St.benedict

Italy at the time of St. Benedict

St. Benedict lived and worked in a historical period, straddling the IV and V centuries, that was particularly difficult and chaotic and he soon became a principal figure in bringing about renewal and stability. Four years before his birth (476) the Roman Empire came to an end with the overthrow of the last Emperor Romulus Augustus. For Italy it was the start of a period in history that would later be described as the “dark centuries”. Poverty and insecurity were the consequence of the pillaging and terrible wars that were waged for control of the territory by the new populations (Goths, Byzantines, Franks, Lombards), pitted against each other by their desire for power and their different cultural and religious traditions. In this scenario, Benedict and his followers carried out a work of reconstruction: already by the XI century Europe was made up of communities of people, united by the same faith and the same culture, Christianity.