Politiche regie e conflitti nell’Emilia orientale: la fisionomia del fisco regio, San Silvestro di Nonantola e le lotte per il regno dopo l’875

Abstract

The foundation of Nonantola abbey in 752 by Duke Anselm with King Aistulf’s endorsement marked the shape of eastern Emilia profoundly. The Lombard King and his Carolingian successors granted the abbey several fiscal estates with the aim of subtracting them from the ordinary control of the officers of the kingdom, reserving them for their own direct disposal. After 875, the close relationship between the abbey and the political power at court weakened, Nonantola and its considerable patrimony of fiscal resources became the prey of some of the most eminent episcopal figures of the Kingdom. The paper investigates the political competition among the Carolingian kings, the Italian bishops, and the Abbot Theodoric, who aimed at the political and patrimonial autonomy of Nonantola.