Alcune osservazioni preliminari sull’altercatio pro cenobio Casinensi

In 1130, Rome was shaken by the elections of two popes: Innocent II and Anacletus II. The double election resulted in a schism on a European scale that lasted until the death of Anacletus in 1138. The abbey of Montecassino initially placed itself among the Anacletians but changed sides in 1137. This article analyses the Altercatio pro cenobio Casinensi, a work written by Peter the Deacon, a Cassinese monk, describing the negotiations eventually leading to Montecassino’s support for Innocent. The Altercatio will prove to be an attack on Roman primacy and a defence of the libertas and autonomy of Montecassino, stressing its link with the emperor and developing an ecclesiology rivalling that produced in Rome.