The Abbey of San Zeno was erected in the 9th century on the remains of a preexisting monastery, whose origins date back to the 4th century. Of the abbey, the abbey tower of San Zeno and several cloisters that are now part of the Basilica of San Zeno survive. It was very important both for the history of Verona and for the relations the German emperors had with Italy.
Historians have ascertained the presence of an early Christian sacellum from the 4th century in the cloisters, now called the sacellum of St. Benedict, however, the construction of the abbey proper was given impetus in the 9th century in the Carolingian era and developed at the behest of the Veronese archdeacon Pacifico, Bishop Rotaldo and the Frankish king Pepin, son of Charlemagne. According to images from the period and recent findings, there was a second tower located to the northeast and the Abbot's palace, adjacent to the abbey tower. Before the extension of the city walls by the Scaligeris, the area of San Zeno was outside the walls and therefore the buildings in the ward were often located so as to be safe and to obtain defense even though they were located outside the city: in that historical phase the ward was thus developed, protected precisely by the presence of the abbey itself.
It was destroyed in the Napoleonic era and therefore did not follow the fate of Verona's abbey properties, which upon the replacement of the French by the Austrians became part of the Austrian state property, sometimes redeemed as in the case of Santa Maria in Organo. From the beginning of the nineteenth century began a period of divestment of the ancient Benedictine abbey that ended in the mid-twentieth century. From the post-war period onward, numerous restoration works were carried out on the tower and part of the original abbey, which can currently be visited and are well maintained.
History
Early Christian and Carolingian origins
There are no sources to trace the foundation of the monastery of St. Zeno in Verona, but it has been speculated that its origin may date as far back as the fourth century, when the saint himself was alive.. According to what is recounted in the "Chronicle" of the Veronese notary Coronato, upon the death of St. Zeno (371), an initial church was erected on the site of his tomb, from which the present basilica later developed. According to reports by Giovanni Battista Biancolini beginning in 750 the complex served as an episcopal see for the diocese of Verona until 804, when church and monastery were destroyed "ab infidelibus hominibus," perhaps Huns or Avars but more likely Frankish insubordinates or Arian survivors...
Two years later, King Pepin of Italy and Bishop Ratoldo decided that a new, larger and more worthy building should be built on the site to house the saint's remains. According to what can be read on an inscription placed inside the Verona cathedral, this building was to be overseen, at least in part, by the Archdeacon Pacifico. In the Codice Diplomatico Veronese it is stated that it was Charlemagne himself who confirmed the work. The monastery of San Zeno had in its possession: the monastery of S. Pietro di Mauriatica, the churches of S. Lorenzo di Ostiglia and SS. Firmus and Rusticus..
Once the works were finished, between the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century, during Carolingian rule, the Benedictine monastery grew in importance, gaining substantial social and economic recognition to the extent that it managed to emancipate itself from the power of the bishop.. At this time, and most likely even earlier, the monastery must have been provided with a scriptorium, as was moreover customary in Benedictine monasteries, where the monks were busy copying manuscripts; however, there is no certainty of this until at least 1315, the year in which there is definite evidence of its presence; the debate is still open among historians..By way of example, it is ascertained that the scriptorium of Verona cathedral was active at least since 517 (perhaps as early as a century earlier), that is, from the date imprinted on the Ursicinus codex preserved here. From that scriptorium originated the capitular library that still exists today and is therefore considered the oldest in the world still in operation. In . Not much is known about the books kept there but it is certain that the monks received from Pepin as gifts, in addition to land and objects of worship, "Gospels written in pen all adorned with gold and with precious gems.". In addition, in 1940, two manuscripts were found that were certainly part of the monastery's library, Justinian's Institutiones and St. Augustine's Tractatus in Ioannis evangelium, with the latter being annotated "Liber monasterii Sancti Zenonis Maioris de Verona." It is likely that it was there, between the 11th and 12th centuries, that an anonymous monk wrote Vita S. Zenonis and Historia translationis S. Zenonis..
Late medieval period
The devastating 1117 earthquake that struck the city did not spare even the San Zeno complex, which sustained extensive damage. In spite of this, the monastery continued to grow throughout the 12th century and was promptly rebuilt in the forms and dimensions that still distinguish it today, according to the taste of the Veronese Romanesque style in vogue at the time. The prosperity enjoyed by the monastery was a consequence both of the gifts it received from the faithful and the diocese, but also and above all of the numerous privileges granted to it by the various emperors over the centuries, first by the Carolingians, then by the Ottonians, and then by the Hohenstaufen; the last one of which is known was issued by Frederick II of Swabia in 1221. The emperors also often used, at least since the descent of Otto I of Saxony in 969, the Benedictine monastery of San Zeno as a place to stay..
