Bell

BELL. -
A bronze instrument shaped like an inverted cup, which sounds when its walls are struck by a clapper on the inside or by a hammer on the outside. Its use goes back to the most remote antiquity.

I. HISTORY

The word bell, according to Isidore of Seville (Origines), would derive from Campania, where the first bells would have been made with the local bronze called campanum; since one of the workshops that produced them was located at Nola, legend attributed the invention to St. Paulinus, bishop of that city (409-431). Similar instruments, albeit of smaller dimensions, certainly existed previously, and from these derived the bell used in Christian worship.

The ancient peoples of Europe perhaps did not know bells; it seems instead that large ones were made in the East before Christianity: in China they were cast in the 5th and 6th centuries and some still remain in Buddhist monasteries. When Christian worship began to use them, it is not possible to determine. We see, however, that from the 6th century onward the terms bell (campanam) and signam recur in Latin documents; the first alluding to the region of origin, the second relating to the use for which the object was destined, and certainly in the 7th century they were in use in Italy, in Gaul and in the British Isles; according to the Liber ordinum, Spain too had known them for some time.

In the 8th century Pope Stephen II (752-57) had a bell tower with three bells built at St. Peter's. The use of these is in fact soon linked with the construction of the bell tower, due to the necessity of raising the bells so that their sound could conveniently spread.

The first bells were made of beaten iron plate and had an almost tubular shape, with a slight widening 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 of tin; it is not certain that silver was sometimes added, more probable instead is the presence of lead in the alloy and certain that of antimony, which Italian founders of the 14th century used to strengthen the sound. In the 17th century, in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, bells were also cast in iron, but only for a short time; in the 19th century some were also made of steel.

Bells were cast from the 9th century onward in nomadic workshops. The trade was passed down from father to son; in France we find the De Croisilles active in the 13th-14th centuries, and we know of many German and Dutch families operating until the 18th century. In Italy, in the 13th century and following, the Pisan, Lucchese and Florentine founders were particularly distinguished (Bartolomeo, Loteringio di Bartolomeo, Guidoccio, Guidotto and Andrea Pisano di Guidotto, Bonaguida and Rico Fiorentini, Andreotto and Giovanni). Many of the bells of Italian cathedrals date from the 16th century.

Fairly early, inscriptions began to be placed on bells with names of saints, with the indication of the founders, the donors and the date, with phrases relating to the destination of the object; the use spread more widely from the 12th century. Inscriptions that recur often are those taken from the epitaph of St. Agatha: Mentem sanctam spontaneam, honorem Deo et patriae liberationem and the other Vox mea, vox vitae, voco vos ad sacra, venite. The bells were also embellished with various ornaments such as figures of saints, etc., obtained with molds sometimes prepared by artists of notable worth.

In Italy Rome had the greatest number of bells and also those of the largest dimensions; probably among the oldest is the bell found at Canino, cast in bronze, adorned with two raised crosses and an inscription, from the 8th century or the beginning of the 9th (Lateran Museum); and also that of S. Benedetto in Piscinula; those of S. Cosimato (1238), of S. Adriano (1249), of S. Maria in Domnica (1288), of S. Maria in Cosmedin (1289). Also from 1289 are a bell of S. Maria Maggiore (Lateran Museum) and another of St. Peter's in the Vatican, works of Guidotto Pisano, assisted by his son Andrea in that of S. Maria Maggiore, with inscriptions and names of the authors. Two others of S. Maria Maggiore are one from the workshop of Guidotto (late 13th century or beginning of the 14th) and another from a 14th-century workshop. The bells of S. Maria Maggiore were considered the best in Rome and were famous 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 with the date 1286 and the name of the founder. Also by Guidotto Pisano is the bell of S. Angelo in Pescheria of 1291, likewise with an inscription. Bartolomeo Pisano cast bells for S. Francesco d'Assisi in 1239 and many other Tuscan churches (Pisa, S. Paolo a Ripa, 1242; S. Cosimo, 1248; Florence, museum of S. Marco, 1249); Loteringio, his son, cast those now in the museum of Lucca (1242) and of the campanile of Pisa (1262); Guidoccio, also Pisan, made the bell of the commune of Spoleto, of 1283; by Bonaguida and Rico Fiorentini is a bell at S. Michele di Pontorno (1278). In the cathedral of Anagni is a bell from the time of Boniface VII, by Andreotto and Giovanni. Let us also recall the bells of S. Martino di Lucca, those of Loreto, of Parma, of the cathedral of Milan.

In the rest of Europe the nation that has, or had, the greatest number of bells is Russia (famous is the colossal one of Moscow, called the Tsar bell); Germany possesses a great number of medieval bells, Spain has several in beaten iron, while France has lost most of them following the revolution. Famous in Switzerland are the bells of the monasteries of St. Gall.

In the secular field, special mention should be made of the bells of civic towers (e.g. Florence, Palazzo Vecchio). A place apart is held by the so-called carillons, concerts of bells tuned and arranged in a scale; very well known are those of the Flemish civic towers.

Among modern Italian bells let us recall the bronze bell, a gift of the communes of Italy to the tomb of Dante in Ravenna (1921), modeled by D. Cambellotti and cast by F. Lucenti; the great bell cast with the bronze of various nations and placed on the castle of Rovereto so that it may bring the greeting of peace to all the dead of the First World War, designed and modeled by S. Zuech (1924).

