CAMPANA

BELL. A bronze instrument in the shape of an inverted cup that sounds when its walls are struck from the inside by a clapper or from the outside by a hammer. Its use dates back to the most remote antiquity.

I. History

The ancient peoples of Europe may not have known bells; it seems, however, that large bells were cast in the East before Christianity: in China, bells were cast in the 5th and 6th centuries, and some still remain in Buddhist monasteries. When Christian worship began to use bells cannot be determined. We do see, however, that as early as the 6th century, Latin documents mention the terms *campana* and *signum*; the former referring to the region of origin, the latter to the purpose for which the object was intended, and by the 7th century they were certainly in use in Italy, Gaul, and the British Isles; according to the *Liber ordinum*, Spain had known them for some time as well.

In the 8th century, Pope Stephen II (752–757) had a bell tower with three bells constructed at St. Peter’s. The use of bells soon became linked to the construction of bell towers, necessitated by the need to raise the bells so that their sound could be properly carried.

The earliest bells were made of hammered iron sheets and had an almost tubular shape with a slight flare at the bottom; in the 7th and 8th centuries, they began to be cast in bronze, with an alloy composed of four parts copper and one part tin; it is uncertain whether silver was sometimes added, but the presence of lead in the alloy is more likely, and the presence of antimony is certain—Italian founders of the 14th century used it to strengthen the sound. In the 17th century, bells were also cast in iron for a short time in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; in the 19th century, bells were also made of steel.

Bells have been cast since at least the 9th century in itinerant workshops. The craft was passed down from father to son; in France, the De Croisilles family was active in the 13th–14th centuries, and many German and Dutch families operated until the 18th century. In Italy, in the 13th century and later, the Pisan, Lucchese, and Florentine founders stood out particularly (Bartolomeo, Loteringio di Bartolomeo, Guidoccio, Guidotto and Andrea Pisano di Guidotto, Bonaguida and Rico Fiorentini, Andreotto and Giovanni). Many of the bells in Italian cathedrals date from the 16th century.

Quite early on, inscriptions began to be placed on bells, bearing the names of saints, the founders, donors, and dates, as well as phrases relating to the object’s purpose; this practice became more widespread in the 12th century. Common inscriptions include those derived from the epitaph of St. Agatha: *Mentem sanctam spontaneam, honorem Deo et patriae liberationem* ("A holy and willing mind, honor to God and liberation of the fatherland") and *Vox mea, vox vitae, voco vos ad sacra, venite* ("My voice, the voice of life, I call you to sacred rites, come"). Bells were also adorned with various ornaments, such as figures of saints, achieved through molds sometimes prepared by artists of considerable renown.

In Italy, Rome had the greatest number of bells and also those of the largest dimensions; among the oldest is probably the bell found at Canino, cast in bronze, adorned with two raised crosses and an inscription, dating to the 8th or early 9th century (Lateran Museum); and also that of S. Benedetto in Piscinula; those of S. Cosimato (1238?), S. Adriano (1249), S. Maria in Domnica (1288), S. Maria in Cosmedin (1289). Also from 1289 are a bell from S. Maria Maggiore (Lateran Museum) and another from St. Peter’s in the Vatican, works by Guidotto Pisano, assisted by his son Andrea in the former, with inscriptions and the names of the authors. Two other bells from S. Maria Maggiore are one from Guidotto’s workshop (late 13th or early 14th century) and another from a 14th-century workshop. The bells of S. Maria Maggiore were considered the finest in Rome and were renowned for their harmonious sound, attributed to the presence of silver in the alloy. In S. Nicola in Carcere, there are still two bells by Guidotto Pisano dated 1286 and bearing the founder’s name. Also by Guidotto Pisano is the bell of S. Angelo in Pescheria from 1291, likewise with an inscription. Bartolomeo Pisano cast bells for S. Francesco d’Assisi in 1239 and many others for Tuscan churches (Pisa, S. Paolo a Ripa, 1242; S. Cosimo, 1248; Florence, Museo di S. Marco, 1249); Loteringio, his son, cast those now in the museum of Lucca (1242) and in the bell tower of Pisa (1262); Guidoccio, also from Pisa, made the bell of the comune of Spoleto in 1283; a bell at S. Michele di Pontorno (1278) is by Bonaguida and Rico Fiorentini. In the cathedral of Anagni is a bell from the time of Boniface VII, by Andreotto and Giovanni. We may also recall the bells of S. Martino in Lucca, those of Loreto, Parma, and the cathedral of Milan.

Elsewhere in Europe, the nation with—or that had—the greatest number of bells is Russia (famous is the colossal one in Moscow, known as the Tsar Bell); Germany possesses a large number of medieval bells, Spain has several in wrought iron, while France lost most of its during the Revolution. Notable in Switzerland are the bells of the monasteries of St. Gall.

In the secular sphere, the bells of civic towers deserve special mention (e.g., Florence, Palazzo Vecchio). A special place is held by the so-called carillons, sets of tuned bells arranged in a scale; the most famous are those of the Flemish civic towers.

