San Bernardino Stone

The San Bernardino Stone or Scandal Stone is an important memorial site located in the historic center of San Donato.

The Stone, placed in the middle of the 16th-century Via Maggiore, is a reminder that from the earliest times it was customary for any citizen who claimed a debt to either try to recover it thanks to the "pitt'ma," a character paid to torment the debtor by reminding him to pay back what was owed, or by forcing him into public ridicule on the Stone of San Bernardino. The Stone was "found" and restored by the Pro Loco in 1998.

Similar stones were in use in major Italian cities and in ancient Rome. Depending on the size of the sum to be repaid, the insolvent debtor was forced to sit on top of the stone, pants down, for several hours, amid insults, spitting, and jeers. With this gesture, the insolvent admitted his failure, but found himself free of the debt.

Bernardino, actually "blessed" and not "saint," was born in Feltre in 1439. Appointed preacher by the Venetian provincial chapter, he devoted his entire life to defending the weak against usury, traveling through central and northern Italy many times, barefoot, often finding himself struggling against adverse weather conditions, wars, expulsions by princes, and the hatred of usurers and Jews. A promoter of the Monti di Pietà, he died in Pavia on September 28, 1494.