THE PONTE DEI PUGNI

This bridge is certainly not noted for its lines or style, but when you are at its summit, look down: in each of the corners you'll see a marble footprint. It was on this bridge that the most important "fist wars" in Venice took place and they began right here.
It is important to know that the Venetians were divided into two factions from time immemorial: the Castellani and the Nicolotti. This division would seem to have come about before Venice even existed. It apparently derived from disputes between Jesolo and Eraclea that dated back to before their people were forced to move to the lagoon to escape invasions by other peoples. The people of these cities found themselves fugitives in the same location and, wanting to maintain a certain distinction, settled in different areas. So the Castellani lived in the sestieri of Castello, S. Marco and Dorsoduro, while the Nicolotti lived in S. Polo, S. Croce and Cannaregio. Their rivalry continued for centuries (and some faint traces of it still remain today) even in the most minute details: for example, the Castellani wore red scarves and caps, while the Nicolotti wore black ones; the Castellani women wore a flower on one side of their breast, the Nicolotti on the other. But those were not times of flowers, they were times of war and blood. The government therefore encouraged the rivalry between the two groups so as to be able to call on men ready and trained to fight.
Such rivalry was expressed in many ways. The bloodiest were the battles on the bridges, for which careful preparation was made. First a public challenge was issued, like in knightly tournaments, then the bridge was chosen and, if necessary, reinforced. The canal was dug out and cleaned so that the combatants would not be injured if they fell into the water.
On the day of the battle, the two teams arrived accompanied by music and took up positions on the embankments on each side of the bridge. The canal itself was invisible due to the crush of spectators' boats, apart from the immediate area surrounding the bridge. People looked out from their windows, while others still crowded the roofs of the houses.
The fighters were ready for anything: they work cuirasses and helmets and carried shields or simply a length of cloth wrapped around the arm, and were armed with sticks and cudgels whose ends they had strengthened by immersing them in boiling oil. Sometimes the decision was for a fist fight only, when the fighters carried no arms or protection. The two teams were really sometimes small armies of up to 300 men per side. The battle then began.
First there were individual challenges between the champions of the two teams in what were genuine knightly duels. The challengers positioned themselves on the stone footprints, like boxers in the corners of the ring. Then each one tried to throw the other down from the landing on the bridge into the canal (you have to remember that the bridges didn't have parapets then). Tempers got more and more inflamed and soon the two groups threw themselves at each other en masse.
At issue was possession of the bridge on which the winners would plant their insignia. This possession was never very well-defined and the battles were never over. Sometimes at the end the public would also throw themselves into the melée, transforming the fight into all-out war. Those up on the roofs were also known to throw roof tiles down onto the enemy. As night fell, the police intervened to put a stop to the ruckus. With the dead (not unusual) and wounded gathered up, everyone became friends again, with pathetic scenes of remorse, embracing and drinks between victors and vanquished, before starting again at the first opportunity.
Only fist fights without weapons, were permitted from 1574 for obvious reasons. But they were so common that they became a custom. The nobles were even known to have had temporary bridges built especially for the purpose in particularly suitable places in order to offer this show to their important friends. The law constantly intervened to limit the fighting but, naturally, with little success: it was too much a part of the Venetian spirit.
There are still many bridges with names like "della guerra" or "dei pugni", but the bridge alongside us is the most important. In 1705, after particularly bloody battles, the government intervened more drastically, prohibiting any gathering near the bridges with penalties of five years or more of prison rowing (oared ships) "with irons on the feet" or seven years of "dark prison". Such measures were necessary to restrain the people's violent nature.

<< Back