Misplaced Pages

#518481

88-502: Chelidonia was a Benedictine hermitess . She was born in Ciculum, Italy , and became a recluse in the mountains near Subiaco , choosing a home, as a hermitess, in a cave now called Marra Ferogna. Chelidonia later received her habit from Cardinal Cuno of Frascati. This biographical article about an Italian religious figure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Benedictine The Benedictines , officially

176-577: A superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Vatican and to the world. Benedictine nuns are given the title Dame in preference to Sister . The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Benedict of Nursia c. 529, was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino . There

264-530: A "Superior General". Each Benedictine congregation is autonomous and governed by an abbot or abbess. The autonomous houses are characterised by their chosen charism or specific dedication to a particular devotion. For example, In 1313 Bernardo Tolomei established the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet . The community adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict and received canonical approval in 1344. The Olivetans are part of

352-541: A close relationship until her death. Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries and convents, some known as abbeys . The order is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation , an organization set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have

440-545: A commendatory abbot, a lay person, appointed by a noble to oversee and to protect the assets of the monastery. Often, however, this resulted in the appropriation of the assets of monasteries at the expense of the community which they were intended to support. Saint Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg is believed to have been founded around the latter part of the tenth century. Between 1070 and 1073 there seem to have been contacts between St. Blaise and

528-569: A delegate of Christ in the temporal sphere. He had a spiritual and intellectual grounding for his leadership of the German church, which culminated in the pontificate of his kinsman, Pope Leo IX . The new pious outlook of lay leaders enabled the enforcement of the Truce of God movement to curb aristocratic violence. Within his order, the Abbot of Cluny was free to assign any monk to any house; he created

616-567: A few different places, namely the sacristy , which contained books for the choir and other liturgical books, the rectory , which housed books for public reading such as sermons and lives of the saints, and the library , which contained the largest collection of books and was typically in the cloister. The first record of a monastic library in England is in Canterbury . To assist with Augustine of Canterbury 's English mission , Pope Gregory

704-442: A fluid structure around a central authority that was to become a feature of the royal chanceries of England and of France, and of the bureaucracy of the great independent dukes, such as that of Burgundy. Cluny's highly centralized hierarchy was a training ground for Catholic prelates: four monks of Cluny became popes : Gregory VII , Urban II , Paschal II and Urban V . An orderly succession of able and educated abbots, drawn from

792-416: A highly centralized form of government entirely foreign to Benedictine tradition. While most Benedictine monasteries remained autonomous and associated with each other only informally, Cluny created a large, federated order in which the administrators of subsidiary houses served as deputies of the Abbot of Cluny and answered to him. The Cluniac houses, being directly under the supervision of the Abbot of Cluny,

880-515: A hunting lodge, was officially returned to the Benedictines four hundred years later, in 1928. During the next few years, so-called Prinknash Park was used as a home until it was returned to the order. St. Lawrence's Abbey in Ampleforth, Yorkshire was founded in 1802. In 1955, Ampleforth set up a daughter house, a priory at St. Louis, Missouri which became independent in 1973 and became Saint Louis Abbey in its own right in 1989. As of 2015,

968-657: A life of exploitation, others dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament such as the one established by Catherine de Bar (1614–1698). In 1688 Dame Mechtilde de Bar assisted Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien , queen consort of Poland, to establish a Benedictine foundation in Warsaw . Abbeys were among the institutions of the Catholic Church swept away during

SECTION 10

#1732775413519

1056-490: A monastic manner of life, drawing on the Vulgate 's use of conversatio as indicating "citizenship" or "local customs", see Philippians 3:20. The Rule enjoins monks and nuns "to live in this place as a religious, in obedience to its rule and to the abbot or abbess." Benedictine abbots and abbesses have jurisdiction over their abbey and thus canonical authority over the monks or nuns who are resident. This authority includes

1144-601: A pope at Avignon and England one at Rome, interfered with the relations between Cluny and its dependent houses. Under the strain, some English houses, such as Lenton Priory , Nottingham , were naturalized ( Lenton in 1392) and no longer regarded as alien priories, weakening the Cluniac structure. By the time of the French Revolution , revolutionary hatred of the Catholic Church led to the suppression of

