1. Mariegola, cover recto. At the centre the image of Christ carrying the Cross.

2. Proemio della Mariegola.

Mariegola is the term used to indicate the constituent rule of a Scuola and the very volume in which it is recorded as well as the text of the Statute where the principle acts relative to the life of the brotherhood were materially conserved. Day-to-day activities were recorded in separate documents such as the Capitolare, the books of the Parti, the books of the Banche, and the lists of the confratelli (Libro mare). According to Franco Tonon (Tonon, 1998, p.33 n. 1), “it is popular opinion that the term 'mariegola' is not connected to 'madre regola,' as Tassini proposes (Tassini, p.590, voce “Scuola [corte della]”), but to late Latin matricula, which means public register. Boerio actually defines mariegola as “Matricula, A book in which the systematic laws of some Guilds of the Arts and of sacred places are collected” (Boerio, p.399). According to Prati, the word comes from the ancient Venetian riegola, and mariegola means register, a book in which the systematic laws of the confraternities and art guilds were written” (Prati, p.96). Battaglia agrees, Mariegola is the Venetian form of matricula, which means “in the compass of the medieval organisation of the arts and crafts guilds, a public register in which those who had a right to pursue a given craft or profession and who were granted the relevant written authorisation were noted and numbered […]. And by extension: the guild itself. […] Legalisation, a guild’s statute. (Battaglia, pp.804, 938). Niero associates the term mariegola with the meaning of graziosa madre di vita associativa (gracious mother of social life) (Niero, Scuola Grande.., p.6)”.

In the archive of the Scuola Grande of San Rocco, two volumes are conserved in two versions with many similarities to the Capitoli, in which the rules which governed the brotherhood are recorded.

One volume is a large and luxurious book, bound in red. Its cover is enriched, on the front, by an image of Christ carrying the cross (see fig. 1) and, on the back, by an image of San Rocco being venerated by the Frati Minori who concede hospitality to the Scuola.

Other than the Capitoli, the volume contains many other documents, such as the lists of the confratelli, indicated by the first letter of their Christian name, as well as others listed under various categories (men of the other four Scuole, singers, musician, nobles and gentlemen, doctors, priests). The volume contains many official documents of various types and from various sources (The Council of Ten, Superintendent all’Armar, the Bank of the Scuola, Patriarch of Venice) with dates going back to the beginning to 1621. The Proemio (see fig. 2) constitutes the general introduction of the volume: it is a true compendium – even if written in a popular format and with a less than erudite language – of theology and philosophy, in which the birth of the Scuola and its dedication to San Rocco are framed in a much larger divine plan to aid human life, which is seen as continually endangered by death and sin.

The second existing volume at San Rocco is more modest in its binding and is of much smaller dimensions. It confines itself to recanting the Capitoli of the Mariegola, adding five new ones. It concludes with two precious inventories 'de le robe de la schuola di misser San Rocho.'

For additional information on the Mariegole of the Scuola and on the books of the Parti (decisions taken by the Capitoli Generali and by the Banca e Zonta), a reading of the Quaderni di San Rocco NN. 5, 6 and 9 by Franco Tonon (see Bookshop) is advised.