The Abbey of Farfa’s milites in 10th–12th centuries

Abstract

The earliest evidence of the presence of knights dependent on the Abbey of Farfa dates back to the late 9^th century. Nevertheless, it is only a century and a half later that it becomes possible to establish precise connections between the granting of benefices and mounted military service performed by milites dependent on the monastery – apparently numerous during the period of political instability caused by the struggles over Church reform. Initially, these benefice grants were precarious, but as early as the beginning of the 12^th century some began to be stabilized through their assimilation into long-term censuary contracts. In close dialogue with the interpretive framework proposed almost half a century ago by Pierre Toubert, this study will put forward the hypothesis that a non-negligible abbey militia was already in existence well before the second half of the 11^th century, during a period that also witnessed a reshaping of the territorial organization of the abbey’s domain.