1232-401: A reference to ritual purification , which is inspired by Benedict's encouragement of bathing . Benedictine monks have played a role in the development and promotion of spas . Benedictine monasticism differs from other Christian religious orders in that as congregations sometimes with several houses, some of them in other countries, they are not bound into a unified religious order headed by

1320-485: A specialization in roles. As perhaps the wealthiest monastic house of the Western world, Cluny hired managers and workers to do the traditional labour of monks. The Cluniac monks devoted themselves to almost constant prayer, thus elevating their position into a profession. Despite the monastic ideal of a frugal life, Cluny Abbey commissioned candelabras of solid silver and gold chalices made with precious gems for use at

1408-620: A template for explaining child deaths. According to historian Joe Hillaby, the blood libel of Harold was crucially important because for the first time an unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity by local Christian churchmen: "they established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France." The forty-eighth Rule of Saint Benedict prescribes extensive and habitual "holy reading" for

1496-428: Is Ora et Labora "pray and work". Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times. Such details, like other aspects of the daily routine of a Benedictine house are left to the discretion of the superior, and are set out in its customary ,

1584-555: Is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of a knowledge of Benedictine monasticism. Copies of Benedict's Rule survived; around 594 Pope Gregory I spoke favorably of it. The rule

1672-531: Is subsequently found in some monasteries in southern Gaul along with other rules used by abbots. Gregory of Tours says that at Ainay Abbey , in the sixth century, the monks "followed the rules of Basil, Cassian, Caesarius, and other fathers, taking and using whatever seemed proper to the conditions of time and place", and doubtless the same liberty was taken with the Benedictine Rule when it reached them. In Gaul and Switzerland, it gradually supplemented

1760-413: Is the period that achieved the final Christianization of the heartland of Europe. By the twelfth century there were 314 monasteries across Europe paying allegiance to Cluny. Well-born and educated Cluniac priors worked eagerly with local royal and aristocratic patrons of their houses, filled responsible positions in their chanceries and were appointed to bishoprics. Cluny spread the custom of veneration of

1848-580: The Benedictine Confederation . Although Benedictines are traditionally Catholic, there are also other communities that follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. For example, of an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican religious (1,080 men and 1,320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some have adopted the Rule of Benedict. Likewise, such communities can be found in Eastern Orthodox Church , and Lutheran Church . Members of

SECTION 20

#1732775413519

1936-483: The Benedictine Rule . Rule 38 states that 'these brothers' meals should usually be accompanied by reading, and that they were to eat and drink in silence while one read out loud. Benedictine monks were not allowed worldly possessions, thus necessitating the preservation and collection of sacred texts in monastic libraries for communal use. For the sake of convenience, the books in the monastery were housed in

2024-597: The Congregation of Saint Maur , a prerevolutionary French congregation of Benedictines known for their scholarship: Benedictine Oblates endeavor to embrace the spirit of the Benedictine vow in their own life in the world. Oblates are affiliated with a particular monastery. Cluny Abbey The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style , with three churches built in succession from

2112-1182: The English Reformation . A stone's throw from Marble Arch , the Tyburn Convent is now the Mother House of the Congregation. Benedictines are thought to have arrived in the Kingdom of Poland in the 11th-century. One of the earliest foundations is Tyniec Abbey on a promontory by the Vistula river. The Tyniec monks led the translation of the Bible into Polish vernacular. Other surviving Benedictine houses can be found in Stary Kraków Village , Biskupów , Lubiń . Older foundations are in Mogilno , Trzemeszno , Łęczyca , Łysa Góra and in Opactwo , among others. In

2200-706: The French Revolution . Monasteries and convents were again allowed to form in the 19th century under the Bourbon Restoration . Later that century, under the Third French Republic , laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. Thus in 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901. In 1898 Marie-Adèle Garnier, in religion, Mother Marie de Saint-Pierre, founded in Montmartre ( Mount of

2288-681: The Huguenots sacked the abbey, destroying or dispersing many of the manuscripts. Of those that were left, some were burned in 1790 by a rioting mob during the French Revolution . Others still were stored away in the Cluny town hall. The French Government worked to relocate such treasures, including those that ended up in private hands. They are now held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France at Paris. The British Museum holds some sixty or so charters originating from Cluny. The abbey at Cluny

