The
abbey was founded in 1124, when
Renier I of Montferrat provided an extensive tract of marsh, heath and woodland known as
Locez, on whose agricultural development the future prosperity of Lucedio would depend. As the second daughter-house of
La Ferté Abbey (after
Tiglieto Abbey, in the
Ligurian Apennines), this was one of the earliest
Cistercian monasteries in Italy. Lucedio contributed in its turn to the expansion of the Cistercian Order by giving birth to three daughter-houses over the next eighty years:
Santa Maria di Castagnola Abbey in
Chiaravalle (1147) in the
Marche,
Rivalta Scrivia (1180) near
Tortona and
Acqualunga (1204) near
Pavia. . The Abbey's political ties to the
Aleramici of Montferrat were shown in 1202 when its abbot,
Peter II, accompanied the Marquess
Boniface, grandson of Renier, on the notorious
Fourth Crusade. After the
sack of Constantinople in 1204 Boniface, as leader of the crusade, had expectations of being appointed the first emperor of the new
Latin Empire. Abbot Peter was among the electors and is presumed to have been among the two or three who voted for Boniface. The crown, however, went to
Baldwin,
Count of Flanders, who had the support of the
Venetians. Thwarted in this ambition, Boniface and his crusaders conquered
Thessalonica and was installed by Baldwin as king of the
Crusader state, the
Kingdom of Thessalonica, albeit under authority of Constantinople. Peter became
Bishop of Ivrea (and later
Latin Patriarch of Antioch) and his long-time associate
Ogliero (who was later
beatified by the Church) took his place as Abbot of Lucedio in 1205. The abbey then housed fifty monks. In 1214 two further daughter-houses of Lucedio were founded in the Crusader states:
Saint George de Jubino in the
Principality of Antioch and
Chortaïton in Thessalonica. The abbey managed its agricultural assets employing the
grange system and was effective in developing the productivity of the land, notably introducing the cultivation of rice to this damp riverside area in the fifteenth century. Today the Vercelli region is one of the most important areas of rice production in Italy. From 1457, by an act of Pope
Callixtus III, Lucedio was placed under
commendatorial control, losing prestige and autonomy. The abbey was secularized in 1784, the remaining monks being transferred to a
Jesuit college in
Castelnuovo Scrivia. The buildings and their lands have passed through various hands in subsequent years, including those of
Napoleon Bonaparte, who gave it to Camillo
Borghese in exchange for a large quantity of artworks which are now housed in the
Louvre. Today the abbey buildings are incorporated into a rice farm. ==Architecture==