Founding
The Frankish Sigisbert traveled up the Rhine in the company of Irish-Scottish wandering monks and established a hermitage in the uninhabited Desertina region. The local Rhaetian Placidus supported him. This led to the founding of Disentis Monastery around the year 700. Placidus's violent death was considered a martyrdom. The feast of Disentis's founding saints, Placidus and Sigisbert, is July 11th and is celebrated on the Sunday preceding it.
Early Middle Ages
The so-called Tello Testament of 765 lists the widely distributed properties (dispersed holdings) of Disentis Monastery. The entry in the Reichenau Book of Brotherhood (a prayer association of the monasteries) mentions Rhaetian, Frankish, Alemannic, and Lombard names. Thus, Disentis was intercultural from the very beginning. The monastery probably became Benedictine under Abbot Ursicinus. Charlemagne included it in his pass policy. The early medieval monastery complex – presumably destroyed by the Saracen invasion of 940 – has been archaeologically preserved.
Feudal Middle Ages
German emperors used the Lukmanier Pass on their way to Italy. Disentis attracted political attention. As feudal lords, the prince-abbots were responsible for events in the valley. From the 12th century onwards, the valley communities grew stronger, and the influence of the monastery began to wane. The abbots still played an important role in the unification of the Rhaetian dynasts and the Graubünden judicial communities into the Grey League. In 1497, the Grey League was admitted to the Swiss Confederation as an allied town.
Baroque Period
After the difficult period of the Reformation and the visit of Cardinal Charles Borromeo in 1581, the monastery and school were able to reestablish themselves. The tense Baroque period suffered, on the one hand, from the Grisons Troubles, famine, plague, and witch hunts, and, on the other, led to spiritual and religious renewal. This is reflected in the new Baroque building with monastery and monastery church from 1685 to 1704.
French Revolution
After the French Revolution, Disentis was caught up in the chaos of war, which led to the monastery fire in 1799. The archives and library were destroyed, and art treasures were confiscated as war contributions. The abbey lost its Valtellina possessions and almost half of the monastery's assets. What remained was "rubble and debts."
A prominent figure in this period was Father Placidus Spescha (1752–1833) – a universal, troublesome spirit whom posterity elevated to a myth.
Secularization and Restoration
During secularization, Disentis escaped the fate of many abbeys – it was never abolished. The restoration of 1880 came after a change of mood among the people and the government. With the help of the Swiss Benedictine Congregation, Disentis was able to recover and flourish again under Abbot Benedikt Prevost (1888–1916).
Present
The Grisons Oberland underwent rapid development in the 20th century: from self-sufficient mountain farming to a tourist destination. The present-day monastery, with its boarding school and pastoral care, is a spiritual and intellectual center and expresses solidarity with the people of the Cadi (from "Casa Dei," the former monastic estate) and the Surselva region.