Spazi funerari nei monasteri: fonti scritte, evidenze archeologiche, problemi di metodo

[Machine translation] The article analyzes the topic of funerary spaces in monasteries, still little investigated in terms of synthetic contributions in Italian historiography. The contribution intends to draw attention back to it, since it is actually a central aspect for understanding the topography of the 'claustrum', of the functions and uses of the spaces of monastic complexes. The cemetery intended for religious people, in particular, is a topic of primary importance, because it establishes the unity of the community itself, even in death, and is at the same time a symbol of 'stability'. Its identification, however, is not always easy: archaeology provides an essential contribution, but the interpretation of the data opens up different perspectives, which the article addresses, first of all highlighting aspects of method, through a critical reinterpretation of cases recently published or more distant, of which new interpretative clues are offered. In the best-framed situations, the position of the monastic cemetery is often closely associated with the apsidal sector of the abbey church — in close proximity to the relics, with a link between space, liturgy and ideology with well-known and complex implications — but several other places in the monastery are affected by religious burials, first of all the cloister. The theme of space is based on that of the hierarchy of functions within the community: abbots are often buried in the main church, but there are also certificates of burials in other buildings, such as the chapter house or any chapels outside the cloistered nucleus. Furthermore, the funerary presence within the monastic complex is a terrain on which relations between the community and the outside world are also played out, with articulated facets that critics have not yet adequately dissected, especially with regard to the early Middle Ages. In fact, the monastery also houses the burials of lay people, members of the 'family' (with particular regard to benefactors) or inhabitants of the surrounding areas, and the choices in funerary matters provide an important opportunity to highlight even that complex network of relationships with a more or less vast territory that a monastery can weave., The contribution pays careful attention to Italian cases, but is at the same time open to a European perspective, highlighting consonances and specificities, on a synchronous and diachronic level, embracing a time horizon that ranges from the first centuries to the central centuries of the Middle Ages, up to the highly innovative contributions imprinted, even in the funerary field, by the Cluniac world., The paper aims at studying the funerary spaces in the monasteries, a topic which is still rather unfamiliar in Italian historiography, but fundamental in order to understand the topography of the claustrum. Particularly the monk cemetery is significantly important, bearing witness of the community’s unit, also after earthly life, as well as being a strong symbol of stabilitas. Its position is often strictly associated to the apse(s) of the abbatial church – very close to the relics – but several other places in the monastery can be home to religious graves, notably the cloister. The abbots are often buried in the main church as well as in other buildings, like the chapter house or chapels outside the cloister. Furthermore, the monastery is home to laymen’s graves, belonging to the familia or dwelling in the neighbourhoods of the religious centre., The essay focuses on Italian cases, but at the same time it is open to a European view, highlighting common issues and specificities, on a synchronic and diachronic level, embracing the first centuries to the central centuries of the Middle Ages, and including the highly innovative contributions made, also in the funerary field, by the Cluniac world.