Mauroald (died 802) was a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

monk from

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

and the

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 ...

from 790.Marios Costambeys, ''Power and Patronage in the Early Medieval Italy: Local Society, Italian Politics, and the Abbey of Farfa, ''c''.700–900'' (Cambridge: 2007), 156. Farfa, at less than a century old, was still interested in accruing territories through grants and donations in order to support its building projects and the expansion of its site. According to

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 th ...

, the late eleventh-century historian of the abbey, Mauroald was "of the Frankish nation" (''natione Francus''). He is the only abbot Gregory describes thus, and it probably indicates Mauroald was Germanic-speaking. His two immediate predecessors,

Ragambald Ragambald (died 786) was the Abbot of Farfa from 781 until his death. According to the abbey's twelfth-century historian Gregory of Catino, Ragambald was born in a city in Gaul (''Gallia''), that is, Francia, but he does not explicitly call him a ...

and

Altpert Altpert (died 790) was the Abbot of Farfa from the death of Ragambald in 786 until his own death a few years later. He was described by Gregory of Catino, writing some three centuries later, as having been born in Paris "of the Gauls" (''Galliaru ...

, were also from

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, although they were probably not Frankish. The period of their abbacies (781–802) has been described as one of "ethnic tension" and the domination of "Frankish ideas", but there is little evidence to support this. Two charters from 802 and 804 show that Mauroald and his successor

Benedict Benedict may refer to: People Names *Benedict (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Benedict (surname), including a list of people with the surname Religious figures *Pope Benedict I (died 579), head of the Catholic Chur ...

financed the military service of two brothers from the

Sabina Sabina may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Sabina (region), region and place in Italy, and hence: * the now Suburbicarian Diocese of Sabina (-Poggio Mirteto), Italy * Magliano Sabina, city, Italy * Pozzaglia Sabina, city, Italy *Fara Sabin ...

, Probatus and Picco, sons of Ursus of the Pandoni family, who were serving the army of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

then targeting the

Principality of Benevento The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...

.They described themselves as ''filii quondam Ursi'', cf. Costambeys, 229–30.

Notes

{{reflist Abbots of Farfa 802 deaths People from Worms, Germany Frankish Christian monks Year of birth unknown 8th-century Frankish people