The Medieval Abbey of Farfa: Target of Papal and Imperial Ambitions

Description

This is the first comprehensive study in English about the medieval imperial abbey of Farfa, which played a key role in the period of ecclesiastical reform, beginning in the mid-eleventh century. Its main sources are the Register and Chronicle, compiled by Gregory of Catino, a partisan monk. Controlling strategic property in central Rome and along the coast of Latium, Farfa functioned as a quasi-imperial embassy, supporting the empire in its struggle with the papacy for hegemony. Imperial ties and internal conflicts led to Farfa's loss of liberties and dependency upon the papacy. The book both depicts the competition between the empire and the papacy, and charts Farfa's losing struggle to maintain Benedictine standards and its independence from an expansive papacy. List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Illustrations and Maps Chapter One. From a Cell to a Monastic Giant 17 Chapter Two. Property and Competition 30 Chapter Three. Berard I and Nicholas II 48 Chapter Four. Farfa Before the Trials 63 Chapter Five. The Ottaviani 75 Chapter Six. Arbitration: San Nicola in Carcere 91 Chapter Seven. The Ottaviani's Defense: The Donation of Constantine 105 Chapter Eight. Completion of the Trial 121 Chapter Nine. The Significance of the Trial 133 Chapter Ten. The Papal Electoral Decree of 1059 145 Chapter Eleven. Panvinius on Farfa's Version of the Decree 154 Chapter Twelve. The Decree in the Chronicon: A Forgery? 166 Chapter Thirteen. The Cardinal Bishops in Papal Elections 179 Chapter Fourteen. The Decree: Conclusions 196 Chapter Fifteen. 'Orthodoxa Defensio Imperialis' 209 Chapter Sixteen. The Contested Election 224 Chapter Seventeen. From Imperial to Papal Patronage 240 Chapter Eighteen. Frederick Barbarossa and the Twilight of Farfa 256 Chapter Nineteen. Conclusion 274 Bibliography 277 Index 287