Abstract
This article examines the meaning, use, and limits of monastic protection under Pope Gregory VII (1073-85). Focusing on the Benedictine house of San Michele della Chiusa (est. 998-1000), in northwest Italy, it reveals the pope’s genuine commitment to upholding the rights and privileges of this Piedmontese monastery in the face of regional adversity. Analysing its ongoing dispute with Bishop Cunibert of Turin (1046-82), this article challenges the longstanding historical view that papal privileges of protection were granted and used exclusively as weapons against episcopal authority. It posits instead a less-politicised function, one which accommodated and prioritised the needs and rights of the monastic community above the centralising tendencies of papal authority, jurisdiction, and church reform.
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