2376-759: The Middle Ages the city of Płock , also on the Vistula, had a successful monastery, which played a significant role in the local economy. In the 18th-century benedictine convents were opened for women, notably in Warsaw's New Town. A 15th-century Benedictine foundation can be found in Senieji Trakai , a village in Eastern Lithuania . Kloster Rheinau was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in

2464-612: The Order of Saint Benedict ( Latin : Ordo Sancti Benedicti , abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict . Initiated in 529 they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church . The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks , especially in English speaking countries, after

2552-723: The Vatican and to the world. The headquarters of the Benedictine Confederation and the Abbot Primate is the Primatial Abbey of Sant'Anselmo built by Pope Leo XIII in Rome . The Rule of Saint Benedict is also used by a number of religious orders that began as reforms of the Benedictine tradition such as the Cistercians and Trappists . These groups are separate congregations and not members of

2640-431: The present church . Hézelon de Liège was called to act as architect for the new church in 1088. The building campaign was financed by the annual census established by Ferdinand I of León , ruler of a united León-Castile, some time between 1053 and 1065. ( Alfonso VI re-established it in 1077, and confirmed it in 1090.) Ferdinand fixed the sum at 1,000 golden aurei , an amount which Alfonso VI doubled in 1090. This

2728-399: The 13th century and only twice in the 14th. At Cluny, the central activity was the liturgy; it was extensive and beautifully presented in inspiring surroundings, reflecting the new personally-felt wave of piety of the 11th century. Monastic intercession was believed indispensable to achieving a state of grace, and lay rulers competed to be remembered in Cluny's endless prayers; this inspired

Chelidonia - Misplaced Pages Continue

2816-666: The 16th century further weakened the abbey's status in Christendom. For instance with the Concordat of Bologna in 1516 overseen by Antoine Duprat , Francis I , the king of France, gained the power to appoint the abbot of Cluny from Pope Leo X . Over the next 250 years, the abbey never regained its power or position within European Christianity. Seen as an example of the excesses of the Ancien Régime ,

2904-517: The 4th to the early 12th centuries. The earliest basilica was the world's largest church until the St. Peter's Basilica construction began in Rome. Cluny was founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910. He nominated Berno as the first abbot of Cluny, subject only to Pope Sergius III . The abbey was notable for its stricter adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict , whereby Cluny became acknowledged as

2992-483: The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny on a modest scale, as the motherhouse of the Congregation of Cluny. The deed of gift included vineyards , fields, meadows, woods, waters, mills, serfs, and lands both cultivated and uncultivated. Hospitality was to be given to the poor, strangers, and pilgrims. It was stipulated that the monastery would be free from local authorities, lay or ecclesiastical, and subject only to

3080-746: The Benedictine Confederation. Other specialisms, such as Gregorian chant as at Solesmes in France, or Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Sacrament have been adopted by different houses, as at the Warsaw Convent, or the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre at Tyburn Convent in London. Other houses have dedicated themselves to books, reading, writing and printing them as at Stanbrook Abbey in England. Others still are associated with

3168-565: The Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778. The abbey of Our Lady of the Angels was founded in 1120. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations. Through the influence of Wilfrid , Benedict Biscop , and Dunstan , the Benedictine Rule spread rapidly, and in the North it was adopted in most of the monasteries that had been founded by

3256-458: The Celtic missionaries from Iona. Many of the episcopal sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines, and no fewer than nine of the old cathedrals were served by the black monks of the priories attached to them. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak and homeless. The monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of

3344-790: The Cluniac Abbey of Fruttuaria in Italy, which led to St. Blaise following the Fruttuarian reforms. The Empress Agnes was a patron of Fruttuaria, and retired there in 1065 before moving to Rome. The Empress was instrumental in introducing Fruttuaria's Benedictine customs, as practiced at Cluny, to Saint Blaise Abbey in Baden-Württemberg . Other houses either reformed by, or founded as priories of, St. Blasien were Muri Abbey (1082), Ochsenhausen Abbey (1093), Göttweig Abbey (1094), Stein am Rhein Abbey (before 1123) and Prüm Abbey (1132). It also had significant influence on

