THE ABBEY OF THE FORTY MARTYRED SAINTS

This abbey was founded between the IXth and Xth centuries as the Basilian hermitage of S. Nicolas of Conflenti, where later a church of the same name was erected. After having been under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Nicastro, it fell into “commenda,” which means that it was used as a benefice for others. Being vacant, it was leased to abbots who were recipients of the benefice, who did not become its titular head, but kept it for life to receive its revenues. As for the later abbot-beneficiaries, it emerges from archived documents that in 1723 the beneficiary of the abbey was Cardinal Petra. In 1742 the benefice was conferred on Valerio Riccio, in 1776 on Giuseppe Maria del Ponte of Cava dei Tireni, in 1796 on Roberto Filangieri, son of the great Gaetano Filangieri. In the first part of the 1800s, it went to abbot Perretti, and after him it went to D. Guiglielmo Winspeare, son of Marshall D. Antonio Winspeare of Naples.

The remains of the small church of
"The Forty Sainted Martyrs"
Lamezia Terme, Caronte
Villella Collection
Click to Enlarge

On July 22, 1824, with a special power of attorney executed by the notary Nicola D’Arienzo of Naples, the abbot Guglielmo Winspeare named as his representative the parish priest D. Andrea Folino of the church of S. Nicola in Conflenti to lease to the brothers Nicola and Giovanni Folino of Conflenti “all the goods and revenues belonging to the Monastery of the Forty Sainted Martyrs located in Sambiase, of which Sig. Winspeare is the beneficiary.”

Notarial act leasing out the Abbey's benefits and goods

On June 8, 1839, by power of attorney executed by the notary Raffaele Dascoli of Naples, D. Guglielmo Winspeare named as his special representative the Rev. D. Francesco Maria Stranges, parish priest of S. Nicola in Conflenti, and charged him with leasing the goods and benefits of the abbey to three people from Conflenti who had requested it. These were Don Nicola Folino, Don Antonio Folino, and Don Antonio Montoro. On February 11, 1842, by an act drawn up by the notary Giuseppe Lemmo of Naples, D. Guglielmo Winspeare renewed the special power of attorney to the parish priest of Conflenti, named Soprani, to renew the lease of the goods and revenues of the abbey to the previous leaseholders, except for Nicola Folino who was deceased. All these acts are important for understanding the heritage of the abbey. Above all, from these written descriptive documents one can glean the make-up of the great forest of Mitoio, with a detailed catalog of the various types of plants.