The ''Libellus constructionis Farfensis'' ("Little Book of the Construction of Farfa"), often referred to simply as the ''Constructio'' in context, is a

written history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

of the Abbey of Farfa from its foundation 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. Thoma ...

''circa'' 700 until the death of Abbot Hilderic in 857. It is about the "construction" of a powerful abbey with vast landholdings. It was used as a source for two later histories, which are basically continuations: the ''Destructio monasterii Farfensis'' of Abbot Hugh (died 1039) and the ''Chronicon Farfense'' by

Gregory of Catino Gregory of Catino (1060 – aft. 1130) was a monk of the Abbey of Farfa and "one of the most accomplished monastic historians of his age."Marios Costambeys, ''Power and Patronage in the Early Medieval Italy: Local Society, Italian Politics, and t ...

(died 1133).Marios Costambeys, ''Power and Patronage in the Early Medieval Italy: Local Society, Italian Politics, and the Abbey of Farfa, c.700–900'' (Cambridge: 2007), 13–14. The surviving ''Libellus'' is fragmentary, and appears only in one eleventh-century lectionary from Farfa, now in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, but which was probably not the ''Libellus'' which Hugh and Gregory worked from.MS anuscriptFarfense 32. The ''Libellus'' partly relies on the earlier ''Vita'' of the founders of

San Vincenzo al Volturno San Vincenzo al Volturno is a historic Benedictine monastery located in the territories of the Comunes of Castel San Vincenzo and Rocchetta a Volturno, in the Province of Isernia, near the source of the river Volturno in Italy. The current monast ...

by its abbot Autpert Ambrose (770s). It also records the epitaph of Abbot Sichard (died 842), which was only re-discovered in 1959, but which authenticated the ''Libellus''. Although the anonymous author was apparently a good copyist, it is impossible to properly assess his historical accuracy for many details he chronicles, but a comparison with the ''Regestum Farfense'' (a massive register of Farfa's charters, compiled by Gregory of Catino) shows that his outlines are correct.

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