Abbeys and priories · Kingdom of Sicily under the regency · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Montecassino

The mother house of the Benedictines rules a compact lordship, the Land of St Benedict: some thirty castles and villages on the Liri and the Garigliano around its market town of San Germano, astride the road from Rome to Naples.

In January 1199 Markward and Diepold burned its castles, sacked and unwalled San Germano and besieged the abbey for a week until a storm on 15 January drove them off. On 1 January 1200 the cardinal-abbot holds the abbey, the ruined town and most of the land for the pope, but German garrisons placed by Markward sit inside it at Pontecorvo, Interamna and Castelnuovo.

Who holds it

Name
Roffredo dell'Isola
Title
Abbot of Montecassino, cardinal-priest of SS. Marcellino e Pietro
Since
Abbot since 1188; cardinal since 1191 (Federiciana)
Confidence
high

Roffredo first backed Tancred, then went over to Henry VI; under Innocent III he stands openly with the papacy (Federiciana). In 1195 he took Atina by night, jailed its castellan and won over Rocca Guglielma and other castles by oaths of fidelity; in 1196 he recovered Fratte (Castrum Fractarum) and razed Pigliatello (CSUN, after Tosti and Richard of San Germano). When Markward demanded in late 1198 that he recognise him as regent, Roffredo refused because he had already sworn to Innocent (Richard of San Germano).

After Markward's raid he fortified the Rocca Janula above San Germano (Federiciana). Inside the abbey he has a rival, the monk Atenolfo, who worked with Diepold and will later be abbot himself (Federiciana).

What it holds

  • The abbey on Monte Cassino with its fortified rampart
  • San Germano (Cassino), the abbey's market town: entered by Markward on 8 January 1199 after its people fled, plundered, its gates destroyed and its walls levelled in places; back under the abbot after Markward left on 9 February 1199
  • The Rocca Janula above San Germano, being fortified by the abbot
  • Castles of the land: Sant'Elia, Cervaro, Trocchio, San Vittore, San Pietro in Fine, Piumarola, Piedimonte, Terelle, Belmonte, Vallerotonda, Sant'Apollinare, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Ambrogio, San Giorgio, Vallemaio, Coreno, Castelforte, Suio and Rocca d'Evandro [several burned in 1199]
  • Sant'Angelo in Theodice: handed to Diepold by Markward in February 1199 and recovered by the abbot later that year (Richard of San Germano)
  • Rocca Guglielma (Esperia) and Fratte (Ausonia), recovered in 1195-1196 [their state in 1200 not pinned]
  • Atina, taken by Roffredo in 1195 [held in 1200 not pinned]
  • Pontecorvo (the abbey's since 1105), Interamna (Pignataro) and Castelnuovo (Castelnuovo Parano): handed by Markward to Diepold and his men in February 1199 and still occupied
  • Estates, churches and dependent houses across the kingdom (Sant'Angelo in Formis and many others)

How it was acquired

Built up by donations from the 8th century on: San Gregorio near Aquino (748), the port of Traetto (788), Rocca d'Evandro (1022), Castelforte (1043), Coreno (1058), Pontecorvo (1105) (it.wikipedia). At its height the land covered 600 to 800 square kilometres (same).

How things stand that morning

The abbey, San Germano and most castles held by the abbot for the pope; Pontecorvo, Interamna and Castelnuovo occupied by Diepold's men. San Germano lies open, its walls breached.

Wealth

San Germano's market on the Via Latina, the main road from Rome to Naples; mills and fisheries on the Liri, the Rapido and the Garigliano; pilgrims to St Benedict's tomb; the abbey's estates and churches all over the kingdom.

Threats

  • Diepold's garrisons inside the land and his castles at Aquino and Rocca d'Arce next door
  • Atenolfo's faction inside the abbey
  • San Germano without walls
  • Markward's return, or a new German army from the north

Advocates and rivals

Diepold, count of Acerra, and the garrisons Markward left him; the monk Atenolfo and his faction; the counts of Aquino; Conrad of Marlenheim at Sora; on the abbot's side the pope, the cardinals sent in 1198, and the knights of the papal Campagna who held the abbey's rampart in 1199.

Places of note

  • Abbey of Montecassino: The abbey, besieged by Markward in January 1199
  • Rocca Janula: Castle above San Germano, fortified by Roffredo after 1199

Where the sources disagree

  • The campaign notes (Parts 4 and 7) say San Germano 'fell to Markward in 1199'. In Richard of San Germano (Loud's translation) Markward entered the abandoned town on 8 January 1199, sacked it and breached its walls, failed to take the abbey, and left the abbey's land on 9 February 1199, handing Pontecorvo, Interamna, Sant'Angelo and Castelnuovo to Diepold; the abbot then recovered Sant'Angelo. So on 1 January 1200 San Germano is the abbot's again, though unwalled, and three castles are in German hands.

Evidence: Thick for the 1199 raid (Richard of San Germano was a notary of San Germano); fair for the castle list, which comes from the abbey's 11th-12th century records; thin for Atina and the outlying castles in 1200.

On the map: The outline follows the abbey's historic land from Terelle and Vallerotonda to Castelforte and Esperia. Which outlying castles the abbot held on 1 January 1200, after the burnings of 1199, is not pinned.

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.

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

Sources and studies

  1. Richard of San Germano, Chronicle, trans. G.A. Loud (University of Leeds, PDF)
  2. J.P. Adams, Sede Vacante 1198: Roffredus of Montecassino (CSUN)
  3. Montecassino (Treccani, Enciclopedia Federiciana)
  4. Terra di San Benedetto (it.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.