Atenulf (died 30 March 1022) was the
Abbot of Montecassino from 1011 until his death. He was a cousin of Prince
Pandulf II of Capua
Pandulf II (or III), called the Black (''Niger'') or the Young, was the son and successor of Landulf VII of Capua in 1007. He ruled jointly with his uncle, Pandulf II of Benevento, who was originally his regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, ...
, a younger son of Prince
Pandulf III and brother of Prince
Pandulf IV.
Abbacy
![Lagobarrea001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Lagobarrea001.jpg)
In 999, Atenulf was given as a hostage to Duke
Ademar of Spoleto after the latter raided the
Principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua ( la, italic=yes, Principatus Capuae or ''Capue'', it, italic=yes, Principato di Capua) was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy, usually ''de facto'' independent, but under the varying suzerainty of H ...
on behalf of the Emperor
Otto III. Ademar sent his hostage back to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Atenulf's stay in Germany seems to have left an impression: German architectural influence is evident in the buildings he erected while abbot. He was elected abbot in 1011, and in 1014 he received a diploma from the recently-crowned Emperor
Henry II. On 13 March 1014, he received a privilege listing the
lands of Montecassino from Pope
Benedict VIII
Pope Benedict VIII ( la, Benedictus VIII; c. 980 – 9 April 1024) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 18 May 1012 until his death. He was born Theophylact to the noble family of the counts of Tusculum. Unusually for a medieva ...
.
On 5 May 1017, Princes Pandulf II and Pandulf IV granted the "church, fortified villa and castle" (''ecclesia et castrum et oppidum'') of
Civita di Sant'Urbano to Atenulf. On 10 May, they granted the land, mountain and church of Sant'Angelo in
Barrea to Atenulf, who commissioned Prior Azzo to restore it, since it had escaped destruction during Muslims raids a century earlier and was still the home of a few monks.
On 13 July 1019 or 1020, Atenulf received a second diploma from Henry II, confirming the abbey's possession of Sant'Urbano and
Vicalvi. In August and October 1017, Atenulf acquired shares in the churches of Santa Maria and
Sant'Apollinare in
Casalpiano. In January 1020, two abbots, Peter and Paul, gave Atenulf the monastery of Saint Benedict in the
diocese of Trivento, founded in February 1002, along with two churches, Santa Lucia and Santa Maria de Cruce. In May 1022, Magipertus of Aquino and his wife, Anna, gave to Atenulf the region called Limata between the
Liri and the town of
San Giovanni Incarico
San Giovanni Incarico is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about southeast of Frosinone.
San Giovanni Incarico borders the following municipalities: Arce, ...
and the church of San Lorenzo in the town of
Aquino.
Under Atenulf, the Cassinese monk Adam acquired the neglected church of San Nazario sul Melfa. Its rebuilding was credited to Adam by the historian
Leo of Ostia
Leo Marsicanus (meaning "of the Marsi") or Ostiensis (meaning "of Ostia"), also known as Leone dei Conti di Marsi (1046, Marsica – 1115/7, Ostia), was a nobleman and monk of Monte Cassino around 1061 and Italian cardinal from the 12th cen ...
, but on 12 April 1032 Pandulf IV and his son,
Pandulf VI, confirmed the church to the abbey and granted it a mill by the
Melfa
The Melfa is a river in Lazio, Italy. It rises in the Monti della Meta, flows south-west for about and joins the Liri near San Giovanni Incarico.''Carta stradale: Lazio 1:200000''. Istituto Geografico DeAgostini. .
The source of the Melfa iss ...
because it had been rebuilt by Pandulf's brother.
Later, when Atenulf fled Montecassino, he took several charters with him. One of the charters he took, granting Monte Asprano by
Roccasecca
Roccasecca is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is the birthplace of Thomas Aquinas.
History
The history of Roccasecca is tightly bound to its strategic position, a "dry '' rocca''" at ...
to the abbey, was rescued and is extant. Prior to the rule of Atenulf, the library of Montecassino was small and there was little copying of manuscripts. Under him, the
scriptorium
Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes.
