Decidedly to the date
999, as against 966, the one assigned by Mabillon and Torraneo.
Claretta relies on the discovery, by Provana, of a document in the
royal archives which seems to place the matter beyond dispute. The
first abbot was undoubtedly Avverto or Arveo, who established the
rules of the Benedictine Order in his monastery. "In the seven
hours of daily work prescribed by the Benedictine rule," writes
Cesare Balbo, "innumerable were the fields they ploughed, and the
houses they built in deserts, while in more frequented places men
were laying cultivated ground waste, and destroying buildings:
innumerable, again, were the works of the holy fathers and of
ancient authors which were copied and preserved." {12}
From this time forward the monastery received gifts in land and
privileges, and became in a few years the most important religious
establishment in that part of Italy.
There have been several fires - one, among others, in the year 1340,
which destroyed a great part of the monastery, and some of the
deeds under which it held valuable grants; but though the part
inhabited by the monks may have been rebuilt or added to, the
church is certainly untouched.
CHAPTER VIII - S. Michele (continued)
I had often seen this wonderful pile of buildings, and had
marvelled at it, as all must do who pass from Susa to Turin, but I
never went actually up to it till last summer, in company with my
friend and collaborateur, Mr. H. F. Jones. We reached S. Ambrogio
station one sultry evening in July, and, before many minutes were
over, were on the path that leads to San Pietro, a little more than
an hour's walk above S. Ambrogio.
In spite of what I have said about Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, we
found ourselves thinking how thin and wanting, as it were, in
adipose cushion is every other country in comparison with Italy;
but the charm is enhanced in these days by the feeling that it can
be reached so easily. Wednesday morning, Fleet Street; Thursday
evening, a path upon the quiet mountain side, under the
overspreading chestnuts, with Lombardy at one's feet.
Some twenty minutes after we had begun to climb, the sanctuary
became lost to sight, large drops of thunder-rain began to fall,
and by the time we reached San Pietro it was pouring heavily, and
had become quite dark. An hour or so later the sky had cleared,
and there was a splendid moon: opening the windows, we found
ourselves looking over the tops of trees on to some lovely upland
pastures, on a winding path through which we could almost fancy we
saw a youth led by an angel, and there was a dog with him, and he
held a fish in his hand.
