The Abbey Of Cluny

"Founded in 910 by Duke William of Aquitaine, the abbey of Cluny rose to prominence in the eleventh century as the most influential and opulent center for monastic devotion in medieval Europe. While the twelfth century brought challenges, both internal and external, the Cluniacs showed remarkable adaptability in the changing religious climate of the high Middle Ages. Written by international experts representing a range of academic disciplines, the contributions to this volume examine the rich textual and material sources for Cluny's history, offering not only a thorough introduction to the distinctive character of Cluniac monasticism in the Middle Ages, but also the lineaments of a detailed research agenda for the next generation of historians. Contributors are: Isabelle Rosé, Steven Vanderputten, Marc Saurette, Denyse Riche, Susan Boynton, Anne Baud, Sébastien Barret, Robert Berkhofer III, Isabelle Cochelin, Michael Hänchen, Gert Melville, Eliana Magnani, Constance Bouchard, Benjamin Pohl, and Scott G. Bruce"--

The essays published in this volume cover many aspects of the history of Cluny from its foundation until the end of the twelfth century. Four of them are published here for the first time, and others appear in a revised form. The three articles on Cluny in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries constitute a brief survey of Cluny at the height of its prestige and influence. Others, such as the articles on Cluny and the Investiture Controversy and the First Crusade, deal with the influence of Cluny outside its walls. Yet others are concerned with the relations between Cluny and other orders, between Cluny and its dependent houses, and between the abbey and town of Cluny. The remainder study the internal history of the abbey, the administration, legislation, and finances of the order, and its development and problems, especially in the twelfth century.

After the French Revolution and the dissolution of the monastic orders, the great Abbey of Cluny in France was closed and the buildings were sold for materials. This process went on for nearly thirty years, just as a romantic appreciation of the medieval past was gaining popularity. Although the government was unable to halt most of the demolition work, one transept arm with a large and small tower was saved from ruin, along with a few small Gothic buildings and the eighteenth-century cloister. Efforts to preserve, repair, and reuse the remains waxed and waned for a century while historians wrote with regret about the abbey’s demise. In 1927, Kenneth Conant came from Harvard to excavate the site with American funding in order to prepare full-scale reconstructive drawings of the abbey. Conant’s vision of medieval Cluny entered the art-historical canon and placed Cluny at the center of debates about Romanesque architecture and sculptural decoration in Europe. This study follows the discursive history of the site while investigating the role of memory in the construction of the past and the development of the conception of heritage and patrimony in France. FOREWORD BY GILES CONSTABLE AND AVANT-PROPOS D'ERIC PALAZZO "Marquardt’s account of the modern resurrections of medieval Cluny is a riveting one." "...her research urges a rethinking of the modern conceptual structures that guide our study and interpretation of medieval art and culture." "Marquardt meditat[es] on the complex ideas, histories, events, and touristic activities (including the performance of pageants) that contributed to the fashioning of Cluny as a “memory site.” Kathryn L. Brush, University of Western Ontario (Canada)

The Early History of the Monastery of Cluny by Lucy Margaret Smith, first published in 1920, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

The articles in this volume deal with the history of the abbey of Cluny, both its relations with the outside world and its internal organisation and spirituality, from its foundation in 910 until the end of the twelfth century. After an opening article on the early history of Cluny, relating it to previous monasticism and the monastic world of the tenth century, there are a group of articles on how monks were admitted to Cluny, how they were organised, what they did, and on the monastery's privileges. Two articles are concerned with Cluny's relations with the abbey of Baume and another with Cluny and the First Crusade. Finally there are a group of articles on Cluny in the twelfth century. One deals with the relations between the abbots and the increasingly assertive townsmen of Cluny and another with the confused period following the death of Peter the Venerable, when there were a series of relatively short-term abbots, and one apparent anti-abbot.

A thousand years ago, the French abbey of Cluny was the hub of one of the most powerful empires of the Middle Ages and the spiritual heart of Europe. Cluny was a Benedictine monastery in Burgundy, its church a breathtaking structure of towers, roofs, walls, and windows almost 600 feet long and 100 feet high--a true wonder of the world. Reconstructing the lives, beliefs, and ambitions of Cluny's countless monks and legendary abbots, this book discusses the abbey and its network of 1,500 dependent monasteries in the context of medieval European history. Exploring a monastery like no other, this historical account investigates Cluny's enduring legacy through the great cultural innovations that the abbey sponsored, from the famous medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela to some of the most magnificent churches in all of France and England.--From publisher description.