Main description (English)

Monasticism is a complex phenomenon that profoundly marked the political, economic and social development of Latium since the early Middle Ages, one that shows such different particularities from area to area that it is more proper to speak of ‘monasticisms’ in the plural. Alongside the great abbeys of Farfa, Montecassino and Subiaco, we find the presence of innumerable monasteries of smaller size and more contained ambitions, but which nevertheless played a central role in the organization of space and in the control of the population at the local level. While there have been countless essays and specialized papers dedicated to individual institutions, which give us a picture that is useful, if highly fragmented and of varying depth, there have been few comprehensive studies on the phenomenon using a comparative method. Monasticism in Latium constitutes an inexhaustible topic with countless particularities and unequal historiographical paths, but of extraordinary interest, such that it has held the focus of many researchers and will continue to do so in the future.