3432-525: The Cluniac Order. Partly due to the Order's opulence, the Cluniac monasteries of nuns were not seen as being particularly cost-effective. The Order did not have an interest in founding many new houses for women, so their presence was always limited. The customs of Cluny represented a shift from the earlier ideal of a Benedictine monastery as an agriculturally self-sufficient unit. This was similar to

3520-762: The English Congregation consists of three abbeys of nuns and ten abbeys of monks. Members of the congregation are found in England, Wales, the United States of America, Peru and Zimbabwe. In England there are also houses of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation : Farnborough, Prinknash, and Chilworth: the Solesmes Congregation , Quarr and St Cecilia's on the Isle of Wight, as well as a diocesan monastery following

3608-690: The Great gave him nine books which included the Gregorian Bible in two volumes, the Psalter of Augustine, two copies of the Gospels , two martyrologies , an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles, and a Psalter . Theodore of Tarsus brought Greek books to Canterbury more than seventy years later, when he founded a school for the study of Greek. The first Benedictine to live in the United States

Chelidonia - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-658: 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. All but one of the English and Scottish Cluniac houses which were larger than cells were known as priories , symbolising their subordination to Cluny. The exception

3784-625: The Martyr ), Paris a Benedictine house. However, the Waldeck-Rousseau 's Law of Associations , passed in 1901, placed severe restrictions on religious bodies which were obliged to leave France. Garnier and her community relocated to another place associated with executions, this time it was in London , near the site of Tyburn tree where 105 Catholic martyrs—including Saint Oliver Plunkett and Saint Edmund Campion had been executed during

3872-406: The Papacy. In the early 12th century, the order lost momentum under poor government. It was subsequently revitalized under Abbot Peter the Venerable (died 1156), who brought lax priories back into line and returned to stricter discipline. Cluny reached its apogee of power and influence under Peter, as its monks became bishops, legates, and cardinals throughout France and the Holy Roman Empire. But by

3960-413: The Pope, with the proviso that even he could not seize the property, divide or give it to someone else or appoint an abbot without the consent of the monks. William placed Cluny under the protection of Saints Peter and Paul, with a curse on anyone who should violate the charter. With the Pope across the Alps in Italy, this meant the monastery was essentially independent. In donating his hunting preserve in

4048-453: The Rule of Saint Benedict: The Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury. Since the Oxford Movement , there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo. In 1168 local Benedictine monks instigated the anti-semitic blood libel of Harold of Gloucester as

4136-425: The abbacies of Pons of Melgueil (1109–1125) and Peter the Venerable (1122–1156). The Spanish wealth donated to Cluny publicized the rise of the Spanish Christians, and drew central Spain for the first time into the larger European orbit. The Cluny library was one of the richest and most important in France and Europe. It was a storehouse of numerous very valuable manuscripts. During the religious conflicts of 1562,

4224-456: The abbey Masses. Instead of being limited to the traditional fare of broth and porridge, the monks ate very well, enjoying roasted chickens (a luxury in France then), wines from their vineyards and cheeses made by their employees. The monks wore the finest linen religious habits and silk vestments at Mass. Artifacts exemplifying the wealth of Cluny Abbey are today on display at the Musée de Cluny in Paris. O God, by whose grace thy servants,

4312-409: The abbeys of Alpirsbach (1099), Ettenheimm ünster (1124) and Sulzburg ( c.  1125 ), and the priories of Weitenau (now part of Steinen , c.  1100 ), Bürgel (before 1130) and Sitzenkirch ( c.  1130 ). Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire , Loiret was founded in about 640. It is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses

4400-452: The added Abbey sacred, and to take them was to commit sacrilege. Soon, Cluny began to receive bequests from around Europe – from the Holy Roman Empire to the Spanish kingdoms from southern England to Italy. It became a powerful monastic congregation that owned and operated the network of monasteries and priories, under the authority of the central abbey at Cluny. It was a highly original and successful system, The Abbots of Cluny became leaders on

4488-405: The brethren. Three primary types of reading were done by the monks in medieval times. Monks would read privately during their personal time, as well as publicly during services and at mealtimes. In addition to these three mentioned in the Rule, monks would also read in the infirmary. Monasteries were thriving centers of education, with monks and nuns actively encouraged to learn and pray according to

