The ''Terra Sancti Benedictʃti'' ("Land of Saint Benedict") was the secular territory, or

seignory In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. ''Nulle terr ...

, of the powerful

Abbey of Montecassino An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conc ...

, the chief monastery of the megladon and one of the first Western monasteries: founded by

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

himself, hence the name of its possessions. It lasted from the 8th to the 19th century. The "Terra Sancti Benedicti" was part of larger states, according to the historical succession, from the

Duchy of Benevento The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...

to the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ( it, Regno delle Due Sicilie) was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1860. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by population and size in Italy before Italian unification, comprising Sicily and al ...

. Despite the wide autonomy it enjoyed in some periods, it was never, neither

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

nor de facto, an independent state, as were the

Italian city-states The Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from the beginning of the Middle Ages until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, which took place in 1861. After t ...

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and

Central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...

. The nature of the dominion of the Abbey of Montecassino has sometimes been improperly assimilated to these Italian states. The "Terra Sancti Benedicti" is therefore an integral part of the

Terra di Lavoro Terra di Lavoro (Liburia in Latin) is the name of a historical region of Southern Italy. It corresponds roughly to the modern southern Lazio and northern Campania and upper north west and west border area of Molise regions of Italy. In Itali ...

and has always followed its political vicissitudes.

History

The foundation of the Terra Sancti Benedicti can be traced back to the large donation of land made in 744 to the monastery by the

Gisulf II of Benevento Gisulf II (died between 749 and 753) was the third last duke of Benevento before the fall of the Lombard kingdom. He ruled from 743, when King Liutprand came down and removed Godescalc, to his death up to ten years later.The ''Lexikon'' gives a d ...

. The donation was probably of both a religious and political nature: thus an alliance between the Church and the

was guaranteed to defend each other. In the following centuries, monasteries, churches and castles with annexed possessions were gradually offered to the monastery, even overseas, through concessions and donations made by nobles, emperors and popes, reaching eighty thousand hectares. The history of the territories linked to the Benedictine Abbey can be divided into three main phases which correspond to three different approaches to the control of the territory: first the age of the

Manorialism Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or " tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes for ...

, then that of the "''castrum''" and finally that of the development of the "''universitas civium"''. Subsequently, the Abbey progressively loses its historical temporal power. After these phases of development, the loss of power by Montecassino and the fading of the territory it had controlled into larger organisms began with alternating events. An earthquake destroyed the Abbey in 1349 and, although it soon returned to its function, the event can be considered an important watershed. In the 14th century, the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

tried to limit the abbey ecclesiastical jurisdiction placing a bishop at San Germano, but the abbots managed to maintain many prerogatives thanks to

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the ...

. The official end of the feudal lordship came in 1806 with the abolition of feudal rights in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

sanctioned by the so-called "laws of subversion of feudality". With the loss of temporal power, the jurisdiction of the abbey over the surrounding territory remained only ecclesiastical, as a territorial abbey: the abbots were equated in their functions with diocesan bishops, even if in most cases they were not awarded the episcopal character.

References

Sources

The papacy and the ''Terra Sancti Benedicti''.
{{coord missing, Italy 744 establishments 1806 disestablishments in Italy States and territories established in the 740s States and territories disestablished in 1806 Abbey of Monte Cassino Italian states Medieval Italy Geography of Lazio Kingdom of Naples