Casauria

Who holds it

Name

Not pinned (Gioele, abbot after 1182, is the last named in the sources consulted)

Title

Abbot of Casauria

Since

Not pinned

Confidence

low

Abbot Leonate (1156-about 1182) rebuilt the church from 1176, with papal protection against Norman pressure; his successor Gioele carried the work on after 1182 (it.wikipedia). The abbey's own chronicle, the Chronicon Casauriense, stops in 1182, so the abbot on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

What it holds

• The 'insula' of Casauria in the Pescara gorge, with the abbey (it.wikipedia)
• Alanno and nearby villages, still the abbey's in the 14th century (it.wikipedia) [held in 1200 likely, not pinned]
• Older claims over castles of the Pescara valley (Pescosansonesco, Bolognano, Tocco) [thin]

How it was acquired

Founded in 871 by Louis II; at its height in the 11th century its lands ran from the Adriatic coast to the Maiella and the Pescara and Trigno rivers. Count Ugo Malmozzetto of Manoppello ravaged it in 1076; by the 14th century only the island of Casauria, Alanno, Castel Valignano and Castelvecchio Monacisco were left (it.wikipedia).

How things stand that morning

A reduced abbatial lordship [thin].

Wealth

The Pescara gorge, through which the road from Rome to the Adriatic passes at the abbey's gates; mills and pasture.

Threats

• The Pagliara counts of Manoppello next door
• The regency war in the Abruzzi

Advocates and rivals

The counts of Manoppello, since April 1195 Walter of Palear's brothers Gentile and Manerio (DBI); the lords of the Pescara valley; the papacy as protector.

Places of note

• San Clemente a Casauria: The abbey church with Leonate's portico

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Its decline is documented; its abbot and holdings in 1200 are not.

On the map: The held core follows the abbey's 14th-century remnant, which it surely held in 1200 as well; the claimed castles show the older lordship.

Primary sources for Sicily

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
• Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
• Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. Read online
• Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
• Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
• The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online

7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.