SECTION 50

#1732775413519

4576-416: The code adopted by a particular Benedictine house by adapting the Rule to local conditions. According to the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law , a Benedictine abbey is a " religious institute " and its members therefore participate in consecrated life which Canon 588 §1 explains is intrinsically "neither clerical nor lay." Males in consecrated life, however, may be ordained. Benedictines' rules contain

4664-420: The colour of their habits . Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia , a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica , possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit . They retained

4752-400: The completion of Rome's St. Peter's Basilica in the early 17th century, little remains of the original buildings. In total the surviving parts amount to about 10% of the original floor space of Cluny III. These include the southern transept and its bell-tower, and the lower parts of the two west front towers. In 1928, the site was excavated by the American archaeologist Kenneth J. Conant with

4840-549: The contemporary villa of the more Romanized parts of Europe and the manor of the more feudal parts, in which each member did physical labor as well as offering prayer. In 817 St Benedict of Aniane , the "second Benedict", developed monastic constitutions at the urging of Louis the Pious to govern all the Carolingian monasteries. He acknowledged that the Black Monks no longer supported themselves by physical labor. Cluny's agreement to offer perpetual prayer ( laus perennis , literally "perpetual praise") meant that it had increased

4928-461: The daughter of the first Christian King of Kent . Currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Five of the most notable English abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey , The Abbey of St Edmund, King and Martyr commonly known as Douai Abbey in Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berkshire, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London, and Worth Abbey . Prinknash Abbey , used by Henry VIII as

5016-407: The destructive Hungarian raids of 953, led the tendency for Burgundian churches to be stone-vaulted. In 1088, the abbot Hugh of Semur (1024 – 1109, abbot since 1049) started the construction of the third and final church at Cluny, which was to become the largest church building in Europe and remained so until the 16th century, when in Rome the Paleochristian St. Peter's Basilica was replaced by

5104-403: The endowments in land and benefices that made other arts possible. The fast-growing community at Cluny required buildings on a large scale. The examples at Cluny profoundly affected architectural practice in Western Europe from the tenth through the twelfth centuries. The three successive churches are conventionally called Cluny I, II and III. The construction of Cluny II, ca. 955–981, begun after

5192-519: The expenditure. As other religious orders such as the Cistercians in the 12th and then the Mendicants in the 13th century arose within the Western Christian church, the competition gradually weakened the status and influence of the abbey. Furthermore, poor management of the abbey's estates and the unwillingness of its subsidiary priories to pay their share of the annual taxable quotas annually reduced Cluny's total revenues. In response to these issues, Cluny raised loans against its assets but this saddled

5280-416: The first great meeting of the abbots of the order held at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in 817. Berno had adopted Benedict's interpretation of the Rule previously at Baume Abbey . Cluny was not known for the severity of its discipline or its asceticism, but the abbots of Cluny supported the revival of the papacy and the reforms of Pope Gregory VII . The Cluniac establishment found itself closely identified with

5368-447: The forests of Burgundy , William released Cluny Abbey from all future obligations to him and his family other than prayer. Contemporary patrons normally retained a proprietary interest and expected to install their kinsmen as abbots. William appears to have made this arrangement with Berno, the first abbot , to free the new monastery from such secular entanglements and initiate the Cluniac Reforms . The appropriate deeds made all assets of

SECTION 60

#1732775413519

5456-450: The head of the Order, were styled priories , not abbeys. The priors, or chiefs of priories, met at Cluny once a year to deal with administrative issues and to make reports. Many other Benedictine monasteries, even those of earlier formation, came to regard Cluny as their guide. When in 1016 Pope Benedict VIII decreed that the privileges of Cluny be extended to subordinate houses, there was further incentive for Benedictine communities to join

5544-417: The highest aristocratic circles, led Cluny, and the first six abbots of Cluny were all canonized: Odilo continued to reform other monasteries, but as Abbot of Cluny, he also exercised tighter control of the order's far-flung priories. Starting from the 12th century, Cluny had serious financial problems mainly because of the cost of building the third abbey (Cluny III). Charity given to the poor also increased

5632-459: The international stage and the monastery of Cluny was considered the grandest, most prestigious and best-endowed monastic institution in Europe. The height of Cluniac influence was from the second half of the 10th century through the early 12th. The first nuns were admitted to the Order during the 11th century. The reforms introduced at Cluny were in some measure traceable to the influence of Benedict of Aniane , who had put forward his new ideas at

