Fides

On the weather vane on top of the Town Hall of Livorno we can see the Latin word “Fides” (trust). In 1496 Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, was at war with the Florentine Republic, so an imperial army laid siege to Livorno to cut Florence access to the sea, while a fleet blockaded the port. Hundreds of peasants from the boroughs aronnd the town, tired of past destruction, volunteered to join the defense.A legend says that a “villano” (peasant), Guerrino of Montenero, distinguished himself leading his men in the defence of the old fort. It seems that he even shot with a falconet the Emperor himself, barely missing and tearing one of his brocade sleeves. After three weeks of siege some unespected help came with a “libecciata” (gale force wind) that destroyed part of the imperial fleet and ravaged the camp of the assailants, leading the Emperor to end his siege.The grateful Florence gave the Livornesi the right to fly a standard with “Fides” written on it, a word that now shows up on every coat of arms of Livorno. A first monument “al villano” (to the peasant) was then erected at the bastion successfully defended by Guerrino and his men: the work represented a man with a dog, as a symbol of trust. The statue we see today is the third incarnation of the monument: it is a work of Vitaliano De Angelis and Giulio Guiggi and was erected in “Largo Fratelli Rosselli” in 1956 to replace a more ancient artifact lost in the last war.

See also: Town Hall
External links: Maximilian I - Holy Roman Emperor - Republic of Florence - Falconet (Wikipedia)

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