Le visite abbaziali nella costruzione della rete monastica fruttuariense tra i secoli XI e XII

[Autom. eng. transl.] During the life of Guglielmo da Volpiano the numerous monasteries reformed by him maintained spiritual relations among them and sometimes material aid was exchanged, but no bonds of juridical subordination were established. Unity was guaranteed by the common patrocinium exercised over them by the abbot Guglielmo, who visited the various abbeys with frequent journeys. The death of Guglielmo dissolved the network of relations he had woven and after a few decades the Fruttuaria abbey turned towards a centralized organization based on the subordination of dependencies to the mother abbey. In this system the unity was assured by the periodic visits of the fruit abbots to the priorate subjects, which constituted a real instrument of government of the group and during which the abbot exercised the control of the patrimony and the correction of the monks, as few but significant attest documents from the mid-twelfth century, concerning in particular Lombard monasteries. From the 13th century the change in the organizational structure and the regular convocation of the general chapter changed the way of the visits, now conducted by appropriately designated visitors, and accompanied the transformation of the fruitful group into a legally structured ordo.