Sources
- White Jr., Lynn (July 1935). "For the Biography of William of Blois". The English Historical Review . 50 (199): 487–90. doi:10.1093/ehr/l.cxcix.487. JSTOR 553554.
Santa Maria della Matina was a monastery near San Marco Argentano in Calabria. It was originally Benedictine, but later became Cistercian.
In 1065, at the urging of Pope Nicholas II, a monastery was founded at Matina by Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his wife, Sichelgaita. On 31 March, by order of Nicholas' successor, Alexander II, the monastery was dedicated in a ceremony officiated by Archbishop Arnulf of Cosenza, with the bishops Odo of Rapolla and Lawrence of Malvito in attendance, before Robert and Sichelgaita and the first abbot, Abelard. The monastery received rich gifts from its Norman patrons, but also a large piece land from the diocese of Malvito, for which the bishop was compensated in gold. In 1660, Gregorio de Laude, abbot of Santa Maria del Sagittario, who had seen the now lost parchments of the foundation himself, described it thus: [1]
Monasterium Matinae a Robert Nortmando Apuliae et Calabriae Duce, uxoreque sua Sirlegatta anno 1066 [sic] fundatum, tunc Nigrorum, modo Cisterciensium Monachorum Casamaris filiationis situm in Calabria, duobus dissitum milliariis a ... Sancti Marci Urbe.
Robert the Norman, duke of Apulia and Calabria, and his wife Sichelgaita, founded the monastery of Matina in 1066, then Benedictine, now Cistercian, a daughter of the monks of Casamari in Calabria, two miles removed from ... San Marco.
The monastery was under the direct ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Papacy. As such, it appears in the earliest redaction of the Liber censuum of the early twelfth century. On 18 November 1092, Pope Urban II visited the monastery. In 1167, the Frenchman William of Blois became abbot, but resigned his position by 1169. [2] By this time, the monastery was in decline. Joachim of Fiore refused the request of King Tancred of Sicily to move his new religious foundation at Fiore to Matina.
There has long been speculation that Matina became Cistercian in 1179 or 1180. [3] This is contradicted by documents in the archive of the Aldobrandini family. In October 1221, upon request of the abbot of Sambucina and with the permission of Pope Honorius III and the bishops Andrew of San Marco Argentano and Luke of Cosenza, Matina finally became a Cistercian abbey dependent on Sambucina. In February 1222, the act received the consent of the Emperor Frederick II, and in June 1222 was confirmed by the pope. In 1235, the abbot of Casamari requested permission from the general chapter to send the monks to Sambucina for three months every summer on account of the climate. [4]
From 1410, the monastery was usually given in commendam , causing further decline. In 1633, it joined the Cistercian congregation of Calabria and Basilicata. In 1652, the monastery was finally suppressed by Pope Innocent X, but the commandery remained until the abolition of feudalism in 1809, during the reign of Joachim Murat, when the land became state property. Subsequently the buildings and grounds were granted to General Luigi Valentoni, who transformed it into a farm. The property remained in his family until the end of the twentieth century.
In the seventeenth century, most of the abbey buildings, which dated to the thirteenth century, [5] were still intact. Currently only ruins remain of the church. Among the best preserved parts are the parlour, the scriptorium, the staircase leading to the upper floors and chapel, and the Gothic chapter house, which has three naves with vaulted ceilings reminiscent of the abbey of Casamari.
Pope Victor III, born Dauferio, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 May 1086 to his death. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less notable than his time as Desiderius, the great abbot of Montecassino.
The Cistercians officially the Order of Cistercians, are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. They are also known as Bernardines, after the highly influential Bernard of Clairvaux ; or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or white choir robe worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cuculla worn by Benedictine monks.
Robert Guiscard was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become Count of Apulia and Calabria (1057–1059), and then Duke of Apulia and Calabria and Duke of Sicily (1059–1085), and briefly Prince of Benevento (1078–1081) before returning the title to the Pope.
Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux was a medieval Archbishop of York, the son of a priest. He served kings William II and Henry I of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his consecration was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert primacy over York. Eventually, he was consecrated by the pope instead and allowed to return to England. While archbishop, he secured two new suffragan bishops for his province. When Henry I died, Thurstan supported Henry's nephew Stephen of Blois as king. Thurstan also defended the northern part of England from invasion by the Scots, taking a leading part in organising the English forces at the Battle of the Standard (1138). Shortly before his death, Thurstan resigned from his see and took the habit of a Cluniac monk.
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of both monks and nuns that are known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery from which the movement and religious order originated. The movement first began with the reforms that Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced in 1664, later leading to the creation of Trappist congregations, and eventually the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892.
Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore, was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to theologian Bernard McGinn, "Joachim of Fiore is the most important apocalyptic thinker of the whole medieval period."
William of York was an English priest, and unusually twice Archbishop of York, before and after his rival Henry Murdac. He was thought to be related to King Stephen of England, who helped to secure his election to the province after several candidates had failed to gain papal confirmation. William faced opposition from the Cistercians, who after the election of the Cistercian Pope Eugene III, had William deposed in favour of a Cistercian, Murdac. From 1147 until 1153, William worked to be restored to York, which he finally achieved after the deaths of Murdac and Eugene III. He did not hold the province long, dying shortly after his return, allegedly from poison in the chalice he used to celebrate Mass. Miracles were reported at his tomb from 1177 onwards. He was canonised in 1226.
Robert of Molesme was an abbot, one of the founders of the Cistercian Order and is honored as a Christian saint.
Casamari Abbey is a Cistercian abbey in the Province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy, about 10 kilometers east-south-east of Veroli.
Aulne Abbey was a Cistercian monastery between Thuin and Landelies on the Sambre in the Bishopric of Liège in Belgium, now a Walloon Heritage Site.
San Marco Argentano is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
La Sila, also simply Sila, is the name of the mountainous plateau and historic region located in Calabria, southern Italy. The Sila National Park is known to have the purest air in Europe.
The Italian Catholic Diocese of San Marco Argentano-Scalea, in Cosenza, Calabria, has existed as the diocese of San Marco since at least 1171, when the name of Bishop Ruben appears in a document. It is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano.
Hugh of Noara or of Novara, also known as Ugo of Novara and Hugo of Novara, was a Cistercian monk and a disciple of Bernard of Clairvaux. French by birth, he served as the first abbot of Novara Abbey, Sicily, where he remained until his death in 1170.
Felix Maria Ghebreamlak, O.Cist, was an Eritrean monk and priest of the Ethiopian Catholic Church who worked to bring the Cistercian Order to his homeland. A process seeking his canonization is underway.
Silverstream Priory is a Roman Catholic monastery in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland, founded in 2012. The monastery is an autonomous diocesan priory of the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration.
The Abbey of San Giusto is a former Cistercian monastery located in the valley of the river Marta approximately 4 km south of Tuscania, Province of Viterbo, Italy.
William of Blois was a French medieval poet and dramatist. He wrote at least one poetical work, which has not survived, as well as some dramas. Two other works that survive are credited to him, but it is not clear if he was actually the author. He also was an abbot of a monastery in Calabria in southern Italy, after being an unsuccessful candidate for the Bishopric of Catania in Italy.
Fontevivo Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Fontevivo, Province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, about 15 kilometres west of Parma on the Via Emilia towards Fidenza.
Hugh was a French knight and Benedictine monk, abbot of monasteries in England and France.