Among modern Italian bells, we may recall the bronze bell offered by the communes of Italy to Dante’s tomb in Ravenna (1921), modeled by D. Cambellotti and cast by F. Lucenti; the great bell cast from the bronze of various nations and placed on the castle of Rovereto to bear the greeting of peace to all the dead of the First World War, designed and modeled by S. Zucchi (1924).

II. LITURGY

Bells are used for the service of worship; they summon the faithful to sacred functions, exhort them to prayer at certain hours of the day and on various occasions, for the dead and the dying, in times of storm or fire, etc. Ringing for other purposes is permitted only with the authorization of the Ordinary, except in cases of necessity or established custom; ringing for non-Christian reasons is forbidden. The Ordinary may order the ringing of bells for a public cause even to exempt religious, unless there is a contrary privilege or custom (can. 612). Bells are the property of the church, which is their legitimate owner. Considered sacred objects, the Church requires that bells be consecrated or blessed (CIC can. 1169). This rite dates back to the 8th century and is contained in its essential elements in the *Ordo romanus V*. In today’s liturgy, there are three formulas for blessing bells. The first is found in the Roman Pontifical: *De benedictione signi vel campanare*, and is used for bells of consecrated churches. The second is in the Roman Ritual: *Benedictiones reservatae* I, n. 7, and is for solemnly blessed churches or oratories. The third is for the blessing of bells intended for lawful but profane use, and is found in the same Ritual: *Benedictiones reservatae* I, n. 8. All three are reserved to the bishop or a delegated priest.

In the 18th century, the bell made its appearance in the orchestra, though its use remained limited to certain descriptive or picturesque compositions. Generally, orchestral bells are made of steel, tubular in shape, and struck with wooden mallets; they are thus more manageable, with moderate sonority and distinct sounds.

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Filippo Oppenheim

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III. ITALIAN LEGISLATION

In Italian law, while the Church’s competence over the use of bells was recognized, there were certain restrictive norms. For example, the Penal Code of 1889 punished anyone who, “by abusing bells, disturbs the occupations or rest of citizens or public gatherings” (art. 457). Royal Decree No. 297 of 12 February 1911, and later Article 131 of the Consolidated Text of 19 February 1915, No. 148, empowered municipalities to establish rules “to prevent the abuse of bell ringing.”

After the Lateran Pacts, which affirmed in Article 1 of the Treaty the recognition of the free exercise of worship, the state’s ability to intervene in this matter necessarily diminished. Thus, the new Consolidated Text of the Law on Municipalities and Provinces of 3 March 1934, No. 383, no longer included the provision granting municipalities the aforementioned power; and the new Penal Code no longer expressly addresses the abuse of bells, but rather generally prohibits the abuse of sound instruments or acoustic signals (art. 659), though bells are certainly included among such instruments (though the provision primarily concerns abuse by outsiders without ecclesiastical authorization).

It should also be noted Article 40(b) of Royal Decree No. 2262 of 2 December 1929, which prohibits factories from interfering in the manner and timing of bell ringing; and Article 41 of the same decree, which, translating Canon 1185 of the CIC, reserves to the rector of the church, subject to legitimate customs and agreements and the authority of the Ordinary, the appointment of the bell-ringer.

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Pio Cipriotti

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IV. FOLKLORE

The customs and beliefs surrounding bells form an interesting aspect of popular tradition. The efficacy of bell ringing to ward off hail has taken various forms in different localities. For example, in some towns of Umbria, it is the parish church bell that must ring first, while in others it is the municipal tower bell. Popular belief holds that if the bell-ringer promptly rings the bells before the hail reaches the parish territory, the hail will not enter. Hence the grave responsibility placed on the bell-ringer, who is expected to exercise extraordinary vigilance and promptness. In Abruzzo, the lower classes believe that bell ringing is effective only when the devil has just mounted his horse on the “sad cloud”: if he has already set off, there is little hope that the ringing will stop him. The terminology used to describe this anti-hail ringing also varies by region: *a malacqua*, *a tempe*, *a scongiuro*, etc.; sometimes even *ad acqua bona*, as a good omen. Certain bells are considered to possess superior powers to others in warding off hail, especially those blessed in the name of a saint protector against hail, such as St. Peter Martyr, St. Vincent, or St. Potentiana.

Also noteworthy are popular uses of bell ringing for baptisms and deaths. The sex of the baptized can be distinguished by the different ringing of the bells: for a boy, the large bell is rung, and for a girl, the small one; the duration of the ringing is also longer in the first case than in the second, sometimes depending on the generosity of the godfather toward the bell-ringer. A richer variety of customs surrounds bell ringing for the dead, with differences serving to distinguish both age and sex. For example, it is common to ring festively for the death of a child—known as “ringing to an angel”—while for an elderly person, the first peal is longer. As for sex, generally more tolls are used for a man than for a woman (e.g., 12 in the first case, 9 in the second). The ringing of bells is also distinguished by the fact that a certain number of tolls is first sounded, followed by a peal. Local variations are numerous.

Also noteworthy is the onomatopoeic interpretation that the people give to the sounds of bells, transforming them into words, phrases, or verses, almost always appropriate to the circumstances in which the bells are rung or to the church to which they belong. The natural playful and satirical humor of the people is expressed in clever, graceful, and whimsical—or sometimes irreverent—expressions.

**See** Plate XXXII.

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Paolo Toschi