Arrigo of Treviso

Arrigo of Treviso is a poor German laborer whose reputation for a holy life leads the people of Treviso to proclaim him a saint after his death. In the story of Martellino, Arrigo’s shrine becomes the center of a public gathering and the stage for a counterfeit cure: the crowd’s faith in the dead man’s power makes the imposture possible, but the narrative does not confirm that Arrigo performed a miracle.

Identity and Local Reputation

Arrigo earns his living carrying burdens for anyone willing to hire him. Though poor and engaged in humble work, he is regarded by the people of Treviso as a man of notably holy and good life. The account offers no further biography or record of his deeds; his identity is established through his work, poverty, and the reputation others attach to him.

That reputation acquires public force at his death. According to what the Trevisans say, the bells of the city’s great church begin ringing without anyone pulling them at the moment he dies. The story leaves the report open, presenting it as something the townspeople affirm rather than as a miracle verified by the narrator. The people interpret the unexplained ringing as a sign, proclaim Arrigo a saint, and carry his body to the Cathedral.

Death and Popular Veneration

The procession to the Cathedral turns Arrigo’s body into the focus of a communal devotional scene. People bring the halt, the infirm, the blind, and others suffering from ailments, expecting that contact with the body will restore them. The narrative describes this expectation and the crowd’s conviction, not a series of confirmed healings. Arrigo’s sanctity thus appears as a reputation formed and enacted by the townspeople: a report of bells, a public declaration, and a stream of petitioners converge around his remains.

This cult provides the immediate setting for Martellino’s deception. The crowd is so large that the church is packed, with armed men stationed there to prevent disorder. Martellino arrives with Stecchi and Marchese, two fellow Florentines who, like him, entertain audiences through disguises and imitations. Their first response to the throng is to seek a way through it; their plan depends on the expectation that someone presented as sick will be admitted to the saint’s body.

The Shrine in Martellino’s Deception

Martellino feigns severe paralysis, contorting his limbs and face while Stecchi and Marchese support him and appeal to the people to make room. The crowd yields, and some gentlemen lift him onto Arrigo’s body in the expectation that he will recover. Martellino then stages a gradual return of movement, extending first a finger, then a hand and an arm, before straightening himself. The onlookers erupt in praise of Saint Arrigo, taking the performance for evidence of the saint’s healing power.

The fraud collapses when a Florentine who recognizes Martellino tells the Trevisans that he has never been disabled. The revelation turns the crowd’s devotion into anger: they accuse Martellino of mocking both the people and their saint, pull him down, and beat him. Stecchi and Marchese, afraid for themselves, do not come to his aid. Arrigo’s shrine is therefore not shown producing a cure; instead, it is the setting in which a staged recovery is mistaken for one, then exposed as a trick.

Narrative Significance

Arrigo’s role is brief but consequential. His life is known through a modest occupation and a favorable local reputation, while his posthumous identity as a saint is built from a reported sign and the community’s response to it. The story keeps a distinction between what Trevisans believe and what is established: the bells are reported as a claim, and the expected healing power of the body is never independently demonstrated.

That distinction gives the episode its sharp reversal. The same public expectation that opens a path for a supposed cripple also makes Martellino’s performance persuasive; once his identity is recognized, the crowd’s confidence gives way to punishment. Arrigo is not implicated in the fraud. Rather, the episode uses the devotion surrounding his remains to examine how readily a crowd can read an apparent recovery as a miracle—and how quickly reverence can become violence when that reading is challenged.