Biography
Benedict dell'Antella
About Benedict dell'Antella
Tradition identifies Benedict dell’Antella with Manetto.
Franco Andrea Dal Pino’s study identifies Manetto in a 1251 list of friars who undertook not to own immovable property, even together. He also appears in the chapter of 1257, when the community developed its apostolic and mendicant direction. These records place him among the first generation of the Servants of Mary.
He later served as prior at Lucca and Cafaggio. Documents establish his leadership of the order in 1265 and 1267. He resigned as prior general and was succeeded by Philip Benizi. Dal Pino places his death possibly in August 1268. Earlier personal details and the association with the Dell’Antella family depend on later historical writing.
The order’s own history places this community within the religious movements of thirteenth-century Florence. It describes a shared life marked by poverty, prayer and devotion to Mary. It also stresses that the later narrative of the foundation must be considered alongside earlier documents. The individual names of all seven original founders are not equally certain; Manetto’s documented place among the early friars should be distinguished from every detail of the traditional founding story.
Dal Pino also traces the later remembrance of Manetto through art and places of devotion. A chapel at Monte Senario was built following a Dell’Antella family bequest. The family’s interest in the saint belongs to the history of his veneration, rather than independently proving every claim about his ancestry.
Wondering how to weigh the stories and sources? Learn how to read a saint biography.