Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Morimondo Abbey
Morimondo Abbey (Italian: Abbazia di Morimondo; Western Lombard: Badia de Marmond) is a former Cistercian monastery located at Morimondo, a few kilometers south of Abbiategrasso in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The surviving structure is Romanesque and Gothic. It was founded in 1134 as a daughter house of Morimond Abbey near Dijon, France, from which it took its name.
The history of the abbey begins on October 4, 1134 when a group of founding monks arrived from the mother house of Morimond in France. The monks settled in Coronate (now a frazione of Morimondo) and later chose the location for their monastery in Morimondo, about a mile away. Probably, the monastery was already partially built when they moved to Morimondo on November 11, 1136. Soon after its foundation the abbey acquired patrons and postulants from all social classes and the community of the monks had a rapid growth in the number of vocations. Even before the construction of the church, the monks founded two further communities, in Acquafredda near Como (1143) and in Casalvolone near Novara (1169). Further proofs of the flourishing activity in Morimondo was the Scriptorium, aimed at creating the monastic library and at supplying the two new daughter houses with some basic books, and the large agricultural holdings of the motherhouse, on which several granges were in fact settled in the surroundings.
The building of the church began in 1182 and was finished in 1296. There was a delay with respect to the building of the monastery and it was due to disputes with the clergy of Casorate, a village few miles from Morimondo. A long period of interruptions (probably a few years) occurred after December 1237 when the monastery was assaulted by Pavian troops and various monks were killed. Indeed, militants from Pavia and Milan often looted the area and wars hampered the success of the abbey. Frederick Barbarossa and his troops looted Morimondo in 1161. An interruptions occurred also in 1245 due, once again, to the raids of the imperial troops.
At its peak the community numbered 50 choir monks and 200 conversi (lay brothers who had become members of the monastic community, without the obligation to full choir office, and were in charge of the management of the productive activities of the monastery and relations with the outside world).
A slow decline began in the 14th century due to different circumstances. One of them was the looting in 1314 but most damaging was the introduction of the commendatory system in 1450, a conversion which occurred in many abbeys with Cardinal Giovanni Visconti, Archbishop of Milan, Commendatory Abbot of Morimondo. Abbots after Giovanni Visconti include Cardinal Branda Castiglioni, a humanist, and Giovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X. Being concerned to revive the spiritual life of Morimondo, in 1499 Giovanni de' Medici sent eight monks from the Cistercian abbey of Settimo Fiorentino to Morimondo.
The restored stability led to reconstruction of the cloister around the year 1500, the reconstruction of the portal of the sacristy, the painting of the fresco of the Madonna and Child (1515) attributed to Bernardino Luini, and finally the carved wooden choir of 1522.
In 1564 the abbey became a parish after a decision of St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, and the change gave new fervour to Morimondo. In the same year Borromeo stripped the Abbey of its land-holdings, in order to give financial aid to the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan. Another fervent period was in the 17th century when the abbot Antonio Libanori (1648-1652) from Ferrara was able to effect a revival of the cultural and spiritual life of the monastic community. During the 18th century, palaces were built at the north and west sides of the cloister. The abbey was suppressed on May 31, 1798 in the wake of the French Revolution; the Cistercian monks were expelled, and the illuminated manuscript of the library were dispersed.
From 1805 to 1950, priests at the former monastic church continued to minister to the parish. In 1941 the Blessed Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, archbishop of Milan, wishing to restore the monastery, made contact with the Trappist Fathers of the Cistercian Order of the Tre Fontane Abbey in Rome, but with no success. Then, in 1950, the Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary was settled in the monastery. In 1991, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini entrusted the pastoral care of the parish to the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a new call to revive the abbey of Morimondo as a center of spirituality. The "Fondazione Abbatia Sancte Marie de Morimundo" aims at promoting the cultural and religious heritage of the abbey by organizing seminars, exhibitions, visits to the church and nearby building.
