The People’s Patrimony: Defining Historical Value

Abstract

In the contemporary world of nineteenth- and twentieth-century politics, Monte Cassino’s patrimony passed from the monks of the abbey to the sovereign nation state; as ideological claims over the abbey’s (universal) heritage became more pronounced with the threat of imminent disaster, however, its heirs became the wider world. Recognition of its value became formalised as external interest in its preservation increased; as an object deemed worthy of protection, the abbey came to signify not only a united Europe, but an emblem of Western civilisation. This chapter traces the development of this idea, paying particular attention to its emergence and uniqueness in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It argues for Monte Cassino’s role in this era as an etic symbol of continuity capable of transcending national and international borders – an order of ideas whose interrogation reveals a process of consecration and institutionalisation.