St. Benedict was probably born in 480 AD, shortly after the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD when Italy was invaded by the Goths, a barbarian population that plundered and devastated many ancient Italian cities. It was St. Benedict’s idea to found two monasteries, Subiaco and Montecassino, to bring the Goths and the Latins together, in a place where the two cultures could communicate peacefully.
They became the only safe institutions in a fallen empire.