By the end of the 12th century, however, the monastery's downward spiral began despite attempts by Abbot Gerard (1163-1187) and Abbot Hugh (1187-1199) to secure its former prestige. Nevertheless, the crisis became apparent in all its drama when Abbot Riprando was killed by his own brother, the cleric Avanzo.
In 1226 Ezzelino III da Romano seized power in Verona and throughout the March of Treviso, subjugating even the religious community of San Zeno, creating rifts within them that manifested themselves in a substantial loss of autonomy in favor of the lay members of the municipality. On May 23, 1238, the sumptuous wedding between Frederick II's daughter Selvaggia and Ezzelino took place in the basilica; it is most likely that the emperor resided for the occasion within the abbey tower...
To counter the oppressive Ezzelinian power tried Abbot Peter, who led the monastery between 1252 and 1268, flanked by a single monk, a certain Cloza, but this attempt was unsuccessful. During the communal period the carroccio of the municipality of Verona was kept inside the church of San Zeno, precisely at the beginning of the left aisle. With the coming to power of the Scaligeri, the autonomy of the convent was further reduced, so much so that, in 1292, Alberto I della Scala was able to impose his illegitimate son Giuseppe as abbot, instead of a "real" abbot; in this regard Dante Alighieri mentions Giuseppe in Canto XVIII of Purgatory condemning him to Hell, a judgment that historians consider far too harsh, considering that Giovanni worked to increase the number of monks present, revised the documentation and began work on the new abbey palace and the present cloister.. The affair came up again in 1321 when Bartolomeo I della Scala, natural son of Mastino I and later bishop of Verona, was placed at the head of the Benedictines of San Zeno..
In 1318, a document, written in Gothic Chancery script, brings knowledge of the presence in the abbey library of 29 codices and other religious goods.. Since this document mentions only religious objects, concerning the handover between monks, it is unknown whether works of a secular nature were also preserved at that time. Among the various codices mentioned are two texts from the Historia Corporis Christi, two codices with accounts of the Miracles of St. Zeno, two concerning the Benedictine order of which a Liber comenti super regulam, three missals, one of which belonged to Bishop Adelardo, probably Adelardo Cattaneo from the early 12th century.The codex simply reads "missale quod fuit episcopi Abelardi," so historians are leaning toward Adelardo Cattaneo instead of his namesake Adalardo of Verona, bishop between the 9th and 10th centuries. In .
A second inventory of codices contained in the monastery, listing 131 of them, is instead dated May 12, 1400,. and was compiled by the Brescian Giovanni De Lantanis, a student of liberal arts at Sorbonne in Paris, at the behest of Pietro Emilei, abbot of San Zeno between 1399 and 1421..
These inventories allow one to assume that throughout the 14th century the scriptorium was in full activity and was also directed to provide a service for private individuals in addition to that related to worship; it has even been proposed that many of the amanuenses were laymen or at least not monks. What is certain is that in 1425 German monks made their appearance within the monastery and took charge of the copying work..
Modern Age
In the meantime, the Scaliger dynasty had fallen and, after a brief Visconti interlude that did not change the life of the monastery, there was the devotion of Verona to Venice pronounced on June 24, 1405.. Following this there was a loss of power on the part of the local aristocracy in favor of the officials of the Serenissima, a fact that also affected, albeit indirectly, the San Zeno complex. Beginning in 1425, with the appointment of Marco Emilei by Pope Martin V, the period of commendatory abbots. no longer residing in the monastery began. The new abbot, however, worked to revitalize the functioning of the monastery by ordering the separation of the abbatial and monastic refectories, stipulating that the resident monks should never be less than twelve (while the lay brothers should be at least three in number), that a chapter should be held every May 1 to elect a prior with an annual charge, and that the abbot should not intervene in the administration of temporal goods.. Among the deeds arranged by Emilei it is stated with regard to the library, "cum loco ibidem pro Libraria," that it was located in a room situated between the granary and the bakery demonstrating that the number of codices was so great that they could no longer be kept in the sacristy..
In 1433 the Camaldolese Ambrogio Traversari had occasion to speak of the monastery's library, describing it as "sacroru, voluminum copiosa." It was also to grow considerably between 1445 and 1464 when the commendatory abbot was Gregorio Correr, a great supporter of culture and the commissioner of Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece, which is still preserved inside the church. In 1472, called with the intention of strengthening the adherence to the Benedictine rule that was to be observed, more German monks arrived in the monastery who also took charge of collecting more manuscripts.
Relations between the monks and the Germans, however, soured to the extent that the former even went so far as to destroy Verona's carroccio.. Of them the commendatory abbot (1567-1577) Giovanni Francesco Commendone also had occasion to note bad behavior, who on the occasion of a visit spoke of "disciplinam regularem in hoc Monasterio esse valde depravatam, ac fere collapsam [. ..] Preterea graves excessus in Monasterio factos fuisse" consequently having to promote a "Reformatio monachorum S. Zenoni.".