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September is a month symbolising recovery, good intentions and new beginnings. In Sardinia, it is still called ‘Cabudanni’, despite the fact that much time has passed since September in our island signalled the beginning of the year.
The name comes from ‘Caput anni’, which in the Greek calendar represented the first month of the year. Sardinia, controlled by Byzantium from around the 6th to the 10th century, was inevitably affected by customs and traditions from the eastern portion of the Roman Empire.
The Byzantine calendar basically followed the Julian calendar, used in the Roman Empire, differing only in the starting date of the year and the numbering of the years. In 462 A.D., it was decided that the year would begin on 1 September and end on 31 August, at least until the 16th century.
These two dates also marked the rhythms of the harvest, regulating work in the fields and economic negotiations.
Work in the countryside and harvest activities were started at that time, thus establishing the beginning of the agricultural year.
The giudicati, built on the ashes of Byzantine administration and politics, retained much of these legacies, so much so that in the Carta de Logu in Eleonora d'Arborea's version of 1392 we read:
Item ordinamus qui nexuna persone non deppiat nen poçat pone fogu infini ad passadu sa festa de Santa Maria, qui est a dies octo de capudanni
This was a prescription according to which it was forbidden to burn stubble, which could cause fires, before 8 September, called ‘capudanni’.
The Carta de Logu also informs us of a custom in use in the fields to prevent fires from spreading from one field to another. This is ‘sa doha’, a strip of land cleared of weeds.
But what has remained, apart from the name, of these ancient agricultural traditions?
A lot, actually.
Until not so long ago, September was the month in which field leases were renewed, as well as contracts with the labourers who worked them, the shepherds, and even the service women. These labourers were called ‘is giornaderis’ because they were paid by the day and, only in the luckiest cases, had an annual contract with the lord who owned the field until 31 August. Obviously the contract was not written, but sealed by the word, which in Sardinia had always had a much stronger value.
In relation to what Francesco Alziator wrote in his essay entitled ‘Sardinian Folklore’, written in 1957, ‘for the Sardinians, the year does not begin in January; instead, it begins in September and only the months of January, February, March, April and May, i.e. five out of twelve have names that are the same as those used by most of Christendom; the other seven have particular names, used only on the Island, and not even throughout the Island, but only in certain areas and sometimes very limited. [...] The Sardinian calendar is the expression of a people substantially dedicated to agriculture'.
And it is precisely in agriculture and pastoralism that Sardinia has always founded its traditions, the origins of which are lost in the mists of time.
Even today, September is a month where plans, programmes and even changes are made. School, work, personal resolutions, everything knows the flavour and excitement of new beginnings.
And you, what are your resolutions for September?
✅ Cover photo by Kai Pilger from Pixabay.
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Roberta Carboni has been a tourist guide and art historian for more than 10 years. She lives in Cagliari and is passionate about Sardinia, which she has loved so much, all her life, which is why she has chosen to tell its story through exclusive thematic tours. In this way, she contributes to making the island known not only to those who do not yet know it, but also to the Sardinians themselves. The tours take place both within Cagliari, i.e. in the historic centre and other parts of the city, and in the surroundings of the city, going also to the south and centre of Sardinia.
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