Monte Cassino facts for kids
Abbey of Monte Cassino
|
|
 Location in Italy
|
|
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | AD 529 |
| Diocese | Diocese of Monte Cassino |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Benedict of Nursia |
| Abbot | Antonio Luca Fallica OSB |
| Site | |
| Location | Cassino, Italy |
| Coordinates | 41°29′24″N 13°48′50″E / 41.49000°N 13.81389°E |
| Public access | Yes |
Monte Cassino (also called Montecassino) is a famous rocky hill in Italy, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of Rome. It stands about 520 meters (1,700 feet) high, near the town of Cassino. This place is well-known because it's home to a very old abbey, which is a type of monastery.
The Monte Cassino Abbey was the first home of the Benedictine Order. It was started by Benedict of Nursia around the year 529 AD. He even wrote the famous Rule of Saint Benedict for the monks living there. Over time, the abbey became very important, but it was also destroyed and rebuilt many times throughout history.
Contents
History of Monte Cassino Abbey
The first monastery on Monte Cassino was attacked by invaders called Lombards around 570 AD and left empty. We don't know much about this first building.
A second monastery was built by Petronax of Brescia around 718 AD. This was suggested by Pope Gregory II and supported by a Lombard duke. This new monastery was directly under the Pope's control, and many other monasteries in Italy followed its lead.
However, in 883 AD, the monastery was attacked and burned by Saracens, and the monks had to leave again. They lived in other towns until the abbey was rebuilt in 949 AD.
A Golden Age for the Abbey
The 11th and 12th centuries were a very successful time for Monte Cassino. The abbey gained a lot of land around it, known as the Terra Sancti Benedicti (meaning "Land of Saint Benedict"). They even built castles to protect this land.
The abbey had good relationships with the Eastern Church and even received help from Byzantine emperors. They encouraged art and crafts, hiring skilled artists from Byzantium. In 1057, Pope Victor II said that the abbot of Monte Cassino was more important than all other abbots. Many monks from Monte Cassino became bishops and cardinals, and three even became popes: Pope Stephen IX, Pope Victor III, and Pope Gelasius II. During this time, monks also wrote important historical books about the monastery.
Challenges and Decline
By the 13th century, the monastery started to decline. In 1239, Emperor Frederick II placed soldiers there during his fight with the Pope. In 1322, Pope John XXII made the abbey a bishopric, but this change was undone in 1367.
A big earthquake destroyed the buildings in 1349. In 1369, Pope Urban V asked all Benedictine monasteries to help pay for the rebuilding. In 1504, the abbey became part of a larger group of monasteries led by the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua.
Modern Times and World War II
In 1799, French soldiers attacked Monte Cassino during the French Revolutionary Wars. Later, in 1866, the Italian government closed the abbey as a working monastery. The building became a national monument, with the monks acting as guardians of its treasures.
The most famous destruction happened in 1944 during World War II. Monte Cassino was a key location in the Battle of Monte Cassino. The German army had a strong defense line called the Gustav Line, and the abbey overlooked a main road to Rome.
.jpg)
On February 15, 1944, Allied forces heavily bombed the abbey. They believed German soldiers were using it as an observation post. However, no German troops were inside the abbey during the bombing. Sadly, 230 Italian civilians who were seeking safety there were killed. After the bombing, German paratroopers did move into the ruins because they offered good protection.
The Abbey was completely rebuilt after the war. Pope Paul VI officially opened the rebuilt church in 1964.
In recent years, the abbey's territory has changed. In 2014, Pope Francis reduced the abbey's spiritual control to just the monastery itself. The surrounding parishes were transferred to another diocese. As of 2015, about thirteen monks live in the community.
Ancient History of the Area
The history of Monte Cassino is connected to the nearby town of Cassino. This town was first settled around 500 BC by the Volsci people. They built a fortress on top of Monte Cassino. The Romans later defeated the Volsci in 312 BC. The Romans called the settlement Casinum and built a temple to the god Apollo on the hill. Even though the temple is gone, we can still see remains of a Roman amphitheater, a theater, and a mausoleum, showing how rich the Roman town was.
After the Roman Empire became Christian, the town became the center of a bishopric in the 400s AD. Because it lacked strong defenses, the area was often attacked by invaders and became mostly abandoned.
Benedict's Time at Monte Cassino (530–547)
_-_Facade.jpg)
According to the writings of Pope Gregory I, Benedict of Nursia built his monastery on an old pagan site. This was a temple to the god Apollo at the top of the hill. The area was still very pagan at that time. Benedict's first action was to break the statue of Apollo and destroy the altar. He then used the temple building, dedicating it to Saint Martin. He also built another chapel where the altar of Apollo had been, dedicating it to Saint John the Baptist. He preached to the local people to help them become Christian.
