Shock and Awe
The Rise and Fall of San Vincenzo al Volturno
by Richard Hodges
The site of San Vincenzo al Volturno, lying in a mountain valley of Molise, southern Italy, might by today’s standards be considered rather remote. In the late eighth and ninth centuries, however, it was one of the most famous Benedictine monasteries of Latin Christendom, home to a thriving centre of leaning and located strategically on the borders of Lombard and Frankish territory. This came to an end on 10 October 881, when an Arab warband sacked the monastery, leaving it in ruins. Now, thanks to extensive archaeological excavations over forty years, a new story can be told about this important site, a narrative that reveals the art, architecture, and archaeology of this monastic city as it thrived during the Carolingian renaissance, as well as the devastating effects of the Arab attack. Through the lens of these excavations emerges a unique narrative for the making of the Middle Ages in Europe.
The site of San Vincenzo al Volturno, lying in a mountain valley of Molise, southern Italy, might by today’s standards be considered rather remote. In the late eighth and ninth centuries, however, it was one of the most famous Benedictine monasteries of Latin Christendom, home to a thriving centre of leaning and located strategically on the borders of Lombard and Frankish territory. This came to an end on 10 October 881, when an Arab warband sacked the monastery, leaving it in ruins. Now, thanks to extensive archaeological excavations over forty years, a new story can be told about this important site, a narrative that reveals the art, architecture, and archaeology of this monastic city as it thrived during the Carolingian renaissance, as well as the devastating effects of the Arab attack. Through the lens of these excavations emerges a unique narrative for the making of the Middle Ages in Europe.
- By (author) Richard Hodges
Other Titles in this Series
Medieval Landscapes of Southern Etruria
The Excavations at Capalbiaccio Tricosto (1976-2010)
Volume 2
Archaeological Landscapes of Late Antique and Early Medieval Tuscia
Research and Field Papers
Volume 3
Etruscan and Roman Hellenistic Anatomical ex votos
Reassessing Popular Religious Expressions in Central Italy
Volume 8
Similar Books
«Solazoxa festa, stradolze e stracomplia»
Festschrift für Raymund Wilhelm zum 65. Geburtstag mit Beiträgen zu Diskurstraditionen und mittelalterlicher Philologie
Volume 249
A Collaborative Tapestry in Honour of Shirley Ann Brown / Une fresque brodée en l’honneur de Shirley Ann Brown
The Bayeux Tapestry Seen by her Colleagues and Friends / La Tapisserie de Bayeux vue par ses collègues et amis
Behind the Scenes of Medieval Roofs
An Overview of the Roofing Systems of Italian Churches
Volume 90
Caesar’s Visions and Impact on the Roman Empire
Revisiting the Archaeological and Historical Record of the 40s BC
Volume 2
Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes – Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies
Volume 51
Construction Processes in Historical Western Societies (5th c. BC – 10th c. AD)
Case Studies on Techniques, Models, and Costs
Etruscan and Roman Hellenistic Anatomical ex votos
Reassessing Popular Religious Expressions in Central Italy
Volume 8
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Invisible Labour in Antiquity
Visualizing Obscure Work in the Ancient Mediterannean and West Asia
Volume 1
John Dunstaple Reading Boethius
John Dunstaple’s Annotations to Boethius’s “De institutione musica” in the Manuscript Oxford, Corpus Christi College Library, MS 118
Late Antique villae in the Balkans (3rd–7th c. AD): Current Research Questions and Perspectives
HAEMUS Companion to the Late Antique Balkans 1
Volume 4
