San Giovanni in Fiore, Abbey of
SAN GIOVANNI IN FIORE, ABBEY OF
Referred to also as Flore or La Fioreale, former Florian monastery on the eastern slopes of the Sila not far from Cosenza, the capital of Calabria, Italy. It was founded in 1189 by joachim of fiore, a Cistercian mystic and a native of Celico near Cosenza, who drew up its constitutions, which were then approved by Pope Celestine III (1196). The monks were called florians and were an independent order, not affiliated with citeaux. In 1470 the regular abbots were replaced by commendatory abbots (see commendation), and the order showed signs of decline. In 1505 the abbey of Fiore and many of its affiliated monasteries were united to the cistercians. The monastery was suppressed in 1806. Today only meager ruins remain.
Bibliography: l. janauschek, Origines Cistercienses, v.1 (Vienna 1877). p. fournier, "Joachim de Flore et le Liber de vera philosophia," Revue d'histoire et de littérature religieuses 4 (1899) 37–66. f. russo, Gioacchino da Fioree le fondazioni florensi in Calabria (Naples 1959). g. penco, Storia del monachesimo in Italia (Rome 1961).
[m. b. morris]