VALLOMBROSA, ABBEY OF

Chief monastery of the vallombrosans, lies 300 feet up on the wooded slopes of Monte Secchieta in the Tuscan sub-Apennines, 22 miles from Florence, Italy. There in 1039 a congregation of benedictine monks (Congregatio Vallis Umbrosae ordinis sancti Benedicti ) was founded by the Florentine (St.) john gualbert (d.1073) in what was then a wild and inhospitable spot. The monks reclaimed the land, planting a forest of pines and firs and building a chapel and isolated wooden huts for themselves. The foundation gradually increased, receiving generous donations from Countess matilda of tuscany and other benefactors, and had many daughterhouses in Tuscany and beyond, as can be seen from the "privileges" granted by various popes in the 11th and 12th centuries to the Universa congregatio Vallis Umbrosana, while the monks acquired fame for holiness and learning and for skill in miniature painting. The abbey buildings were constructed by Abbot Francesco Altoviti in the 15th century and subsequently enriched with many great works of art. In 1529 the abbey was sacked by Charles V's army, and the library destroyed; a century later it was considerably enlarged by Abbot Averardo dei Niccolini, acquiring its present imposing appearance. Under napoleon its lands were confiscated, and the abbey was suppresed in 1810. Reopened in 1817, it was again suppressed by the Italian government in 1866 and occupied by the National Forestry Institute until 1913. The abbey buildings have recently been restored to the monks, and it is now the residence of the abbot general of the Vallombrosans. An inscription on a nearby oratory recalls John Milton's visit to Vallombrosa, which he mentions in book two of Paradise Lost.

Bibliography: p. f. kehr, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum. Italia Pontificia, 8 v. (Berlin 1906–35) 3:83–96. g. cappelletti, Le Chiese d'Italia, 21 v. (Venice 1844–70) v.17. e. repetti, Dizionario geografico-fisico-storico della Toscana, 6 v. (Florence 1833–46) v.5. b. albers, "Die aeltesten consuetudines von Vallumbrosa," Rue Bénédictine 28 (1911) 432–436. l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 2:3286–87. p. lugano, ed., L'Italia benedeltina (Rome 1929). b. domenichetti, Guida storica illustrata di Vallombrosa (3d ed. Florence 1929). a. salvini, Abbazia di Vallombrosa (Florence 1960).

[s. olivieri]