However, lay scribes an ...
grew and books were copied in the distinct
Beneventan script
The Beneventan script was a medieval script which originated in the Duchy of Benevento in southern Italy. It was also called ''Langobarda'', ''Longobarda'', ''Longobardisca'' (signifying its origins in the territories ruled by the Lombards), or so ...
. His abbacy thus begins the "golden age" of Cassinese history, and especially of its library.
Politics
![Sant%27Onofrio_ADP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Sant%27Onofrio_ADP.jpg)
In February 1018, he received a privilege from the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
catepan of Italy
The Catepanate (or Catapanate) of Italy ( el, ''Katepaníkion Italías'') was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Sa ...
,
Basil Boioannes
Basil Boioannes ( grc-gre, Βασίλειος Βοϊωάννης, Basíleios Boïōánnēs, ; la, Basilius Bugianus, ), in Italian called it, Bugiano, label=none, i=no (), was the Byzantine catapan of Italy (1017 – 1027 Chalandon, Ferdinand. '' ...
, confirming all the abbey's properties in the region of
Apulia, which was then under Byzantine control. This privilege was granted on order from the Emperor
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
and was probably designed to draw the abbot and his brother away from their support for the Apulian rebel
Melus of Bari
Melus (also ''Milus'' or ''Meles'', ''Melo'' in Italian) (died 1020) was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early eleven ...
.
After the Byzantine victory over Melus at the
Battle of Canne in October 1018, some eighty
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
mercenaries escaped and entered the service of the Lombard princes and of the abbot of Montecassino. Atenulf stationed some of the Normans in the castle (''oppidum'') of
Pignataro Interamna Pignataro Interamna is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. It takes its name from the ancient Latin colony of Interamna Lirenas, founded by the Romans after the conquest of Casinum, an ancient Oscan city.
The town is ...
in order to ward off the attacks of the
counts of Aquino. This move apparently had the desired effect. About the same time, the
counts of Venafro invaded the area of
Acquafondata
Acquafondata (Campanian: , la, Aquafundata) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located in the Monti della Meta area, about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone.
History
During Worl ...
and
Viticuso
Viticuso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone.
Viticuso borders the following municipalities: Acquafondata, Cervaro, Conca Casale, Po ...
intending to build illegal fortifications (''castra'') there. The soldiers hired by Atenulf successfully fought them off. According to the ''
Chronicle of Montecassino'', the Normans "performed valiantly enough and faithfully as long as the abbot himself was alive."
In 1020, Boioannes, with the help of Pandulf IV, captured the Apulian rebel leader,
Dattus Dattus (or Datto) was a Lombard leader from Bari, the brother-in-law of Melus of Bari. He joined his brother-in-law in a 1009 revolt against Byzantine authority in southern Italy.
In 1010, the rebels took Ascoli and Troina. In March 1011, the ' ...
, along with his Norman retinue. Atenulf intervened on behalf of the Normans, either in order to employ them himself or out of consideration for the feelings of those he already employed. In June 1021, Boioannes instructed the ''
turmarcha'' Falcus, the inspector (''episceptites'') of
Trani
Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani.
History
Overview
The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...
, to hand over all the property seized in and around that city from the rebel Maraldus to the abbot.
Atenulf's support for the Byzantines was regarded in Germany as treasonous. When the emperor decided to march south to assert his authority in 1022, he ordered Pandulf and Atenulf arrested. Archbishop
Pilgrim of Cologne
Pilgrim ( la, Pilgrimus; c. 985 – 25 August 1036) was a statesman and prelate of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1016 he took charge of the chancery of the Kingdom of Italy, and became the first archchancellor in 1031. In 1021 he became Archbishop of ...
led an army of 20,000 against Montecassino and Capua. Atenulf fled to
Otranto
Otranto (, , ; scn, label=Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label= Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a ferti ...
, in Byzantine territory, where he took a ship for
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, the Byzantine capital. He died during a storm at sea on 30 March 1022. Upon learning of his demise, the emperor Henry is said to have quoted from
Psalm 7: "He hath made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made."
Notes
Sources
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1022 deaths
Italian abbots
category:Abbots of Monte Cassino