MAGISTRI COMACINI

Magistri Comacini is a term applied in the early Middle Ages to the master architects who supervised the construction of medieval cathedrals. It first appears c. 643 in a charter [L. A. Muratori, Rerum italicarum scriptores, 500–1500, cont. by G. Carducci and V. Fiorini (Città di Castello 1900–) 1.2:25; Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Leges (Berlin 1826–) 4:33] of the Lombard King Rotharius, and later in a document (ibid. 4:176) of King Liutprand to a group of builders (741). The term is derived probably from Comacina, an island in Lake Como; the area was known for the skill of its architects during this period. It is unlikely that the magistri comacini can be linked with the organized collegia of builders under the Roman Empire, who are said to have taken refuge on the island during the barbarian invasions. By the 9th century, the terms magister marmorarius and magister casarius also describe those in the building trades.

Although the north Italian style had great impact on Romanesque architecture, it was not the only source of inspiration or craftsmanship; the magistri comacini appear elsewhere throughout medieval Europe. They often were granted charters and were organized along the lines of a corporation or guild, but their history is obscure, perhaps due to a secrecy that excluded outsiders. A few monks served as architects, such as the Benedictine Winidharius at sankt gallen c. 835 [Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Poetae (Berlin 1826–) 1:89–90], but most master builders were laymen; mastership seems to have passed from father to son. The masters moved from place to place and developed an international style in their work. Their artistic canons tended to break with classical and Byzantine traditions. Some, however, spent years on a large edifice, and several generations of a family might work on the construction of one cathedral complex. Miniatures in the codex of the Relatio translationis sancti Geminiani in Modena offer a view of the masters' duties in the reconstruction of the cathedral there (1099–1106); the master builder, Lanfranc, was a figure of authority and dignity, supervising diverse assistants, artisans, and laborers.

The Lombard magistri, who were fond of signing their work, are better known than others. The highly organized Italian lodges of architects and masons continued in existence to early modern times and played an important part in the development and spread of Baroque architecture in Italy and south Germany. With the decline of European cathedral building (16th–17th century) many lodges began to initiate nonmasons into their secret ritual and organization in order to maintain their membership and treasury; it is with these groups that modern freema-sonry claims affinity.

See Also: church architecture.

Bibliography: g. merzario, I maestri Comacìni, storia artistica di mille duecento anni 600–1800, 2 v. (Milan 1893). g. t. rivoira, Le origini della architectura lombarda, 2 v. (Rome 1901) 1:127–131. w. ravenscroft, The Comacines, Their Predecessors and Successors (London 1910). a. k. porter, Lombard Architecture, 4 v. (New Haven 1915–17) 1:8–20. a. m. zendralli, I magistri Grigioni (Poschiavo 1958). c. cordiÉ "I Maestri commacini (impresari construttori e non comensi )," Annali di Scuola normale superiore di Pisa, 2d ser., 31 (1962) 151–172. l. e. baxter, The Cathedral Builders, the Story of a Great Masonic Guild (New York 1899).

[b. j. comaskey]