Cluny Abbey facts for kids
Cluny Abbey in 2004
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 Location in France
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| Monastery information | |
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| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | 910 |
| Disestablished | 1790 |
| Dedicated to | Saint Peter and Saint Paul |
| Diocese | Autun |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | William I, Duke of Aquitaine |
| Site | |
| Location | Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France |
| Coordinates | 46°26′03″N 4°39′33″E / 46.43417°N 4.65917°E |
Cluny Abbey (French: [klyni]; French: Abbaye de Cluny) was a very important Benedictine monastery in Cluny, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter.
The abbey was built in the Romanesque architectural style. Three churches were built one after another from the 4th to the early 12th centuries. The first main church was the largest in the world until St. Peter's Basilica started being built in Rome.
Cluny Abbey was started by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910. He chose Berno as the first abbot (the head of the monastery). The abbey was special because it followed the Rule of St. Benedict very strictly. This made Cluny a leader in western monasticism (the life of monks). Sadly, in 1790, during the French Revolution, the abbey was attacked and mostly destroyed. Only a small part of it remains today.
Around 1334, the leaders of Cluny Abbey had a special house in Paris called the Hôtel de Cluny. Since 1843, this building has been a public museum.
Contents
History of Cluny Abbey
How Cluny Abbey Started
In 910, William I, Duke of Aquitaine, also known as "the Pious," founded Cluny Abbey. It started small as the main house for the Congregation of Cluny. William gave the abbey many things, like vineyards, fields, woods, and mills. He also said that the monastery should welcome the poor, strangers, and travelers.
William made sure the monastery would be free from local rulers or church leaders. It would only answer to the Pope. He even put a strong warning against anyone who tried to take its property or appoint an abbot without the monks' agreement. Since the Pope was far away in Italy, this meant the monastery was mostly independent.
By giving his hunting land in Burgundy, William freed Cluny Abbey from any future duties to him or his family, except for prayers. This was unusual because most founders kept some control. William wanted the new monastery to be free from outside influences. This helped start the Cluniac Reforms. Soon, Cluny began to receive gifts from all over Europe. It grew into a powerful group of monasteries and priories (smaller monasteries) that were all controlled by the main abbey at Cluny.
This system was very successful. The Abbots of Cluny became important leaders across Europe. Cluny monastery was seen as the grandest and most respected monastic place. Cluny's influence was strongest from the late 900s to the early 1100s.
Cluny and Church Reforms
The changes made at Cluny were partly inspired by Benedict of Aniane. He had shared new ideas for monasteries in 817. Cluny was not known for being super strict or harsh. However, its abbots strongly supported the Pope and the reforms led by Pope Gregory VII. Cluny became very closely linked with the Pope.
In the early 1100s, the order faced problems due to poor leadership. But it was brought back to life by Abbot Peter the Venerable (who died in 1156). He made sure that the smaller monasteries followed the rules more strictly. Cluny reached its peak of power under Peter. Its monks became important church leaders like bishops and cardinals.
However, by the time Peter died, newer and stricter orders, like the Cistercians, were becoming popular. Also, countries like England and France were becoming stronger. This made it harder for monasteries to be ruled by a leader far away in Burgundy. The Western Schism (a time when there were rival popes) from 1378 to 1409 also caused problems. It divided loyalties, as France supported one pope and England another. This affected how Cluny and its dependent houses worked together.
By the time of the French Revolution, people disliked the Catholic Church. This led to the Cluniac order being shut down in France in 1790. The monastery at Cluny was almost completely destroyed by 1810. Later, it was sold and used as a stone quarry until 1823. Today, only a small part of the original monastery remains.
Modern digs at the Abbey started in 1927. They were led by Kenneth John Conant, an American historian from Harvard University. These digs continued until 1950.
How Cluny Abbey Was Organized
Cluny Abbey was different from other Benedictine monasteries in three main ways:
- Its unique way of being organized.
- It was not allowed to own land through feudal service (a system where land is held in exchange for service).
- It focused a lot on liturgy (church services) as its main work.
