Uomini, terra e acque: il monastero di San Benedetto Polirone in età moderna

The object of the research is the Benedictine monastery of Polirone in the modern age; this monastery, which was founded in 1007 by Tedaldo Canossa in the area on San Benedetto, not far from Mantua, received the monks until its abolition, occurred in 1797 following the capture of the city by Napoleon Bonaparte. In particular, this thesis investigates the strategies implemented by the monks for the control of water, aimed at defending the monastery from the floods of the rivers Po and Secchia, and at regularizing the minor hydrographic network to improve the yield of the land. The discussion analyses critically the documents showing the aggregation of Polirone to the Congregation of St. Justina of Padua (later Cassinese), as well as the relationship developed over the centuries between the monastery and the same institution. Considerable space is devoted to the study of the “crisis of the seventeenth century” in the territories of the abbey, and to military maneuvers that involved Polirone even in the wars of succession of the eighteenth century. The documents found and analyzed confirm the need to consider the triple relationship human beings-ground-water in a perspective of complexity and reciprocity, that becomes essential to trace the history of Polirone in modern times. The research is supplemented by three appendices: a catalog of historical maps of San Benedetto Po, the statement of the monastery lands granted to the "terzaroli" (1657) and the tabulation of properties headed to the monastery (1784).