Staffarda Abbey
Cistercian monastery located near Saluzzo in north-west Italy
Staffarda Abbey (Abbazia Santa Maria di Staffarda) is a Cistercian monastery located near Saluzzo in north-west Italy; it was founded as a daughter house of Tiglieto Abbey in 1135 by Manfred I, Marquis of Saluzzo. The abbey became an important local centre for agriculture and held a flourishing market. It was placed in commendam to the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in 1750.
A portrait of Cesare Alessandro Scaglia di Verrua, abbot of Staffarda, painted by Antony van Dyck in about 1634, is now in the National Gallery in London.
An important musical manuscript, the Codex Staffarda, dating to the 1480s or 1490s and containing reference to the commendatory abbot Brixianus Taparelli, is now in the National University Library of Turin. It includes polyphonic works by Renaissance composers such as Jacob Obrecht and Antoine Brumel, as well as the earliest surviving example of a polyphonic Dies Irae by an otherwise unknown composer, Engarandus Juvenis.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Staffarda Abbey” as cistercian monastery located near Saluzzo in north-west Italy. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as cistercian monastery located near Saluzzo in north-west Italy. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q833321. VIAF identifies the subject as 127915609. The Library of Congress control number is n85277015. Authority coordinates are 44.721, 7.437. 2 of 7 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1135, 1750 and 1634.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Staffarda Abbey”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Staffarda Abbey primary sources, Staffarda Abbey archive and Staffarda research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Staffarda Abbey”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Staffarda Abbey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.