Pope Gregory I wrote that evil spirits tried to stop the monks from building. In one story, an evil spirit sat invisibly on a rock, making it too heavy to move, until Benedict drove it away. In another story, an evil spirit caused a wall to collapse on a young monk, but Benedict brought him back to life.
Benedict also set up a hospital at Monte Cassino, which is thought to be the first in Europe of its kind. Benedictine monks took care of the sick and injured, following Benedict's rule to treat them as if they were serving Christ himself. This focus on caring for others led to many monasteries being founded across Europe, each with its own hospital.
Once Benedict settled at Monte Cassino, he stayed there. He wrote the Rule of Saint Benedict, which became the main guide for Western monasticism (monk life). He also met Totila, the king of the Ostrogoths. Benedict died at Monte Cassino and was buried there.
Archaeological discoveries after the 1944 destruction have confirmed parts of Pope Gregory I's account of Benedict's construction. Traces of the chapels Benedict built have been found.
Monte Cassino from 580 to 884
Monte Cassino became a model for other monasteries. Its high location always made it important for military strategy. It was attacked and destroyed many times. The first time was by the Lombards in 581. The monks who survived fled to Rome and stayed there for over a hundred years. During this time, the body of Saint Benedict was moved to France.
The abbey became strong again after it was rebuilt in 718 by Abbot Petronax. Famous people like Carloman (son of Charles Martel) and Paul the Deacon (a historian) were monks there.
In 744, a gift of land created the Terra Sancti Benedicti, which meant the abbot was in charge of these lands, answering only to the Pope. This made the monastery the capital of a small state between the Lombard and Byzantine areas.
In 884, Saracens attacked and burned the abbey again, and the abbot was killed.
From 1058 to 1505
Monte Cassino was rebuilt and became very famous in the 11th century under Abbot Desiderius (who later became Pope Victor III). Monks who cared for the sick needed new medical knowledge. So, they started collecting medical books from many different cultures, including Greek, Roman, Islamic, and European. Because Naples was a busy port, the monastery's library quickly became one of the richest in Europe.
The Benedictine monks translated and copied valuable manuscripts. The number of monks grew to over two hundred. The library, the books they produced, and their school for illustrating manuscripts became famous across the Western world. A special writing style called Beneventan script was very popular there during Desiderius's time.
Monks learned a lot about human anatomy and treatments from these texts and used their knowledge in the monastery hospital. By the 10th and 11th centuries, Monte Cassino was a leading center for culture, education, and medicine in Europe. Many doctors came there to learn. This is why the first High Medical School in the world was later opened in nearby Salerno. Monte Cassino and the Benedictines played a huge role in the progress of medicine and science during the Middle Ages.
The monastery buildings were rebuilt in the 11th century to be very grand. Artists from different places, including Constantinople, were brought in to help. The abbey church, rebuilt with great beauty, was officially opened in 1071 by Pope Alexander II.
Abbot Desiderius even sent people to Constantinople to hire skilled Byzantine artists to decorate the church with Byzantine mosaics. Their work was admired but was later destroyed, except for two small pieces. The abbot wanted many young monks to learn these arts from the Greek artists.
An earthquake damaged the Abbey in 1349. Even though it was rebuilt, this marked the start of a long period of decline. In 1505, the monastery joined with another one in Padua.
Treasures of the Abbey
In December 1943, during World War II, about 1,400 very old and valuable handwritten books (called codices), mostly about early Christian writers and history, were stored at the abbey for safety. There were also many documents about the abbey's history and collections from the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome.
German officers, Lieutenant Colonel Julius Schlegel and Captain Maximilian Becker, helped move these treasures to the Vatican for safekeeping before the battle began.
People Connected to Monte Cassino
Abbots
Burials
.jpg)
Many important people are buried at Monte Cassino, including:
- Pope Victor III
- Saint Benedict
- Saint Scholastica (Benedict's sister)
- Carloman (mayor of the palace)
- Władysław Anders (a Polish general)
- Members of the Polish 2nd Army Corps who fought in World War II.
See also
In Spanish: Batalla de Montecassino para niños
- Battle of Monte Cassino
- Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino
- Red Poppies on Monte Cassino
- Lamp of Brotherhood
Images for kids
-
The abbey in depicted in Giovan Battista Pacichelli's 1703 Il regno di Napoli in prospettiva
