Secundum formam Benedectine: monastic reforms, institutional structure and archival remains between Aquileia and Como (first half of the 14th century)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the 30th November 1340 statuta et ordinationes adressed to the monastery of S. Maria of Dona in Valchiavenna by Nicola de Nobialo, visitor of all the monasteries of the ordo monachorum Nigrorum of the diocese of Como on behalf of the General Chapter held in Aquileia. The document is studied not only in itself but also in relation to the system of documentary records produced by the governing bodies of congregational in response to the widespread requests for institutional and administrative reorganization and also to the penetration of deeper reformist pressures carried by particular initiatives encouraged by both the Avignonese popes and the episcopate.