Title: Light in the Dark Ages : the rise and fall of San Vincenzo al Volturno /
Authors: Hodges, Richard
Publisher: Cornell University Press,
Year: 1997
Subjects: San Vincenzo al Volturno (Benedictine Abbey) History.; Benedictines Italy.; Monasticism and religious orders Italy History; Christian antiquities Italy.; Excavations (Archaeology) Italy; Italy Antiquities.
Abstract: Beginning in 1981, Richard Hodges supervised the excavation of the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, one of the great centers of Dark Age Europe, situated in spectacular mountain country in central Italy. The existence of the monastery has long been known from a twelfth-century illuminated manuscript, and the excavations threw vivid light on its epic history. This richly illustrated book tells of the discoveries made by Hodges's team, with the Samnite and Roman origins of the site charted in detail and the magnificence of the monastery's early medieval period fully elaborated. Light in the Dark Ages traces the history of San Vincenzo from the monastery's spectacular rise as a result of Charlemagne's patronage to its cataclysmic sack by Arab marauders in 881, demonstrating the relation between the treasures unearthed and their political context.
Contents: Rewriting history -- The San Vincenzo Chronicles -- Samnium? San Vincenzo before the monastery -- The makings of a medieval monastery -- Abbot Joshua's city -- San Vincenzo at its zenith -- The sack of San Vincenzo, 10 October 881 -- After the Arabs -- In the shadow of San Vincenzo -- San Vincenzo and its European context.