Abbot
Desiderio, aware that a policy hostile to the new noblemen would undermine the
authority and survival of the monastery, assumed the role of mediator between
the Normans, the Papacy and the Emperors of Germany and Byzantium. On the part
of the Normans there was an attitude of respect towards the Cassino abbey, and a
series of donations represented a return for Desiderio’s pro-Norman policy.
The relations between the Normans and the Church became increasingly close,
especially after the Pope’s defeat at Civitate. The consequences are also
evident from the close ties that developed between the new administrative units
and the dioceses.
The pilgrimage routes that ran both North-South along the ancient sheep-tracks
and West-East along the river valleys represented important elements in the
history of Molise during the Norman period. In the valley of the river Tigno,
the Benedictines founded the church of St. Mary in the vicinity of a Roman
villa, while at the mouth of the river there existed until 1125 the monastery of
St. Stephen in rivo maris. In the valley of the river Biferno, in an area
where ancient remains from Roman times still endure, was erected the abbey of
Casalpiano. The church of St. Mary of Melanico was built in the valley of the
river Fortore, not far from the remains of a Roman villa. The flow of traffic
was principally bound for the sanctuary of Mount S.Angelo on the Gargano, where,
according to tradition, one of the first meetings (1015) between the Normans
returning from the Holy Land and a group of Apulian noblemen resolved to rid
themselves of the Byzantine domination took place.
The Normans, with the protection of the Church, conquered a large portion of
southern Italy, and in the Sicilian war against the Mussulmen displayed the
early characteristics of a crusader movement. One of the results of the First
Crusade was the conquest of Antioch (1098) by Bohemond, son of Robert Guiscard,
and the establishment of the first crusader princedom in the Holy Land. An
important role was played the following year by Tancred in the conquest of
Jerusalem.
