Grottaferrata is a town with a Basilian monastery near Rome, sometimes said to occupy the site of Cicero's Tusculanum and situated on the lower slopes of the Alban hills, in the Diocese of Frascati, two and a half miles from the town itself (41°47′N 12°40′E), on the Alban Hills. Basil (ca. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2. ... Frascati is a town in the province of Rome in the Latium region of central Italy. ... The Alban Hills (It. ...

The monastery was founded in 1004 by Saint Nilus the Younger. This abbot, a Calabrian Greek, and hence a subject of the Byzantine Empire, had left Rossano in 980 to avoid the inroads of the Saracens and with his community had spent the intervening years in various monasteries without finding a permanent home. The legend narrates that, at the spot where the abbey now stands, Our Lady appeared and bade him found a church in her honour. Events December: End of the Samanid dynasty in Bokhara. ... Nilus the Younger of Rossano, in Calabria; born in 910, died 27 December 1005. ... Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Events Births Emperor Ichijo of Japan Humbert I of Savoy Avicenna Godiva, Countess of Mercia Deaths Categories: 980 ... For the rugby club Saracens see Saracens (rugby club) The term Saracen comes from Greek sarakenoi. ...

From Gregory, the powerful Count of Tusculum, father of Popes Benedict VIII and John XIX, Nilus obtained the site, but died soon afterwards (26 December 1005). The building was carried out by his successors, especially the 4th abbot, Saint Bartholomew, who, is usually accounted the second founder. The abbey has had a troubled history. The high repute of the monks attracted many gifts; its possessions were numerous and widespread, and in 1131 King Roger of Sicily made the abbot Baron of Rossano with an extensive fief. Between the 12-15th centuries, the monastery suffered from the continual strife of warring factions: Romans and Tusculans, Guelphs and Ghibellines, pope and antipope, Colonna and Orsini. From 1163 till the destruction of Tusculum, in 1191, the greater part of the community sought refuge in a dependency of the Benedictine protocaenobium of Subiaco. In the middle of the 13th century the Emperor Frederick II made the abbey his headquarters during the siege of Rome, in 1378 Breton and Gascon mercenaries held it for the antipope Clement VII; and the 15th century saw the bloody feuds of the Colonnas and the Orsini raging round tile walls. Hence in 1432 the humanist Ambrogio Traversari tells us that it bore the appearance of a barrack rather than of a monastery. In 1462 began a line of commendatory abbots, fifteen in number, of whom all but one were cardinals. Benedict VIII, né Theophylactus (died April 9, 1024), pope (1012_1024), of the noble family of the counts of Tusculum, descended from Theophylact, Count of Tusculum like his predecessor Benedict VI, was opposed by an antipope Gregory, who compelled him to flee from Rome. ... John XIX, né Romanus (died October 1032) was pope from 1024 to 1032. ... December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... Events Malcolm II succeeds Kenneth III as king of Scotland. ... Michelangelos The Last Judgement shows Saint Bartholomew holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin. ... Events May 9 - Tintern Abbey is founded. ... Roger II (1093-1154), son and successor of Roger I, began his rule in 1112. ... Rossano is a town in Southern Italy, in Calabria in Cosenza province. ... Events Owain Gwynedd is recognized as ruler of Wales. ... Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium, situated in a commanding position on the north edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano, 18 km (11 miles) north-east of the modern Frascati. ... // Events May 12 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. ... Subiaco is a city in the Province of Rome, in Lazio, Italy, twenty-five miles from Tivoli alongside the river Aniene. ... See: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194-1250, king 1211/12-1250, emperor since 1220) Frederick II of Austria (?-1246, duke of Austria 1230-1246) Frederick II of Sicily (1272-1337) - who called himself Frederick III - see the article for details. ... Events March - John Wyclif tried to gain public favour by laying his theses before parliament, and then made them public in a tract. ... For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII Clement VII, né Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (1478 – September 25, 1534) was pope from 1523 to 1534. ... Events June 1 - Battle of San Romano - Florence defeats Siena foundation of Université de Caen In the end of the Hook and Cod wars, Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut and Holland is forced by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to abdicate all her estates in his favour; end of Hainaut... Ambrose the Camaldulian, (Ambrogio Traversari) (1386-1439), was a theologian, born near Florence at the village of Portico. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ...

The most distinguished were the Greek Bessarion, Giulio della Rovere (afterwards Julius II, and the last of the line, Cardinal Consalvi, secretary of state to Pius VII. Bessarion, himself a Basilian monk, increased the scanty and impoverished community and restored the church; Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, from more selfish motives, erected the Castello and surrounded the whole monastery with the imposing fortifications that still exist. Till 1608 the community was ruled by priors dependent on the commendatories, but in that year Grottaferrata became a member of the Basilian congregation founded by Gregory XIII, the revenues of the community were separated from those of the commendatories, and the first of a series of triennial regular abbots was appointed. The triennial system survived the suppression of the Commendam and lasted till the end of last century, with one break from 1834 to 1870, when priors were appointed by the Holy See. In 1901 new constitutions came into force and Arsenio Pellegrini was installed as the first perpetual regular abbot since 1462. Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Pope Julius II Julius II, né Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 - February 21, 1513), was pope from 1503 to 1513. ... Pius VII, né Giorgio Barnaba Luigi Chiaramonti, (August 14, 1740 - August 20, 1823) was Pope from March 14, 1800 to August 20, 1823. ... Events March 18 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia May 14 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen. ... Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) Gregory XIII, né Ugo Buoncampagno (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585) was pope (1572 – 1585). ...

The Greek Rite which was brought to Grottaferrata by St. Nilus had lost its native character by the end of the 12th century, and gradually became more and more latinized, but was restored by order of Leo XIII in 1881. The Basilian abbey has always been a home of Greek learning, and Greek hymnography flourished there long after the art had died out within the Byzantine Empire. Monastic studies were revived under Cardinal Bessarion and again in 1608. The best known of modern Basilian writers is the late Abbot Cozza Luzi (d. 1905), the continuator of Cardinal Mai's "Nova Bibliotheca Patrum". Of the church consecrated by John XIX, in 1024, little can be seen except the mosaics in the narthex and over the triumphal arch, the medieval structures having been covered or destroyed during the "restorations" of various commendatory abbots. Domenichino's famous frescoes, due to Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, are still to be seen in the chapel of St. Nilus. In 1904 the ninth centenary of the foundation of the abbey was marked by a judicious but partial restoration, the discovery of some fragmentary thirteenth century frescoes and an exhibition of Byzantine art. The monastery has been exempt from episcopal jurisdiction since the days of Calixtus II, but its claims to the dignity of an abbey nullius were disallowed by Benedict. In 1874 the building was declared a national monument and in 1903 the church received the rank of a Roman basilica. Pope Leo XIII Supreme Pontiff (1878-1903) Leo XIII, né Gioacchino Pecci (March 2, 1810 - July 20, 1903) was Pope from 1878 to 1903. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... Domenico Zampieri (or Domenichino) (October 21, 1581 - April 15, 1641), Italian painter, born at Bologna, was the son of a shoemaker. ... Callixtus II, né Guido of Vienne (d. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia (also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia today) is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by the The Encyclopedia Press, designed to give authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. // History The writing of the encyclopedia began on January 11...