Vincenzo Golzio

II. LITURGY

Bells are for the service of worship, and serve to call the faithful to the sacred functions, to exhort them to prayer at determined hours of the day and on various occasions, for the dead and for the dying, in storms, in fire, etc. Ringing them for other reasons is permitted only with the authorization of the Ordinary, except in case of necessity or contrary custom; to do so for non-Christian reasons is forbidden. The Ordinary may order them rung ob causam publicam even for exempt religious, unless there is a contrary privilege or custom (can. 612). Bells are the endowment of the church, which is their legitimate owner. Considered res sacrae, 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 we have three formularies. The first is in the Roman Pontifical; De benedictione signi vel campanae, and is used for the bells of consecrated churches. The second is in the Roman Ritual: Benedictiones reservatae I. n. 7, and is for churches solemnly blessed or for oratories. The third is for the blessing of bells destined for profane but lawful use, and is in the same Ritual: Benedictiones reservatae I. n. 8. All three are reserved to the bishop or to a delegated priest. In the 18th century the bell made its appearance in the orchestra, but its use remained limited to certain descriptive compositions or ones with elements of a picturesque and evocative type. Generally the orchestral bell is of steel, of tubular shape, and is struck with wooden hammers; it is therefore more manageable, has a moderate sonority and definite pitches.

Filippo Oppenheim

III. ITALIAN LEGISLATION

In pre-Concordat Italian law, although the Church's competence in matters of the use of bells was recognized, there were nevertheless certain restrictive norms. Thus, for example, the penal code of 1889 punished anyone who "by abuse of bells disturbs the occupations or the rest of citizens or public gatherings"

(art. 457). Royal Decree No. 297 of 12 February 1911 and then art. 131 of the Consolidated Text No. 148 of 4 February 1915 gave municipalities the power to establish norms "to prevent the abuse of the ringing of bells."

After the Lateran Pacts, with the recognition of the free exercise of worship reaffirmed in art. 1 of the Treaty, the possibilities of state intervention in this matter were necessarily diminished. Therefore, in the new Consolidated Text of the municipal and provincial law No. 383 of 3 March 1934, the provision that gave municipalities the aforementioned power was no longer reproduced; and in the new penal code the abuse of bells is no longer expressly provided for, but rather generically the abuse of sound-producing instruments or acoustic signals (art. 659), although bells are certainly also included among sound-producing instruments (but the provision also and above all concerns abuse committed by outsiders without the authorization of the ecclesiastical authority).

Mention should then be made of art. 40 letter b of Royal Decree No. 2262 of 2 December 1929, which forbids factory boards from interfering in the manner and time of ringing bells; and of art. 41 of the same decree which, translating can. 1185 of the CIC, reserves to the rector of the church, saving legitimate customs and conventions and the authority of the ordinary, the appointment of the bell-ringer.

Pio Ciprotti

IV. FOLKLORE

The customs and beliefs relating to bells constitute an interesting aspect of popular tradition. The efficacy of the sound of bells in warding off hail has taken on different forms of manifestation in various localities. For example, in some villages of Umbria it is the bell of the parish church that must ring first, while in others it is the bell of the town tower. It is a widespread opinion among the common people that if the bell-ringer is prompt in ringing the bells before the hail has arrived in the territory of the parish, it can no longer enter it. Hence the grave responsibility that is placed on the bell-ringer, of whom extraordinary vigilance and promptness are therefore required. In Abruzzo it is believed by the lower classes that the sound of bells is effective when the devil has just mounted his horse on the "evil cloud": if he has already set out on his journey, there is little hope that the sound will hold him back. The terminology used to indicate this ringing against hail also varies from village to village: a malacqua, a tempesta, a scongiuro, etc.; also ad acqua bona, as a good omen. Certain particular bells are held to be endowed with virtues superior to others for driving away hail; especially those baptized in the name of a patron saint against hail, such as St. Peter Martyr, St. Vincent, St. Potentiana. Also interesting are the popular uses of the sound of bells for Baptism and death. The sex of the one being baptized can be distinguished from the different sound of the bells. Thus for a male the great bell is rung and for a female the small one; the duration of the pealing is also longer in the first case than in the second; it sometimes depends also on the greater or lesser generosity of the godfather toward the bell-ringer. A richer variety of uses is presented by the ringing of the bell for death; the differences serve to distinguish both age and sex. For example, the custom of ringing festively for the death of a small child is very widespread: it is called "ringing to the angel"; for that of an elderly person the first pealing is longer. As for sex, in general, for a man a greater number of strokes is used than for a woman (for example, 12 in the first case, 9 in the second). The sound of the bells is also distinguished by the fact that first a certain number of strokes is rung, followed by a pealing. The local varieties are very numerous. Also to be noted is the onomatopoeic interpretation that the people give to the voices of the bells, transforming them into words or phrases or verses, almost always appropriate to the circumstance in which the bells are rung, or to the church to which the bells belong. The naturally playful and satirical humor of the people manifests itself in apt expressions, graceful or whimsical, or sometimes even irreverent. - See Pl. XXXII.

Paolo Toschi