In June 1300, a procession in honour of Florence's patron saint, San Giovanni, was assaulted by a group of eminent Florentines. For Dino Compagni, the attack was an attempted coup organized by Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta, papal legate and former general of the Franciscans, and the Black Guelfs. Compagni, however, is the only chronicler to mention it. Nevertheless, his account of the conflict in 1300 shares in common with Giovanni Villani's Nuova cronica a fight that had broken out between the leading families of the factions during a festa on May Day 1300 and some connection with the Guelf victory at Campaldino in 1289. These events and their retellings provide windows into the manipulation of urban space and concepts of political legitimacy through narrative and ritual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]