Mysterious La Berta – ‘Petrified’ Stone Head And The Curse Of Cecco d’Ascoli Who Was Burned At The Stake

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - If you pass the old Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence, Italy you may not even notice La Berta, but she is there, looking down at you. The mysterious stone head of an unknown woman has been part of the Church for as long as anyone can remember, but it’s still unknown who she once was.

Local legends tell the “petrified head” embedded in the bricks can be traced to a nasty event that took place on September 16, 1327.

The Curse Of Cecco d’Ascoli

On this particular day, Cecco d’Ascoli (1257 – 1327) was going to be burned at the stake for heresy. The man who was an accomplished scientist was passing the crowds of people who had gathered on the streets to witness the event. Many were standing on balconies eager to see the execution.

Left: Head of La Berta - Credit: Sailko, CC BY 2.5 - Right: Cecco d'Ascoli - Credit: annidiargento.it

When Cecco d’Ascoli was in front of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore he asked for water, but at the very moment, a woman named Berta looked through the window and told the guards not to give the death-sentenced man any water. Not only did she deny him water, but she also accused him of being an alchemist who communicated with the Devil using water. She said that if Cecco d’Ascoli was given water, the Devil could grant him immunity. Of course, superstitious guards who heard this decided to follow the advice of the woman and made certain the prisoner never received a drop of water.

Cecco d’Ascoli was furious and cast a curse on her shouting 'You will never lift your head from there!'

Cecco d’Ascoli – An Accomplished Renaissance Scientist Who Was Too Outspoken

This is also exactly what happened according to local legends. The petrified head of La Berta is still visible from a small slit of the bell tower of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, waiting to be released from the curse.

Cecco d’Ascoli, who was burned at the stake was an accomplished scientist, but his free-thinking and plain-speaking attitude gave him many enemies. He was an encyclopaedist, physician, mathematician, astrologer, and poet.

In 1322 he was made Professor of astrology at the University of Bologna, and d’Ascoli could have dedicated his life to studies, but he became involved in religious debates. During the Renaissance, people questioned almost anything, art, learning, kings, queens, and the Church. That was the beauty of the Renaissance, but it was also dangerous to come in trouble with the Church. Even the powerful Medici family who were patrons of Galileo Galilei were not as strong as the leaders of the Inquisition and they failed to protect him when Galileo was arrested.

Cecco d’Ascoli had no one who protected him from the Inquisition, and he certainly made a deadly mistake when he attempted to determine the Nativity of Christ by reading his horoscope. This along with other accusations led to his death sentence.

The head of La Berta is easy to miss. Credit: Credit: Sailko, CC BY 2.5

Returning back to the mysterious head of an unknown woman in the upper part of the bell tower of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, it should be mentioned there are other stories that could shed light on her identity.

According to one theory, the head is a memorial dedicated to the greengrocer who donated bells to the church so they could chime whenever the city gates would open or close. Yet another theory is that the head is a Roman sculpture, but we don’t know whom it depicts.

It’s not unusual that old Churches and monasteries in Italy are associated with strange tales of magic, curses, and incredible supernatural events. For example, many think the Abbey of San Galgano is shrouded in mystery because no one knows how a meter-long sword ended in solid rock there.

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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