Parma, Saint Rufiino, Italy — Circa 1284
A duel of stars
On 6 August 1284 the naval battle of the Meloria, between the forces of Genoa and Pisa, took place. It is said in the Chronicon Parmesan, of the Franciscan monk Salimbene de Adam (1221-1287): “It should be known that this battle and massacre between the Genovesi and Pisani had already been foretold and announced long before it happened. In the town of Saint Ruffino, in the diocese of Parma, some women peeled [washed?] the linen at night: and they saw two great stars meeting in the sky. They drew away from each other and still collided again, and chased one another, and more than once…”
Source: Giuseppe Scalia, ed., Cronica Fratris Salimbene de Adam ordinis minorum (Laterza, 1966). Case: W070