The abbey's market town on the Via Latina below Monte Cassino, home of the notary Richard of San Germano, whose chronicle is the best account of these years.
In January 1199 Markward and Diepold burned the abbey's castles, sacked the town and besieged the abbey until a storm on 15 January drove them off; the abbot bought Markward's departure on 9 February with a large payment (DBI on Roffredo). On 1 January 1200 the town is the abbot's again but lies open, its walls breached. Diepold's garrisons sit a few miles away at Pontecorvo, Interamna and Castelnuovo.
Who holds it
- Name
- Roffredo dell'Isola, cardinal-abbot
- Title
- Abbot of Montecassino, lord of the town
- Since
- Abbot since 1188
- Confidence
- high
Church map record Montecassino; Richard of San Germano.
Lord in 1200
The abbot of Montecassino, Cardinal Roffredo dell'Isola, who holds for the pope as the king's guardian (Church map record Montecassino). Markward entered the abandoned town on 8 January 1199, sacked it and breached its walls and gates, and left the abbey's land on 9 February 1199; the town has been the abbot's again since then.
Overlord
The abbot; the king above him.
How things stand that morning
The abbot's, unwalled, in a war zone.
Charter
The abbey's lordship; the townsmen swore to Henry VI in 1191 and came back to the king that year.
Council
Under the abbot's officers [not pinned].
Fairs and markets
The abbey's market on the Via Latina.
Militia
The townsmen and the Campanian knights the pope sent in 1198-1199 defended it in January 1199.
Walls and castle
Walls and gates breached by Markward in February 1199. The Rocca Janula on the slope above is fortified by the abbot in 1200, after Diepold's attack (DBI on Roffredo; the Church map puts the work after Markward's raid).
Trade and crafts
Market town of the Land of St Benedict; mills on the Rapido.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- March 1200Diepold attacks; the abbot flees San Germano with his brother Gregory, hires mercenaries and archers with money raised in the Marsica and persuades Diepold to withdraw, then fortifies the Rocca Janula. Peter of Celano refuses to help him (DBI lives of Diepold, Roffredo and Peter of Celano).Depends on: Diepold's garrisons close by and the town's broken walls. Stopped by: A papal garrison at the abbey, or walls rebuilt in time.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign notes say San Germano 'fell to Markward in 1199'. It did, from 8 January to 9 February 1199; on 1 January 1200 it is the abbot's again (Richard of San Germano).
Evidence: Richard of San Germano was a notary of the town.
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.
Sources and studies
- Richard of San Germano, Chronicle, trans. G.A. Loud (University of Leeds, PDF; covers to 1199)
- Roffredo dell'Isola (Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.