a mazzo di carte indicated [which later meant “deck of cards”], the expression should be read as “a bundle of sheets of paper.” The usual naibi are indicated here as naibuli, barring possible reading errors. In this case, the treasurer of the commune will have to put in the takings a sum linked to the value of the two coins and the cards rather than collecting the usual equal sum for all the players, who, in this case, we don't even know how many there were.

In the Book of the Captain No. 2280 on folio 3r (not numbered), we read the following.

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Die xxii Novembris (1405). Ser Cola de Menale milex soctius praefati domini Capitani iens et rediens in et per civitatem Florentiae retulit michi notario casse se invenisse
Micchaelem Benedicti populi S. Donati et duos alios qui noluerunt dicere nomen eorum ludentes ad ludum <azar deleted> cartarum sive nagibum contra formam statutorum civitatis Florentiae et per Francischictum de exculo? qui iurant ad sancta dei evangelia scripturarum corporaliter manu tactis se invenisse.

[On the 22nd of November (1405). Ser Cola de Menale, knight, partner to the aforesaid Lord Captain going and returning to and through the city of Florence reported to me notary of takings that he found.
Michael Benedict of the parish of St. Donatus and two others who did not want to say their name playing at the game of cards [cartarum] or nagibum against the form statutes of the city of Florence, and [with Cola] through Franceschetto from exculo[?], who swear to [what] they found, physically touching the hands on the holy gospels of the scriptures.]

In reading the text, some uncertainties remain, especially deriving from the abbreviations used by the notary. Thus, it is possible that instead of nagibum one should more plausibly read nagiborum, while the scripturae may be in a case other than the genitive plural. Of some interest is the correction, with the deletion of azar, that habit had caused to be written automatically, as always. Instead, in this case, the only finding, the notary corrects himself: it was not a game of zara, but instead of dice they were using playing cards. Also of some interest here is the use of the synonym, to leave no room for misunderstanding: carte sive naibi [cards or naibi]. In this case, thanks to the sive, but also to the sense, there is no doubt that they are the same thing; they are in any case playing cards, which were also called naibi.

By the way, the Latin term for these playing cards is written here in one case naibuli and in the other nagibi, two different ways among the many in which this name is indicated, confirming, if there was any need, its foreign origin, still relatively recent.

Perhaps even more important than the fact that playing cards are referred to respectively as naibuli or nagibi is the fact that they are also directly called cartae. This would seem natural, since, then as now, it was easy to pass the name from the material used to produce the object to the object itself; moreover, the Italian term carta had been known and used for a long time. A similar double denomination for “carte e naibi” was found in Prato in a document from 1410; [note 2] but in Florence, playing cards were normally referred to as naibi, with all the associated difficulties in correctly writing that unusual name, of which the exact spelling no one could know. On the first occasion in which we find the term cartae here, it should be noted that not only is it the first of the two synonyms to be listed, but it is also the only term that remains when referring to the deck of cartae abandoned on the bench by the fugitive players. If one
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2. https://naibi.net/A/411-PO400-Z.pdf.

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were to judge only from these testimonies, one could conclude that the primitive name of naibi was already about to be replaced by that of cartae, but we well know that in Florence the name of naibi resisted much longer.


Other Books of the Captain

In addition to the Libri inventionum, explicitly indicated as relating to the captures of interest to us, an initial survey has been carried out on some books that could have contained at least some of the same material. In particular, books 1563 (1384), 1733 (1388), 1807 (1389-90), 1983 (1393), 2089 (1398) have been examined, but in none of these were the corresponding discoveries [invenzione] identified, even though both the captain's declarations and the news of the outings of the “family” are usually found there. As a curiosity, it can be noted that in the general declaration of No. 1983, the first place in the list of crimes is taken by one that is usually completely absent: no heretic may stay in the city!

In No. 2089 we find instead on f. 3r a more detailed list than usual for the prohibition of games: ad aliquem ludum taxillorum, azardi, aliossorum, vel aliud ludum prohibitum [at any game of dice, zara, knucklebones, or any other prohibited game]. If, to avoid misunderstandings, they add games with knucklebones or astragals, of very ancient tradition, it would seem strange that naibi were not also explicitly added, if they had been considered among the prohibited games at the time.

A detail that would require a statistical analysis is the order in which the crimes are listed in the general proclamations. The crimes are generally listed in less than ten articles, each of which is reserved for blasphemy, gambling, going out at night, carrying weapons, seditious gatherings, counterfeiting money, disturbing the public peace, not respecting the laws and customs, and possibly others. They are always the same points, or almost; however, the order is not preserved: the first article itself on the list, the one to which the captain most draws the citizens' attention, changes depending, it seems, on the political situation. Gambling is always found among the first crimes on the list, but we find in first position, depending on the case, either blasphemy or gatherings; evidently, the danger of riots and citizen revolts was felt more in some of those rather turbulent years.

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Conclusion

Research was conducted on the Books of the Captain of the People between the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. The main aim was to trace the presence of naibi among the convictions for prohibited games. The books examined are those indicated in the Inventorio as Liber inventionum and a few others, selected from those that seemed most similar. The first two explicit mentions of naibi found so far are from 1405, and naibi are also already indicated in both cases with the synonym of carte. Unfortunately, these documents do not indicate the extent of the punishment, and therefore it is not discovered whether naibi were punished to the same extent as zara. The first impression is that the frequent convictions of players only concerned zara and possibly similar dice games: however, further research is necessary to distinguish whether before 1405 card games were tolerated by the “family” of the captain of the people or whether they were instead included among the convictions for games, also using in a generic sense for naibi the same name with which dice games were indicated. The issue is important because the period of time that remains to be documented is almost thirty years; it would be useful to know better what the popularity of playing cards in Florence was, starting from the same urban environment in which they were mostly used since the early years of their diffusion.

Franco Pratesi – 03.07.2015