5720-428: The king as patron and support of the Church, and in turn the conduct of 11th-century kings, and their spiritual outlook, appeared to undergo a change. In England, Edward the Confessor was later canonized. In Germany, the penetration of Cluniac ideals was effected in concert with Henry III of the Salian dynasty, who had married a daughter of the duke of Aquitaine. Henry was infused with a sense of his sacramental role as

5808-503: The leader of western monasticism . In 1790 during the French Revolution , the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed, with only a small part surviving. Starting around 1334, the Abbots of Cluny maintained a townhouse in Paris known as the Hôtel de Cluny , which has been a public museum since 1843. Apart from the name, and the building itself, it no longer possesses anything originally connected with Cluny. In 910, William I, Duke of Aquitaine "the Pious", and Count of Auvergne , founded

5896-417: The monastic buildings and most of the church were destroyed in the French Revolution . Its extensive library and archives were burned in 1793 and the church was given up to plundering. The abbey's estate was sold in 1798 for 2,140,000 francs. Over the next twenty years the Abbey's immense walls were quarried for stone that was used in rebuilding the town. Although it was the largest church in Christendom until

5984-414: The much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually entirely displaced the earlier codes. By the ninth century, however, the Benedictine had become the standard form of monastic life throughout the whole of Western Europe, excepting Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where the Celtic observance still prevailed for another century or two. Largely through

6072-412: The ninth or tenth century speaks of six hours a day as the usual task of a scribe, which would absorb almost all the time available for active work in the day of a medieval monk. In the Middle Ages monasteries were often founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The abbot of Cluny

6160-553: The order in France in 1790 and the monastery at Cluny was almost totally demolished in 1810. Later, it was sold and used as a quarry until 1823. Today, little more than one of the original eight towers remains of the whole monastery. Modern excavations of the Abbey began in 1927 under the direction of Kenneth John Conant , American architectural historian of Harvard University , and continued (although not continuously) until 1950. The Abbey of Cluny differed in three ways from other Benedictine houses and confederations: Cluny developed

6248-418: The places where they were founded or their founders centuries ago, hence Cassinese , Subiaco , Camaldolese or Sylvestrines . All Benedictine houses became federated in the Benedictine Confederation brought into existence by Pope Leo XIII 's Apostolic Brief " Summum semper " on 12 July 1893. Pope Leo also established the office of Abbot Primate as the abbot elected to represent this Confederation at

6336-503: The power to assign duties, to decide which books may or may not be read, to regulate comings and goings, and to punish and to excommunicate , in the sense of an enforced isolation from the monastic community. A tight communal timetable – the horarium  – is meant to ensure that the time given by God is not wasted but used in God's service, whether for prayer, work, meals, spiritual reading or sleep. The order's motto

6424-419: The reign of Henry VI , all Cluniac houses in England were French, governed by French priors and directly controlled from Cluny. Henry's act of raising the English priories to independent abbeys was a political gesture, a mark of England's nascent national consciousness. The early Cluniac establishments had offered refuges from a disordered world but by the late 11th century, Cluniac piety permeated society. This

6512-510: The relics of St. Benedict. Like many Benedictine abbeys it was located on the banks of a river, here the Loire . Ainey Abbey is a ninth century foundation on the Lyon peninsula. In the twelfth century on the current site there was a romanesque monastery , subsequently rebuilt. The seventeenth century saw a number of Benedictine foundations for women, some dedicated to the indigent to save them from

6600-479: The religious order with debt. Throughout the late Middle Ages , conflicts with its priories increased. This waning influence was shadowed by the increasing power of the Pope within the Catholic Church. By the start of the 14th century, the pope was frequently naming the abbots of Cluny. Although the monks – who never numbered more than 60 – lived in relative luxury during this period, the political and religious wars of

6688-580: The royal French monastery at Fleury and inspired St Dunstan in England. There were no official English Cluniac priories until that of Lewes in Sussex, founded by the Anglo-Norman earl William de Warenne c 1077. The best-preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre Priory , Norfolk, and Wenlock Priory , Shropshire. It is thought that there were only three Cluniac nunneries in England, one of them being Delapré Abbey at Northampton . Until