Hub AI
Morimondo Abbey AI simulator
(@Morimondo Abbey_simulator)
Morimondo Abbey
Morimondo Abbey (Italian: Abbazia di Morimondo; Western Lombard: Badia de Marmond) is a former Cistercian monastery located at Morimondo, a few kilometers south of Abbiategrasso in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The surviving structure is Romanesque and Gothic. It was founded in 1134 as a daughter house of Morimond Abbey near Dijon, France, from which it took its name.
The history of the abbey begins on October 4, 1134 when a group of founding monks arrived from the mother house of Morimond in France. The monks settled in Coronate (now a frazione of Morimondo) and later chose the location for their monastery in Morimondo, about a mile away. Probably, the monastery was already partially built when they moved to Morimondo on November 11, 1136. Soon after its foundation the abbey acquired patrons and postulants from all social classes and the community of the monks had a rapid growth in the number of vocations. Even before the construction of the church, the monks founded two further communities, in Acquafredda near Como (1143) and in Casalvolone near Novara (1169). Further proofs of the flourishing activity in Morimondo was the Scriptorium, aimed at creating the monastic library and at supplying the two new daughter houses with some basic books, and the large agricultural holdings of the motherhouse, on which several granges were in fact settled in the surroundings.
The building of the church began in 1182 and was finished in 1296. There was a delay with respect to the building of the monastery and it was due to disputes with the clergy of Casorate, a village few miles from Morimondo. A long period of interruptions (probably a few years) occurred after December 1237 when the monastery was assaulted by Pavian troops and various monks were killed. Indeed, militants from Pavia and Milan often looted the area and wars hampered the success of the abbey. Frederick Barbarossa and his troops looted Morimondo in 1161. An interruptions occurred also in 1245 due, once again, to the raids of the imperial troops.
At its peak the community numbered 50 choir monks and 200 conversi (lay brothers who had become members of the monastic community, without the obligation to full choir office, and were in charge of the management of the productive activities of the monastery and relations with the outside world).
A slow decline began in the 14th century due to different circumstances. One of them was the looting in 1314 but most damaging was the introduction of the commendatory system in 1450, a conversion which occurred in many abbeys with Cardinal Giovanni Visconti, Archbishop of Milan, Commendatory Abbot of Morimondo. Abbots after Giovanni Visconti include Cardinal Branda Castiglioni, a humanist, and Giovanni de' Medici, later Pope Leo X. Being concerned to revive the spiritual life of Morimondo, in 1499 Giovanni de' Medici sent eight monks from the Cistercian abbey of Settimo Fiorentino to Morimondo.
The restored stability led to reconstruction of the cloister around the year 1500, the reconstruction of the portal of the sacristy, the painting of the fresco of the Madonna and Child (1515) attributed to Bernardino Luini, and finally the carved wooden choir of 1522.
In 1564 the abbey became a parish after a decision of St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, and the change gave new fervour to Morimondo. In the same year Borromeo stripped the Abbey of its land-holdings, in order to give financial aid to the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan. Another fervent period was in the 17th century when the abbot Antonio Libanori (1648-1652) from Ferrara was able to effect a revival of the cultural and spiritual life of the monastic community. During the 18th century, palaces were built at the north and west sides of the cloister. The abbey was suppressed on May 31, 1798 in the wake of the French Revolution; the Cistercian monks were expelled, and the illuminated manuscript of the library were dispersed.
From 1805 to 1950, priests at the former monastic church continued to minister to the parish. In 1941 the Blessed Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, archbishop of Milan, wishing to restore the monastery, made contact with the Trappist Fathers of the Cistercian Order of the Tre Fontane Abbey in Rome, but with no success. Then, in 1950, the Congregation of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary was settled in the monastery. In 1991, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini entrusted the pastoral care of the parish to the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a new call to revive the abbey of Morimondo as a center of spirituality. The "Fondazione Abbatia Sancte Marie de Morimundo" aims at promoting the cultural and religious heritage of the abbey by organizing seminars, exhibitions, visits to the church and nearby building.