San Vincenzo al Volturno New Abbey

History

The monastery was founded on a site which had been occupied in the pre-Roman period by Samnite peoples, and which had a villa or estate in the early to mid-fifth century. The late-antique fortified estate was abandoned in the fifth century, then in the mid-fifth century, a funerary church was constructed.

According to the Chronicon Vulturnense, the monastery was founded by three noblemen from Benevento named Paldo, Tato and Taso, in 731. The story goes that they were advised to found the monastery on the banks of the Volturno by the abbot of the powerful Abbey of Farfa, north of Rome. Thomas of Maurienne, the abbot of Farfa, suggested the site because, according to the Chronicle, it was home to an oratory founded by Constantine I. The Chronicle's emphasis on the Beneventan origin of the founders suggests that the early monastery enjoyed the patronage of the dukes of Benevento.

With the rise of the Franks and the development of the Papal states, the monastery's location on the border of Lombard and papal/Frankish territory became increasingly strategic. The abbots of the monastery in the late eighth century alternated between Franks and Lombards: Ambrosius Autpertus, elected 777, was a Frank; Poto, elected 781, was a Lombard. He was accused of disloyalty to the Franks for refusing to chant a hymn in honour of the Frankish family. The rest of the monks were obliged to swear an oath of loyalty. Charlemagne conceded fiscal and jurisdictional privileges to the community, making it one of the most independent and powerful abbeys of Europe. The abbots Iosue, Talaricus and Epiphanius in the early ninth century increased the numbers of monks to over 300 and expanded the territories and possessions all over central and southern Italy. Between 779 and 873 the monastery was in constant dispute with the peasants of the Valle Trita over dues and labour. …