Cluniac order

Cluniac order , medieval organization of Benedictines centered at the abbey of Cluny , France. Founded in 910 by the monk Berno and Count William of Aquitaine, the abbey's constitution provided it freedom from lay supervision and (after 1016) from jurisdiction of the local bishop. With its independence thus guaranteed, Cluny became the fountainhead of the most far-reaching religious reform movement in the Middle Ages. During its height (c.950-c.1130) it was second only to the papacy as the chief religious force in Europe. Hundreds of priories were attached, and many Benedictine abbeys were reformed, some joining the Cluniac obedience. In all, nearly 1,000 houses located in many countries were under obedience to the abbot of Cluny. Many Cluniac monks became bishops and through provincial synods were thus able to spread reform in church life throughout Europe. Churches were built, the liturgy was beautified, and schools were opened. Cluny stoutly supported the popes (and was itself under papal protection) and served vitally in the great reform program of Pope Gregory VII . Cluniac zeal diminished in the 12th cent., and the monastic reforming initiative was taken up by the Cistercians. The French Revolution suppressed the remnants of the order and partially destroyed the abbey at Cluny.

Bibliography: See C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism (1984).

Cluniacs were Benedictine monks from the monastery of Cluny (Burgundy) founded by William, duke of Aquitaine, in 909. Cluny was a centre of reformed observance, laying great stress on the rule, the liturgy, and freedom from lay (and, indeed, episcopal) control. Under the leadership of its early abbots, especially Odo (927–42), Odilo (994–1048), and Hugh (1049–1109), Cluny enjoyed considerable prosperity, and exercised a wide influence on monastic reform elsewhere in Europe, while an increasing number of monasteries were taken under Cluniac control, or adopted Cluniac observances. The order was extremely centralized, Cluny's abbot possessed autocratic powers within the order, and other Cluniac foundations or ‘priories’ were subordinate to Cluny, where their monks made profession. The Cluniacs were closely involved with the papal reform movement of the late 11th cent. and Pope Urban II (1088–99) was himself a Cluniac. Under Hugh's abbacy, Cluny reached the height of its prestige as a spiritual and cultural centre, famous for its music and rebuilt abbey church, which, when consecrated in 1131–2, was perhaps the grandest in western Europe. The first English Cluniac priory was founded by William de Warenne in 1077 near his castle at Lewes. His, the largest community, was joined by some 30 more, most being founded in the late 11th and 12th cents. Though initially subject to Cluny's authority and hence regarded as ‘alien priories’ and liable to sequestration during the Anglo-French wars, most purchased national identity as ‘denizens’.

Brian Golding

Cluniacs were Benedictine monks from the monastery of Cluny (Burgundy) founded by William, duke of Aquitaine, in 909. Under the leadership of its early abbots, especially Odo (927–42), Odilo (994–1048), and Hugh (1049–1109), Cluny enjoyed considerable prosperity, and exercised a wide influence on monastic reform elsewhere in Europe. The first English Cluniac priory was founded by William de Warenne in 1077 at Lewes. His, the largest community, was joined by some 30 more. Though initially subject to Cluny's authority and hence regarded as ‘alien priories’, most purchased national identity as ‘denizens’.