About a century later, the matter became embroiled in national and ecclesiastical politics. Northern Italy became a battleground between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions of Italian secular politics.
Image (below): The Arca in the Sanctuary of the Church of St Peter in Ceil d’Oro at Pavia. The arca is a very fine work made by a group of Lombard sculptors in the second half of the 14th century. For pictures elsewhere on this website of the sanctuary containing the arca, click here and here. The insert (at the top right of the main photo) is a portrait of Cardinal Agostino Riboldi (formerly the Archbishop of Pavia), who in 1900 pressed strenuously for the return on Augustine's tomb from Pavia's cathedral to its Augustinian Church of Saint Peter.
The Augustinian Canons Regular of St Augustine inclined towards the Ghibellines, whereas the pope of the time, Pope John XXII in Avignon, was supported by the Guelphs. The Order of Saint Augustine was pro-papal, and John XXII in 1327 decreed that the Order of St Augustine could share with the Augustinian Canons the custody of the tomb of Augustine. This arrangement began on 5th June 1331.The papal decree, however, lacked details as to how this arrangement was supposed to work. And it really did not work. After much contention and even physical violence, an unsatisfactory arrangement was brought into place.
The church was divided along an east/west line, by which one order had the entrance on the north side of the cathedral, and the other order the entrance on the south side.The main altar which incorporated the monumental tomb of Augustine would be in the care of each order in alternate months. In the absence of any other solution, the unusual arrangement persisted. Eventually the Order of Saint Augustine was granted sole custody of both the church and the tomb. In October 1695, these bones of Augustine, hidden in the wall of the church by Liutprand in the eighth century, were rediscovered by accident. On that day a team of artisans was preparing to install decorative brackets on the crypt altar in the Church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia. Removing some paving stones in the floor, they came upon a marble box with charcoal lettering on the cover. Inside this box, they found another silver box decorated with Lombard crosses. This held a cloth veil, some human bones (including part of a skull), and some glass vials.
Although the workmen, some of whom were functionally illiterate, later disagreed about such details as the form and placement of the writing and even whether there had been a third box, all were convinced that they were the relics of Augustine, the patron saint of Pavia. The Canons Regular of Saint Augustine published an authentic account of that discovery. A controversy then arose between the Augustinian hermits (Order of Saint Augustine) and the regular canons (Canons Regular of Saint Augustine), as to whether these bones were really those of Augustine of Hippo, the former denying it but the latter affirming it. Pope Benedict XIII (1724-1730) directed the Bishop of Pavia, Monsignor Pertusati, to make a strict examination. The prelate declared that, in his opinion, the bones were certainly those of Saint Augustine. In a document on the 22nd of September 1728, Pope Benedict then approved the decision of the bishop, and ordered that the matter never be raised again.
Soon after their arrival of the Augustinians at the church, they commissioned a splendid marble arca (tomb) to contain the bones of Augustine - a project that after fifty years was completed in 1402. The arc was constructed and placed in the sacristy of the church (i.e., not at the position it now occupies in the sanctuary of the church). Moving it to its present location proved to be a lengthy process. In 1695, when 1700, Northern Italy was involved in the prolonged and destructive wars between the Austrians and the French, and the churches and religious monasteries in Pavia were taken over to be used as hospitals and soldiers' quarters. The Augustinians were evicted, and their monastery and church were taken over by the military. The arc was then dismantled and stored in a shed near the cathedral. For safety the bones of Augustine were removed to the Cathedral of Pavia, and placed on display. The Bishop of Pavia unsuccessfully appealed to Rome to erect the Arc (tomb) to the cathedral as well, but this was refused at that time.
This, however, did happen in 1828, and the relics (the sealed casket of bones) of Augustine was placed inside it. This arrangement continued for the rest of the nineteenth century. At the end of that century, the Augustinians re-purchased their monastery and the ruined Church of S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, where restoration commenced in 1896. They then successfully appealed to Rome for the return of the arc and the relics of Augustine from the Cathedral of Pavia, and in 1902 this happened. The appeal was supported by Archbishop Riboldi of Pavia, who had also assisted the Augustinians in 1900 to regain custody of the former friary immediately adjacent to the church. The Augustinians decided to assemble the Arc not once again in the large sacristy of the church, but immediately behind the main altar in the sanctuary of the church. This is where the Arc (tomb) can be seen today. The Order of Saint Augustine returned in the year 1900, and have served at the basilica ever since. The bones of Augustine, which are usually kept behind a grille on the front surface of the main altar of the arca, are securely locked in a glass-sided urn. This urn with the mortal remains of St Augustine has four locks, guarded by the bishop, the prior of the basilica, the mayor of the city and the council of the cathedral, thereby demonstrating that Augustine belongs to all of the components of the city of Pavia, without distinction.
The tomb was visited by Pope Benedict XVI on 22nd April 2007. Pope John Paul II visited it at the beginning of his long pontificate. Cardinal Roncalli, the future John XXIII, and Cardinal Montini, the future Paul VI, also visited it, along with many other illustrious visitors.
For the Augnet photo gallery containing images of Pavia (including Augustine’s tomb), click here.
LinksLa tomba di sant'Agostino – Pavia. An official blog on the tomb of St Augustine in Pavia, and is updated regularly. Written in Italian, but it has wonderful images. https://santagostinopavia.wordpress.com
Pavia, Church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. Full-screen 360-degree view of the church facade. http://www.visual-italy.it/EN/lombardia/pavia/san-pietro-ciel-oro