368 FOUKTH PEEIOD. A.D. 590-1049.
tenth centuries, a reformation proceeded from the convent of CLUNY in Burgundy, and affected the whole church.1
It was founded by the pious Duke William of Aquitania in 910, to the honor of St. Peter and St. Paul, on the basis of the rule of St. Benedict.
Count Bruno (d. 927) was the first abbot, and introduced severe discipline. His successor Odo (927-941), first a soldier, then a clergyman of learning, wisdom, and saintly character, became a reformer of several Benedictine convents. Neander praises his enlightened views on Christian life, and his superior estimate of the moral, as compared with the miraculous, power of Christianity. Aymardus (Aymard, 941-948), who resigned when he became blind, Majolus (Maieul to 994), who declined the papal crown, Odilo, surnamed " the Good " (to 1048), and Hugo (to 1109), continued in the same spirit. The last two exerted great influence upon emperors and popes, and inspired the reformation of the papacy and the church. It was at Cluny that Hildebrand advised Bishop Bruno of Toul (Leo IX.), who had been elected pope by Henry III., to seek first a regular election by the clergy in Rome ; and thus foreshadowed his own future conflict with the imperial power. Odilo intro duced the Treuga Dei and the festival of All Souls. Hugo, Hildebrand's friend, ruled sixty years, and raised the convent to the summit of its fame.
Cluny was the centre (archimonasterium) of the reformed Bene dictine convents, and its head was the chief abbot (archiabbas). It gave to the church many eminent bishops and three popes (Gregory VIL, Urban II., and Pascal II.). In the time of its highest prosperity it ruled over two thousand monastic establishments. The daily life was regulated in all its details; silence was imposed for the greater part of the day, during which the monks communicated only by signs ; strict obedience
1 Cluny or Clugny (Cluniacum) is twelve miles northwest of Macon. The present town has about four thousand inhabitants. Its chief interest consists in the remains of mediaeval architecture.
I 84. THE CONVENT OF CLUNY. 3 09
ruled within ; hospitality and benevolence were freely exercised to the poor and to strangers, who usually exceeded the cumber of the monks. During a severe famine Odilo exhausted the magazines of the convent, and even melted the sacred vessels, and sold the ornaments of the church and a crown which Henry II. had sent him from Germany. The convent stood directly under the pope's jurisdiction, and was highly favored with donations and privileges.1 The church connected with it was the largest and richest in France (perhaps in all Europe), and admired for its twenty-five altars, its bells, and its costly works of art. It was founded by Hugo, and consecrated seventy years afterwards by Pope Innocent II. under the administration of Peter the Venerable (1131).
The example of Cluny gave rise to other monastic orders, as the Congregation of the Vallombrosa (Vallis umbrosa), eighteen miles from. Florence, founded by St. John Gualbert in 1038, and the Congregation of Hirsau in \Yurttemberg, in 1069.
But the very fame and prosperity of Cluny proved a tempta tion and cause of decline. An unworthy abbot, Pontius, wasted the funds, and was at last deposed and excommunicated by the pope as a robber of the church. Peter the Venerable, the friend of St. Bernard and kind patron of the unfortunate Abelard, raised Cluny by his wise and long administration (1122—1156) to new life and the height of prosperity. He increased the number of monks from 200 to 460, and connected 314 convents with the parent institution. In 1245 Pope Inno cent IV., with twelve cardinals and all their clergy, two patriarchs, three archbishops, eleven bishops, the king of France, the emperor of Constantinople, and many dukes, counts and knights with their dependents were entertained in the
1 The wealth of the abbey was proverbial. Hurter quotes from Lorain the saying in Burgundy :
'* En tout pays ou le vent rente,
U Abbaye de Cluny a rente.'1