This is the first comprehensive study in English about the medieval imperial abbey of Farfa, which played a key role in the period of ecclesiastical reform, beginning in the mid-eleventh century. Its main sources are the Register and Chronicle, compiled by Gregory of Catino, a partisan monk.
Controlling strategic property in central Rome and along the coast of Latium, Farfa functioned as a quasi-imperial embassy, supporting the empire in its struggle with the papacy for hegemony. Imperial ties and internal conflicts led to Farfa's loss of liberties and dependency upon the papacy.
The...