Introduction
In one of his addresses, the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI mentioned Peter the Venerable as a good example for the times. Peter the Venerable was one of the great abbots of Cluny - a Benedictine monastery built in Burgundy, France. Cluny spearheaded the reform movement in monasticism during the Middle Ages. It produced many influential abbots who reformed the Benedictine spirituality.
Duke William of Aquitaine founded Cluny in ca. 908-910 A.D. Cluny was founded because there was a need to protect the independence of the monasteries from the influence of worldly magnates, who may use the monasteries for political reasons. With the reorganization at Cluny, (1) there was freedom in the election of abbots; (2) there was exemption from the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese; (3) and there were certain papal privileges of protection. Peter the Venerable and the other great abbots of the Cluny monastery led with a strict adherence to the rule of St. Benedict: (1) moderate asceticism, (2) absolute obedience to the abbot, (3) and special attention to liturgical worship. These great abbots made the monastery into one of the strongest force for good in the Church at the time.
The Cluny abbots
In Franzen and Dolan's "History of the Church", the authors list down the abbots of Cluny as follows: (1) Berno (909-927), (2) Odo (927-942), (3) Aymard (942-954), (4) Majolus or Mayeul (954-994), (5) Odilo (994-1048), (6) Hugh (1049-1109), and (7) Peter the Venerable (1122-1156). The model of reform began by these seven abbots spread to numerous other monasteries in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, England, and Germany. By the year 1100, the Cluny monastery had jurisdiction over some two thousand abbeys, priories, and cells.
Monasticism before and after the Cluny reform
Before the founding of the monastery at Cluny, there was no existing monastic "order". Each monastery was independent, self-governing, and immediately subject to the Pope or local bishop. With the founding of the monastery at Cluny, it introduced a new concept: (1) all monasteries were grouped together in a religious "order" under the Cluny abbot's centralized authority; (2) there was absolute obedience to this abbot; (3) and all monasteries of Cluny were exempted from the local bishop's authority.
Cluny monastery's contribution to the medieval Church
Cluny contributed to the spirituality of the medieval Church. Because its abbots were consistent in their strict observance of the Rule of St. Benedict, they influenced the Church to progress in asceticism: (1) with silence in church and cloister; (2) exclusion of meat from the diet; and (3) elimination of private property. The abbots and monks of Cluny also championed the papacy, influenced the Gregorian reform, and liberated the Church from the control of powerful magnates. The Cluny monastery also had a strong influence on the papacy, because three of its monks became pope: Gregory VII, Urban II, and Paschal II.
Sources of this blog post
- A History of the Church, by Franzen and Dolan
- A Concise History of the Catholic Church, by Thomas
Bokenkotter - Lives of the Saints, by Richard P. McBrien
- Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
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