6776-460: The same community), and to adopt a "conversion of habits", in Latin, conversatio morum and obedience to the community's superior. The "Benedictine vows" are equivalent to the evangelical counsels accepted by all candidates entering a religious order . The interpretation of conversatio morum understood as "conversion of the habits of life" has generally been replaced by notions such as adoption of

6864-485: The same lineage. For instance the American-Cassinese congregation included the 22 monasteries descended from Boniface Wimmer. A sense of community has been the defining characteristic of the order since the beginning. To that end, section 17 in chapter 58 of the Rule of Saint Benedict specifies the solemn vows candidates joining a Benedictine community are required to make: a vow of stability, to remain in

6952-588: The sick. During the English Reformation , all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing those who wished to continue in the monastic life to flee into exile on the Continent. During the 19th century English members of these communities were able to return to England. St. Mildred's Priory , on the Isle of Thanet , Kent , was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by

7040-459: The time Peter died, newer and more austere orders such as the Cistercians were generating the next wave of ecclesiastical reform. Outside monastic structures, the rise of English and French nationalism created a climate unfavourable to the existence of monasteries autocratically ruled by a head residing in Burgundy. The Papal Schism of 1378 to 1409 further divided loyalties: France recognizing

7128-980: The time of his death in 1887, Wimmer had sent Benedictine monks to Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, and Colorado. Wimmer also asked for Benedictine sisters to be sent to America by St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt , Bavaria. In 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp and two other sisters founded St. Marys, Pennsylvania . Soon they would send sisters to Michigan, New Jersey, and Minnesota. By 1854, Swiss monks began to arrive and founded St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, and they soon spread to Arkansas and Louisiana. They were soon followed by Swiss sisters. There are now over 100 Benedictine houses across America. Most Benedictine houses are part of one of four large Congregations: American-Cassinese, Swiss-American, St. Scholastica, and St. Benedict. The congregations mostly are made up of monasteries that share

7216-408: The twelfth century, which saw the rise of the mendicant Franciscans and nomadic Dominicans . Benedictines by contrast, took a vow of "stability", which professed loyalty to a particular foundation in a particular location. Not being bound by location, the mendicants were better able to respond to an increasingly "urban" environment. This decline was further exacerbated by the practice of appointing

7304-471: The work of Benedict of Aniane , it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire. Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium. As a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole, active work. An anonymous writer of

7392-825: Was Pierre-Joseph Didier. He came to the United States in 1790 from Paris and served in the Ohio and St. Louis areas until his death. The first actual Benedictine monastery founded was Saint Vincent Archabbey , located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1832 by Boniface Wimmer , a German monk, who sought to serve German immigrants in America. In 1856, Wimmer started to lay the foundations for St. John's Abbey in Minnesota. In 1876, Herman Wolfe, of Saint Vincent Archabbey established Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. By

7480-473: Was the motherhouse of the Congregation of Cluny. In the fragmented and localized Europe of the 10th and 11th centuries, the Cluniac network extended its reforming influence far. Free of lay and episcopal interference, and responsible only to the papacy (which was in a state of weakness and disorder, with rival popes supported by competing nobles), Cluny was seen to have revitalized the Norman church, reorganized

7568-440: Was the biggest annuity that the Order ever received from king or layman, and it was never surpassed. Henry I of England's annual grant from 1131 of 100 marks of silver , not gold, seemed little by comparison. The Alfonsine census enabled Abbot Hugh (who died in 1109) to undertake construction of the huge third abbey church. When payments in aurei later lapsed, the Cluniac order suffered a financial crisis that crippled them during

7656-548: Was the priory at Paisley which was raised to the status of an abbey in 1245 answerable only to the Pope. Cluny's influence spread into the British Isles in the 11th century, first at Lewes , and then elsewhere. The head of their order was the Abbot at Cluny. All English and Scottish Cluniacs were bound to cross to France to Cluny to consult or be consulted unless the abbot chose to come to Britain, which occurred five times in

7744-462: Was the superior of all the daughter houses, through appointed priors. One of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald , who founded the Camaldolese community. The Cistercians branched off from the Benedictines in 1098; they are often called the "White monks". The dominance of the Benedictine monastic way of life began to decline towards the end of

#518481