Documenti pontifici nel tabularium dell’abbazia cistercense di Chiaravalle Milanese (da Giovanni XXII a Bonifacio IX)

Abstract

From its foundation in 1135 onward, the Cistercian abbey of S. Maria di Chiaravalle Milanese has played a leading role in Milan’s political, social, economical and religious life. Despite the ideal of the desertum prescribed by the Order’s Rule, the monks of Chiaravalle Milanese were closely linked to the urban elites and to the public institutions for the entire Middle Ages. Nonetheless, as a Cistercian monastery, Chiaravalle Milanese had other privileged interlocutors: the most important one was the Papacy, as proven by the large number of letters (up to 120 until the beginning of the 15th century) addressed by popes to Chiaravalle Milanese and still preserved into the monastic archives. This paper aims at pursuing the critical editorial work recently carried out on Chiaravalle Milanese’s papal and Apostolic legates’ charters from 1139 to 1311, by publishing 16 unedited papal letters dating from the pontificate of John XXII to that of Boniface IX. In addition, 3 more charters are edited in an Appendix, which are useful to contextualize and explain the relationship between Chiaravalle Milanese and the Holy See during the 14th century.