Seniorectus (died February 1137) was the Abbot of

Montecassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

in the early twelfth century. Seniorectus was opposed to the policy of

Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...

, who intended in the late summer of 1136 to establish a garrison in Montecassino under the chamberlain Joscelin and chancellor

Guarin {{about, the Italian chaplain and chancellor, the surname, Guarin (surname) Guarin (French: ''Guérin'', Italian: ''Guarino'', Norman: ''Warin'') (died 21 January 1137) was the chaplain (''magister capellanus'') and chancellor of Roger II of Sicily ...

, as defense against the invading armies of the

Emperor Lothair II Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before ...

and Henry X of Bavaria. On 5 January 1137, Guarin demanded their assistance and when refused besieged the monastery in an attempt to seize its treasure and its walls. The abbot contracted an illness during the siege and died a few months later.He was not forced to resign, as suggested by Howe. While Parlamocchi places the rebellion of Seniorectus and the attempted garrisoning of Montecassino in 1134, this hypothesis is refuted by the presence of Joscelin in the chronicle of Peter the Deacon: Joscelin being appointed chamberlain only in October 1135.

Notes

Sources

*Howe, John. ''Church Reform and Social Change in Eleventh-Century Italy: Dominic of Sora and his Patrons''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1997
Review
*Parlamocchi, Roberto. ''L'Abbazia di Montecassino e Conquista Normanna''. Rome: Loescher, 1913
Review
1137 deaths Italian abbots Year of birth unknown {{Christian-bio-stub