Veni, Veni Soror Nostra

Abstract Thus read the penultimate decree in the series of thirty-six that Francesco Bossi issued in the aftermath of his visit to Sienese convents in 1575. emonies: Bossi ordered that the expenses for food were not to exceed 10 scudi1. These decrees, so similar in content to those emanating from prelates in Rome, Bologna, Venice, and Piacenza, testify to the customs the ecclesiastical hierarchy wanted observed when a girl entered a nunnery or took her vows2. The family invited a large number of friends and relatives to accompany their daughter to the convent and to witness her performance in the solemn ceremonies that marked her admission to and acceptance of life in the cloister. Afterward, family, friends, and nuns were treated to a banquet. Since Bossi was critical of nuns’ theater-he issued another decree forbidding that practice-he was doubtless discomfited by the idea that the already dramatic religious rituals could be embellished in such a way that they played out on an even larger stage, with the participation of the public.