‘In parole’ and ‘in canto’: The Songs and Prayers of the Disciplinati in Early Modern Milan

Studies of the Italian lauda, and more generally of communal singing in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, have mostly focused on Central and North-Eastern Italy, leaving Milan in a grey area. A scarcely known set of late-fifteenth-century manuscripts currently held at the Biblioteca Trivulziana contains, however, several offices for the confraternities of Disciplinati (or Battuti) of Sant’Agata and of Santa Marta. The offices include various kinds of rhythmic prayers, both in the vernacular (laude) and in Latin, some of which are explicitly labelled for singing. Based on the study of these manuscripts and other contextual evidence, the present chapter explores the role of such confraternities in the soundscape of early modern Milan, also highlighting their remarkable contribution to public processions.