Alberic of Monte Cassino and the Hymns and Rhythms Attributed to Saint Peter Damian

With each investigation into the literary activities of Monte Cassino during the second half of the eleventh century, the reputation of the Desiderian milieu has taken on new and greater proportions. In this circle of learned monks the name of Alberic the Deacon has been brought into sharper focus. Speculation about his family background has yielded little beyond the conjecture that he was of Beneventan origin. In the records of his monastery he appears for the first time as one already arrived at maturity, since he is introduced as vir disertissimus ac eruditissimus and as vir illis temporibus singularis. It would seem, however, that at least by 1065 — possibly as early as 1057 — Alberic had taken up residence at Monte Cassino and had at about that same period launched his literary career in the stimulating atmosphere of the ‘Desiderian renaissance.’