Cluny created a very centralized system of government. This was new for Benedictine monasteries. Most Benedictine monasteries were independent. But Cluny created a large, connected order. The leaders of smaller houses worked for the Abbot of Cluny and reported to him. These Cluniac houses were called priories, not abbeys. The chiefs of the priories met at Cluny once a year to discuss issues and report. Many other Benedictine monasteries looked to Cluny for guidance. When Pope Benedict VIII said in 1016 that Cluny's special rights would also apply to its smaller houses, more monasteries wanted to join the Cluniac Order.
The Cluniac monasteries for nuns were not seen as very useful, partly because of the Order's wealth. The Order was not very interested in starting many new houses for women. So, their presence was always limited.
Cluny's customs changed the idea of a Benedictine monastery. Before, monasteries were expected to grow their own food and do physical labor. But Cluny focused on "perpetual prayer" (laus perennis). This meant the monks spent almost all their time praying. They hired managers and workers to do the traditional labor. This made their role as monks a full-time profession.
Even though monks were supposed to live simply, Cluny Abbey was very rich. They had candelabras made of solid silver and gold chalices with precious gems for their church services. Instead of simple food, the monks ate very well. They enjoyed roasted chickens, wines from their vineyards, and cheeses made by their workers. The monks wore fine linen religious habits and silk vestments during Mass. You can see examples of Cluny Abbey's wealth at the Musée de Cluny in Paris today.
Cluniac Prayer
O God, by whose grace thy servants, the Holy Abbots of Cluny, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became burning and shining lights in thy Church : Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and forever.
Cluniac Houses in Britain
Most of the Cluniac houses in England and Scotland were called priories. This showed they were under the control of Cluny. The only exception was the priory at Paisley, which became an abbey in 1245 and answered only to the Pope. Cluny's influence reached Britain in the 11th century, starting at Lewes. The head of their order was the Abbot at Cluny. All English and Scottish Cluniacs had to travel to Cluny in France to meet or be consulted.
Arts and Architecture
At Cluny, the main activity was church services (liturgy). These services were long and beautiful. They were held in amazing buildings, showing the strong religious feelings of the 11th century. People believed that monks' prayers were very important for getting into heaven. So, rulers gave Cluny lots of land and gifts to be remembered in its endless prayers. These gifts also helped pay for other arts.
The growing community at Cluny needed very large buildings. The designs at Cluny greatly influenced how buildings were made in Western Europe from the 900s to the 1100s. The three main churches are called Cluny I, II, and III. Cluny II, built around 955–981, helped start the trend for churches in Burgundy to have stone vaulted roofs.
Cluny III: The Giant Church
In 1088, Abbot Hugh of Semur (who lived from 1024 to 1109) began building the third and final church at Cluny. This church became the largest church building in Europe. It stayed the largest until the 16th century, when the current St. Peter's Basilica was built in Rome. Hézelon de Liège was the architect for this new church.
The building project was paid for by a yearly payment from Ferdinand I of León, a ruler in Spain. His son, Alfonso VI, doubled this payment in 1090. This was the biggest yearly payment the Order ever received from a king. This money allowed Abbot Hugh to build the huge third abbey church. When these payments stopped later, the Cluniac order faced money problems. The wealth from Spain that was given to Cluny showed the growing power of Spanish Christians. It also connected central Spain to the rest of Europe for the first time.
The Cluny Library
The library at Cluny was one of the richest and most important in France and Europe. It held many very valuable old books and writings. During religious wars in 1562, the Huguenots (French Protestants) attacked the abbey. They destroyed or scattered many of the manuscripts. Of those that were left, some were burned in 1790 by an angry crowd during the French Revolution. Others were stored in the Cluny town hall.
The French Government worked to find these treasures, even those that ended up in private hands. They are now kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. The British Museum also has about sixty old documents from Cluny.
Important Burials at Cluny
Cluny's Wide Influence
Cluny Abbey was the main house of the Congregation of Cluny. In the scattered Europe of the 900s and 1000s, Cluny's reforming ideas spread far and wide. It was free from local rulers and bishops, and only answered to the Pope (who was not very strong at the time). Cluny helped improve the church in Normandy, reorganized the royal French monastery at Fleury, and inspired St Dunstan in England. The first official English Cluniac priory was Lewes in Sussex, founded around 1077. The best-preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre Priory and Wenlock Priory. There were only three Cluniac nunneries in England.
