Bobbio

Bobbio is a monastery in northern Italy that appears in the narrative as a crucial geographical and narrative waypoint. It is one of the great Benedictine abbeys whose library is mentioned in the same breath as those of Pomposa, Cluny, and Fleury, though its collection is said to be far smaller than that of the unnamed abbey where the main events of the story take place. The monastery is associated with Saint Columba, one of the Hibernian monks who, according to William of Baskerville, preserved learning during the dark ages by writing, reading, and illuminating manuscripts before navigating to the continent in small hide boats to evangelize the peoples of Europe.

Narrative Role and Events

After the catastrophic fire that destroys the unnamed abbey, William and Adso of Melk travel eastward and reach Bobbio. It is here that they begin to receive the first bad news about the Emperor Louis the Bavarian's fortunes. They learn that after being crowned in Rome by the people, Louis had chosen an antipope, Nicholas V, and that Marsilius of Padua had been named spiritual vicar of Rome. The reports from Bobbio describe troubling events in the city: priests loyal to Pope John XXII who refused to say Mass were tortured, an Augustinian prior was thrown into the lions' pit on the Capitoline, and Marsilius and John of Jandun had declared the Pope a heretic, with Louis sentencing him to death in absentia. The Emperor's misrule was antagonizing the local lords and depleting public funds, causing William and Adso to delay their descent to Rome as they realized William did not want to witness events that would dash his hopes.

Significance in the Narrative

Bobbio functions as the place where the political hopes of the imperial faction begin to unravel. The news received there prompts William and Adso to reverse their route and proceed to Munich instead of continuing to Rome, sensing that Italy was becoming unsafe for William. This decision marks the beginning of the end of their journey together, as Adso will soon have to take leave of his master and return to Melk. The monastery thus serves as a threshold between the world of the abbey's mysteries and the broader historical disillusionment that follows, where the alliance of Louis's Ghibelline supporters dissolves and the Antipope Nicholas eventually surrenders to John with a rope around his neck.