Editing Monte Cassino (section)

===Era of Benedict (530–547)===
According to [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great's]] hagiography of [[Benedict of Nurcia|Benedict]], the ''Life of Saint Benedict of Nursia'', the monastery was constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of [[Apollo]] that crowned the hill. The biography records that the area was still largely [[Paganism|pagan]] at the time; Benedict's first act was to smash the sculpture of Apollo and destroy the altar. He then reused the temple, dedicating it to [[Martin of Tours|Saint Martin]], and built another chapel on the site of the altar dedicated to Saint [[John the Baptist]].

Pope Gregory I's account of Benedict's seizure of Monte Cassino:
<blockquote>Now the citadel called Casinum is located on the side of a high mountain. The mountain shelters this citadel on a broad bench. Then it rises three miles above it as if its peak tended toward heaven. There was an ancient temple there in which Apollo used to be worshipped according to the old pagan rite by the foolish local farmers. Around it had grown up a grove dedicated to demon worship, where even at that time a wild crowd still devoted themselves to unholy sacrifices. When [Benedict] the man of God arrived, he smashed the idol, overturned the altar and cut down the grove of trees. He built a chapel dedicated to St. Martin in the temple of Apollo and another to St. John where the altar of Apollo had stood. And he summoned the people of the district to the faith by his unceasing preaching.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Life of Saint Benedict|author=Pope Gregory I|translator=Terrence Kardong, OSB|section=7:10–11|page=49|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=2009|location=Collegeville, MN}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Cathedral (Monte Cassino) - Facade.jpg|thumb|The façade of the church]]
Pope Gregory I's biography of Benedict claims that Satan opposed the monks repurposing the site. In one story, Satan invisibly sits on a rock making it too heavy to remove until Benedict drives him off. In another story, Satan taunts Benedict and then collapses a wall on a young monk, who is brought back to life by Benedict. Pope Gregory also relays that the monks found a pagan idol of bronze when digging at the site (which when thrown into the kitchen gave the illusion of a fire until dispelled by Benedict).<ref name="Pope">{{cite book|title=The Life of Saint Benedict|author=Pope Gregory I|translator=Terrence Kardong, OSB|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=2009|location=Collegeville, MN}}</ref>

Archaeologist [[Neil Christie]] notes that it was common in such [[hagiography|hagiographies]] for the protagonist to encounter areas of strong paganism.<ref>{{harvnb|Christie|2006|p=113}}</ref> Benedict scholar Terrence Kardong examines why Benedict did not face stiffer opposition in his seizure of the site from the local pagans. He contrasts this with the 25-year struggle faced by St. Martin of Tours in western Gaul by pagans angry at his attacks on their shrines: "By the time of Benedict, paganism was in a weaker condition in western Europe than it had been in Martin's time. And, of course, it must be remembered that Martin as a bishop was a much more prominent churchman than Benedict. This was an isolated and unusual episode in Benedict's monastic career. Martin, however, was thrust out of his monastery into the role of a missionary bishop in the fourth century."<ref name="Pope" />

Benedict scholars (such as Adalbert de Vogüé and Terrence Kardong) note the heavy influence of [[Sulpicius Severus]]' ''Life of Martin'' on Pope Gregory I's biography of Benedict, including the account of his seizure of Monte Cassino. Benedict's violence against a pagan holy place recalls both Martin's assault against pagan shrines generations before and the Biblical story of conquering Israel entering the Holy Land (see Exodus 34:12–14). De Vogue writes "this mountain had to be conquered from an idolatrous people and purified from its devilish horrors. And like conquering Israel, Benedict came precisely to carry out this purification. No doubt Gregory had this biblical model uppermost in his mind, as is clear from the terms he uses to describe the work of destruction. At the same time, neither Gregory nor Benedict could have forgotten the similar line of action taken by St. Martin against the pagan shrines of Gaul."<ref name="Vogue">{{cite book|title=The Life of St. Benedict|author=Gregory the Great|others=Commentary by Adalbert de Vogüé|translator=Hilary Costello and Eoin de Bhaldraithe|publisher=St. Bede's Publications|location=Petersham, MA|year=1993}}</ref>

Pope Gregory I's account of Benedict at Monte Cassino is seen by scholars as the final setting for an epic set in motion at Subiaco. In his earlier setting Benedict "had twice shown complete mastery over his aggressiveness, Benedict is now allowed to use it without restraint in the service of God."<ref name="Vogue" /> Scholars note that this striking contrast is not stressed by Gregory but rather both settings are portrayed as part of a single battle account against the same demonic enemy. Where Satan concealed himself behind underlings at Subiaco, at Monte Cassino he drops the masks to enter into a desperate attempt to prevent an abbey from being built, and "that the sole cause of this eruption of satanic action is the suppression of pagan worship on the high places."<ref name="Vogue" />
[[File:Abadía de Montecassino.jpg|left|thumb]]
While scholars see some similarities between the story of Benedict's encountering demonic phenomena and diabolic apparitions at Monte Cassino with the story of Saint [[Anthony the Great]]'s temptation in the desert, the influence of the story of St. Martin is dominant – with the resistance of Satan substituting for Martin's outraged pagan populace. Unlike the stories that may have influenced Pope Gregory's structure of the biography, Benedict's victories are practical, preventing Satan from stopping work on the abbey at Monte Cassino. Benedict's prayers are portrayed as the driving force behind the building of the abbey and the triumphs over Satan, through prayer: "Benedict the monk wrests from the devil a well-determined base which he never leaves."<ref name="Vogue" /> After the completion of the abbey, Satan's appearances in the story diminish back to the same level as Subiaco, "Only after the saint's death and by God's permission would other enemies, the Lombards, succeed in sacking it."<ref name="Vogue" />Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. He wrote the [[Rule of Saint Benedict|Benedictine Rule]] that became the founding principle for Western [[monasticism]], received a visit from [[Totila]], king of the [[Ostrogoths]] (perhaps in 543, the only remotely secure historical date for Benedict), and died there. According to accounts, "Benedict died in the oratory of St. Martin, and was buried in the oratory of St. John."<ref name="Vogue" />

The Rule of St. Benedict mandated the moral obligations to care for the sick. So in Monte Cassino St. Benedict founded a hospital that is considered today to have been the first in Europe of the new era. Benedictine monks took care of the sick and wounded there according to Benedict's Rule. The monastic routine called for hard work. The care of the sick was such an important duty that those caring for them were enjoined to act as if they served Christ directly. Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at nearby Subiaco (about 64&nbsp;km to the east of Rome), where hospitals were settled, too, as adjuncts to the monasteries to provide charity. Soon many monasteries were founded throughout Europe, and everywhere there were hospitals like those in Monte Cassino.

Pope Gregory I's account of Benedict's construction was confirmed by archaeological discoveries made after the destruction of 1944. Adalbert de Vogüé recounts that "Traces have been found of the oratories of St. Martin and of St. John the Baptist, with additions from the eighth and eleventh centuries, together with their pre-Christian cellars. The first one which Benedict built in the temple itself was only twelve meters long and eight wide. From this, we can infer a fairly small community. The second oratory, on the mountain-top, where the pagan altar had stood in the open air, was of the same width but somewhat longer (15.25 meters)."<ref name="Vogue" />