Until the time of Henry VI, all Cluniac houses in England were French. They were run by French leaders and directly controlled by Cluny. Henry's decision to make the English priories independent abbeys was a political move. It showed England's growing national identity.
Early Cluniac monasteries offered safe places in a troubled world. By the late 1000s, Cluny's religious ideas had spread throughout society. This was a time when the main parts of Europe became fully Christian. By the 1100s, there were 314 monasteries across Europe that followed Cluny.
Well-educated Cluniac leaders, often from noble families, worked closely with local kings and nobles. They held important jobs in royal offices and became bishops. Cluny helped spread the idea of respecting the king as a supporter of the Church. In turn, the behavior and religious views of kings in the 11th century seemed to change. In England, Edward the Confessor was later made a saint. In Germany, Cluniac ideas spread with the help of Henry III. He believed he had a special role as a representative of Christ on Earth. This new religious outlook among leaders helped enforce the Truce of God movement, which aimed to reduce violence among nobles.
Within its order, the Abbot of Cluny could send any monk to any house. This created a flexible system around a central authority. This system later became a feature of royal offices in England and France. Cluny's very organized structure was a training ground for Catholic leaders. Four monks from Cluny became popes: Gregory VII, Urban II, Paschal II, and Urban V.
A series of skilled and educated abbots, all from important noble families, led Cluny. The first six abbots of Cluny were all made saints:
- St. Berno of Cluny (died 927)
- St. Odo of Cluny (died 942)
- St. Aymard of Cluny (died 965)
- St. Majolus of Cluny (died 994)
- St. Odilo (died 1049)
- St. Hugh of Cluny (died 1109)
Odilo continued to reform other monasteries. As Abbot of Cluny, he also kept tighter control over the order's many priories.
Decline and Destruction of the Buildings
Starting in the 12th century, Cluny faced serious money problems. This was mainly because of the high cost of building the third abbey (Cluny III). Also, giving a lot of charity to the poor increased their spending. As other religious orders like the Cistercians (in the 12th century) and then the Mendicants (in the 13th century) grew, they competed with Cluny. This slowly weakened the abbey's importance and influence. On top of that, poor management of the abbey's lands and the unwillingness of its smaller priories to pay their share of taxes reduced Cluny's income.
To deal with these issues, Cluny took out loans against its property, which put the order in debt. Throughout the late Middle Ages, conflicts with its priories increased. This fading influence happened as the Pope's power within the Catholic Church grew. By the early 1300s, the Pope often chose Cluny's abbots.
Although the monks (who were never more than 60) lived in luxury during this time, the political and religious wars of the 16th century further weakened the abbey's place in Christianity. For example, in 1516, the king of France, Francis I, gained the power to appoint the abbot of Cluny from Pope Leo X.
Over the next 250 years, the abbey never got back its power or position in Europe. It was seen as an example of the old ways of the Ancien Régime (the old French government). The monastic buildings and most of the church were destroyed during the French Revolution. Its huge library and records were burned in 1793, and the church was looted. The abbey's property was sold in 1798. Over the next twenty years, the abbey's massive walls were used as a quarry for stone to rebuild the town.
Even though it was the largest church in Christendom until St. Peter's Basilica was finished in Rome in the early 1600s, very little of the original buildings remain. Only about 10% of the original Cluny III church is left. This includes the southern part of the transept (the cross-shaped part of the church) and its bell-tower, plus the lower parts of the two western towers. In 1928, the site was dug up by American archaeologist Kenneth J. Conant. The ruined bases of columns still show how huge the church and monastery once were.
Since 1901, the site has been a center for the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers (ENSAM), which is a top engineering school.
See also
In Spanish: Abadía de Cluny para niños
- Bible de Souvigny
- Abbot of Cluny
- Basilica of Paray-le-Monial
- Berno of Cluny
- Le jongleur de Notre-Dame
- History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
