Conflicts and Continuity in the Eleventh-Century’s Religious Reform. The Traditions of the San Miniato al Monte Monastery in Florence and the Origins of the Benedictine Vallombrosan Order

Studies on the ecclesiastical reform of the eleventh century have often highlighted moments of conflict between reforming monks and simoniac clerics. This was especially true in the urban contexts of Milan and Florence, cities that played a leading role in the history of religious life in Italy at the time. Through the presentation of an exemplary case study, the paper intends to show how around an important Florentine monastery of bishop’s foundation the conflict between ‘conservatives’ and reformers did not obliterate the genesis and permanence of long-term devotional and cultural traditions. Although these traditions were in the context of conflict, they were able to overcome it in a new and enduring form of religiosity that lasted from the Romanesque period to the Renaissance.