Abbot of Farfa
Farfa Abbey ( it, Abbazia di Farfa) is a territorial abbey in northern Lazio, central Italy. In the Middle Ages it was one of the richest and most famous abbeys in Italy. It belongs to the Benedictine Order and is located about from Rome, in t ...
, succeeding
Aunepert Aunepert (died ''c''. 724) was the second Abbot of Farfa, holding office from the death of the monastery's founder, Thomas of Maurienne (''c''. 720), until his own death a few years later. Little is known of Aunepert save that he was from Toulouse, ...
in 724 at the latest. He was originally from
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
and had been raised at Farfa by
Thomas of Maurienne
Thomas of Maurienne (died before 720) was the first abbot of the Abbey of Farfa, which he founded between 680 and ''c''.700. Although the sources of his life are much later, and he is surrounded by legends, his historicity is beyond doubt.
Thomas ...
, the first abbot. Lucerius' abbacy was a period of growth and expansion on the part of the abbey. In his first year, he received a grant of a church with its (unspecified) lands from Duke
Thrasimund II of Spoleto
Transamund II was the Lombard Duke of Spoleto from 724 to 745, though he was twice driven from power by the king, Liutprand. Transamund rose to power by deposing his own father, Faroald II, and tonsuring him in a monastery.
In 737 or 738, Tran ...
.Marios Costambeys, ''Power and Patronage in the Early Medieval Italy: Local Society, Italian Politics, and the Abbey of Farfa, ''c''.700–900'' (Cambridge: 2007), 150. This church, dedicated to
Saint Getulius
Saint Getulius (died 120 AD) is venerated together with Amantius (Amancius), Cerealus (Caerealis), and Primitivus ( it, Getulio, Amanzio, Cereale, e Primitivo) as a Christianity, Christian martyr and saint. They are considered to have died at Gabi ...
, lay within the jurisdiction of the
Diocese of Rieti
The Diocese of Rieti ( la, Dioecesis Reatina (-S. Salvatoris Maioris)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. It is immediately exempt to the Holy See.Exceptio Relationum'' Thrasimund had to compensate the bishop for his loss.
In 739 Lucerius received a privilege from King Liutprand confirming its possessions and granting it the freedom to elect its own abbots. In 729 Thrasimund had sworn loyalty to Liutprand, but in this year (739) he had renounced it. Liutprand marched an army into central Italy, forcing Thrasimund to flee to Rome and installing
Hilderic
Hilderic (460s – 533) was the penultimate king of the Vandals and Alans in North Africa in Late Antiquity (523–530). Although dead by the time the Vandal Kingdom was overthrown in 534, he nevertheless played a key role in that event.
Biog ...
as duke in Spoleto. The next year (740), with the aid of
Pope Zachary
Pope Zachary ( la, Zacharias; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of slav ...
, Thrasimund retook Spoleto and granted Farfa the right to graze its animals on the pasture of the settlement of Germaniciana and also granted it the tithes of that place.Costambeys, 65, 75, 79. The granted consisted of ''terra ... in fundo Germaniciano prope pastinum sancti Angeli ... ubi pastinare ipsi monachi debeant'' or “land on the estate of Germaniciana belonging to the pasture of Saint Angelus where the monks f Farfashould pasture heir flocks (Costambeys, 203 and n. 144). The pasture referred to was probably the site where the sheep of the monks of the monastery dedicated to Saint Angelus outside
Rieti
Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...
pastured. For an analysis of Germaniciana cf. Costambeys, 203–5.