Historic Volumes Detailzanting Maguzzano Abbey and Local History
And definitely destined to become part of the history of Lonate and Brescia are the two volumes concerning “Maguzzano – History of an Abbey”, written by Giuseppe Gandini and published by Grafo for the Associazione di Studi Storici “Carlo Brusa” of Desenzano del Garda. A milestone work resulting from around twenty years of studies and research, culminating in a work unlike any other, even in larger or more renowned localities – emphasized Don Giovanni Spinelli during the presentation, Secretary of the Centro Storico Benedettini Italiani. These are very important volumes that add to other writings on the history of convents and abbeys, most of which belonged to the Benedictines.
You cannot write the history of the Benedictines if you do not first write the history of each monastery scattered across Italy and the world – continued Don Spinelli. The history of Maguzzano and the Abbey is a story that stretches far into the centuries and has seen, alongside destructions and reconstructions, moments of particular interest for ecclesiastical history, such as the presence and residence of Cardinal Mons. Reginaldo Pole or Merlin Cocai, although the latter’s residence remains uncertain. Additionally, there is the ongoing presence of the Congregation of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence of Don Giovanni Calabria, now Saint Giovanni Calabria.
Content and Sources of the Volumes
But the story told in these two volumes, the first almost a narrative—a historical profile, easy to read and understand; the second a collection of documents, many of which are unpublished, gathered from archives across Italy, even compared between two “repertories”: one from 1740, preserved and sent to the Archivio Benedettino Cassinese at Ognissanti di Mantova along with 150 parchments, and the other from 1753, kept at Maguzzano along with copies of the parchments, later transferred to the Biblioteca Queriniana di Brescia.
In this “History,” nothing has been left to chance or invention. Everything is based on extensive research and comparisons between these and those documents; the bibliography alone testifies to the research effort. Monks-syndics were already present at Maguzzano since 1247, acting in the name and on behalf of the Bishop of Verona.
But Maguzzano was also a comune, a “special municipality.” There, we never find references to a podestà or to a government of the Guilds – Gandini writes. Instead, beyond the secular or religious mayor, we find the consul, the treasurers, the estimators, the reasoned judges, and the “camparo.”
The first documented session of the Town Council dates back to 1628, and the last to January 19, 1721. Among the various documents found and analyzed, the coat of arms of the Comune di Maguzzano was also discovered. A series of stunning photographs by Basilio Rodella completes the work, which is available through the Carlo Brusa association of Desenzano or the Parish of Maguzzano. The cover price is set at 160,000 lire, reduced to 100,000 lire for the next ten years.
