Lucca. Weavers’ Revolt (or Ragged People’s Revolt). Following the new laws passed the previous January, which burdened silk weavers, they revolted on May 1st, starting from the Church of San Francesco and waving a torn black banner. They also protested the “expensive and sad” bread, which was scarce and bad. The story had several twists and turns, with the demands accepted, a reversal, the intervention of Andrea Doria, and then the revolt escalated into a near-civil war. Giovanni Guidiccioni, a man of the Church, also intervened, defending the “ragged people” and being the first to understand that the aristocrats should be brought to trial.
