The merits and their apostolic efforts of the two bishops are certainly undeniable facts, but the conversion to Christianity of our people was more probably a very long, difficult and complicated matter. It was, above all, the consequence of a variety of factors such as the passage of merchants, officials, military personnel and the presence of christianised noble families in the area.
Another important factor, undoubtedly, was the presence of devout and holy hermits like Benigno and Caro, famous for having been summoned to Verona in 807 to participate in the transfer of the body of St. Zeno to the new basilica. They settled in the wild and rough environment above the lake on the western slopes of Mount Baldo, where they found the ideal conditions for a life of isolation from the world. The most significant factor, however, were the frequent visits of monks from the Abbey of Saint Zeno in Verona who, from the 9th century on, began accumulating vast tracts of land on Lake Garda and building chapels.
Around the same time, the evidence points to the growing presence of secular (diocesan) clergy, an emanation of the Verona bishopric, organised according to the famous district church model (ordinamento plebano), whose duty was to tend to the souls of the faithful. This organisation was based on the division of the entire county, or the territory outside the city walls, into districts, each with its own mother church, known as pieve, with characteristics, prerogatives and responsibilities more or less similar to the city cathedral.
|
