Pilgrim Reindeer in Pisa, 1348 a free multimedia novel by Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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 Part III. Italy. 53. Siena [April 8, 1348]

Narrative attraction. Of course I wanted Bávlos to meet St. Catherine of Siena. How could one depict the city without reference to its great saint? But Caterina was only an infant in 1348, having been born on March 25, 1347. So here was my solution. Caterina's mother's name really was Lapa, and yes, she had some twenty-five children. But there is no attested record that she knew the Sámi word for thank you, or that she ever drank reindeer colostrum.

I also wanted to build the narrative tension regarding the Plague in this chapter. Siena was devastated by the Plague, and the great cathedral's unfinished state is a lasting reminder of the tremendous blow the disease dealt the once wealthy city. Before 1348, anything seemed possible; after 1348, no one could even imagine completing the structure. I also wanted to hint at the tension between the Dominicans and the Franciscans here: Brother Mario quips that they are in enemy territory when walking near San Domenico, and the Franciscans built there great cathedral and house at the opposite side of town. Bávlos has met Dominicans--Pekka was one, as were the men of science in Firenze--but has had no interest in joining them. Now, suddenly, he seems to be drawn into the Franciscan community, compelled by the simple and emotive brand of spirituality that was the order's chief characteristic. Ironically, of course, St. Catherine is a great Dominican saint, not a Franciscan.